Jersey Shore Fun Facts

During the Cold War, Sandy Hook housed nuclear missiles at Nike Site NY-56, part of the defense ring protecting New York City.

In 1881, locals built a 5/8-mile railroad spur overnight to bring the dying President Garfield to the shore in hopes the sea air would help him recover.

From the 1920s-1960s, Bradley Beach was known as "Chinatown by the Sea" and had the largest Chinese-American summer community on the East Coast.

Jenkinson's Boardwalk started as a single bathhouse in 1928 and has been family-owned for four generations.

Casino Pier opened in 1932 during the Great Depression and has survived multiple hurricanes, fires, and economic downturns over 90+ years.

The 1929 stock market crash inadvertently saved Island Beach State Park—developer Henry Phipps had plans for a resort community, but went bankrupt before building.

During WWII, the U.S. Army used Island Beach as a rocket testing facility, firing experimental anti-aircraft missiles over the Atlantic Ocean from 1942-1945.

Island Beach became a state park in 1959 after New Jersey purchased the land from the Phipps estate for $2.75 million—a bargain for 10 miles of pristine barrier island.

Henry Phipps, who planned to develop Island Beach, was Andrew Carnegie's business partner in U.S. Steel. His estate hunting lodge still stands in the park as the Aeolium nature center.

Lieutenant George Meade designed the Barnegat Lighthouse in 1857. Six years later, he would lead Union forces to victory at Gettysburg.

Beach Haven's Engleside Inn was a favorite of wealthy Philadelphians in the late 1800s, when the town was only accessible by boat from Tuckerton.

Ocean City's boardwalk has never allowed the sale of alcohol or tobacco, maintaining the town's founding Methodist values since 1879.

The SS Atlantus, a WWI concrete ship, ran aground off Sunset Beach in 1926. Its remains are still visible today and have become a beloved local landmark.

During Prohibition, the Jersey Shore was a hotbed for rum runners. Ships anchored just outside the 3-mile limit while speedboats made nighttime deliveries to shore.

German U-boats sank over 100 ships off the Jersey Shore during WWII. Debris from the SS Morro Castle, torpedoed near Long Beach Island, still lies on the ocean floor.

Ship Bottom got its name from an 1817 shipwreck legend where rescuers found a woman alive inside the hull of an overturned ship.

Saltwater taffy was invented in Atlantic City in 1883 when a storm flooded a candy shop. The owner jokingly sold his waterlogged taffy as "saltwater taffy."

Captain Kidd is rumored to have buried treasure somewhere along the Jersey Shore before his capture in 1699. Treasure hunters still search the barrier islands today.

President Grant was fined $20 for a speeding violation while riding his horse in Long Branch—possibly America's first presidential traffic ticket.

Seven U.S. presidents—Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, McKinley, and Wilson—all vacationed in Long Branch, earning it the nickname "Summer Capital."

The Kennedy family vacationed in Wildwood Crest, and JFK gave a famous campaign speech at the Wildwood Convention Center in 1960.

President Lincoln visited Cape May in 1849, staying at the Mansion House hotel with his family. He later called it "the finest seaside resort in America."

Gunnison Beach at Sandy Hook is the only legal clothing-optional beach in New Jersey.

The iconic "Tillie" face painted on Asbury Park's Palace Amusements was based on George C. Tilyou, founder of Coney Island's Steeplechase Park.

Ocean Grove has been a dry town since 1869—longer than Prohibition itself. You still cannot buy alcohol within town limits.

Ocean Grove has 114 Victorian tent houses with a 10-year waitlist. Families have passed down tent leases for generations since the 1870s.

Spring Lake has the highest concentration of Irish ancestry of any town in America at 39.4%, earning its nickname "The Irish Riviera."

In 2017, photos of Governor Chris Christie and his family on the closed Island Beach State Park beach during a government shutdown went viral and became national news.

Island Beach State Park is so popular that it fills to capacity and closes to new vehicles almost every summer weekend by 9-10 AM. Rangers turn away thousands of cars each season.

Island Beach State Park hosts one of the densest osprey nesting populations in New Jersey, with over 50 active nests along its 10-mile stretch.

In the 1920s, erosion threatened to topple Barnegat Lighthouse. Locals saved it by building jetties using baby carriages, old cars, and any heavy objects they could find.

Monopoly's street names are all real Atlantic City streets. The game's creator mapped the board to reflect the city's racial and economic segregation—expensive Boardwalk was white-only.

Steel Pier's famous diving horses leaped 40 feet into a pool from 1929 to 1978. One rider, Sonora Webster Carver, went blind from a dive but continued performing for 11 more years.

Lucy the Elephant has served as a real estate office, a tavern, a summer home, and a tourist attraction over her 140+ year history.

Ocean City has been dry since 1879—before Prohibition even existed. Ironically, a CDC study found it has the highest rate of excessive drinkers of any county in New Jersey.

Ocean City hosts the annual Miss Crustacean beauty pageant for hermit crabs, complete with a runway and a tiny crown for the winner.

Wildwood's beaches are so wide—up to 1,000 feet in some places—that lifeguards drive trucks to their stations. The beach has grown over a mile since 1900.

Avalon calls itself "Cooler by a Mile"—the island's position actually does make it slightly cooler than surrounding beaches.

Cape May Diamonds aren't diamonds at all—they're pure quartz crystals polished by the ocean and washed up on Sunset Beach from the Delaware River.

In 1934, the burning cruise ship Morro Castle ran aground at Asbury Park. The disaster killed 137 people, but morbidly became a tourist attraction as crowds paid to view the wreck.

The 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks that inspired Jaws included an attack at Spring Lake that killed a swimmer—one of four fatal attacks that summer.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy deposited the Jet Star roller coaster into the ocean, creating one of the most iconic images of the storm. Less than a year later, a fire destroyed much of the rebuilt boardwalk.

The 1854 wreck of the Powhattan off Surf City killed 311 immigrants, making it one of the deadliest shipwrecks in New Jersey history.

The Sandy Hook Lighthouse (1764) is the oldest working lighthouse in the United States.

Bradley Beach introduced the first beach badge system in America in 1929, a practice that spread throughout New Jersey.

Ron Jon Surf Shop was founded in Ship Bottom in 1959 as a tiny store. The original is now overshadowed by the massive Cocoa Beach flagship, but LBI is where it started.

Atlantic City built the first boardwalk in America in 1870. It was invented to keep sand out of hotel lobbies.

The Miss America Pageant began in Atlantic City in 1921 as a marketing gimmick to extend the summer tourist season past Labor Day.

Stone Harbor's Bird Sanctuary (1947) was America's first municipal bird sanctuary and remains one of the best places to see herons, egrets, and ibis on the East Coast.

Cape May is the oldest seaside resort in America, welcoming visitors since 1761—15 years before the Declaration of Independence.

The Great Auditorium was built in just 90 days in 1894 and seats 6,500 people. It has hosted seven U.S. presidents.

Lucy the Elephant (1881) is the oldest surviving roadside attraction in America. She was nearly demolished in 1970 but was saved with just 30 days notice by a grassroots campaign.

Wildwood has the largest collection of 1950s Doo-Wop architecture in the world, with over 200 surviving motels featuring neon signs, space-age shapes, and plastic palm trees.

The entire city of Cape May is a National Historic Landmark—the only city in the U.S. to hold this distinction.

Bruce Springsteen was discovered at a beauty parlor—he played his first major gig at the Upstage Club, which was above a Thom McAn shoe store and next to a salon.

The Stone Pony opened in 1974 and became the launching pad for Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, and the Jersey Shore sound that influenced rock music worldwide.

"Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets—often called the first rock and roll hit—debuted at Wildwood's HofBrau Hotel in 1954.

Chubby Checker first performed "The Twist" at Wildwood's Rainbow Club in 1960, launching the dance craze that swept the nation.