Part III of a Five Part Series - Little Known Facts About Seaside Heights, New Jersey

100 Years of traveling over the Bridge and around the Carousel in Seaside Heights, New Jersey

 

 

It was in 1914 that the first bridge allowed homeowners and vacationers to travel from the mainland of Toms River to Seaside Heights. Yet, in the book "The First Fifty", the author remarks that the first wooden bridge was "uncomfortable to ride over, costly to maintain and far too narrow to handle the growing vehicle traffic."




But, it took forty years later and at a cost of $6,000,000 for the long span of the Thomas A. Mathis bridge to cure the pain of crowds waiting in their cars to cross the bridge to Seaside Heights. Once the vacationers arrived, they were ready to enjoy the many attractions such as the Carousel.

The Famous Dentzel Carousel compliments of Seaside Heights

As noted in the Discover Seaside Heights website - http://www.discoverseasideheights.com/history/boardwalk-history:

One of the carousels "was brought from Burlington to Seaside Heights in 1932. It was placed in an open frame building and was still under the care and management of Linus Gilbert. This first building was the beginnings of what would later become the Casino Arcade and Casino Pier. When the carousel building was first built there was a fishing pier located a short distance away."

 "The pier then had nothing to do with what was soon to become a growing amusement area. Eventually the "Seaside Heights Casino” was built to house the carousel and to add more attractions around it. This same building is still in place today. The most recent large scale change to the structure took place in the 1980's. The building was made smaller to keep it from blocking Ocean Boulevard, which is the main street paralleling the western side of the boardwalk."

While the old problem of transporting homeowners and vacationers is now resolved with six lanes for traffic, the plight of the famous carousel has had its ups and downs (no pun intended!). For awhile, it was feared that the carousel would be auctioned off and the town would lose an important part of its history. However, the present owners of the carousel will "convey the carousel to the Borough of Seaside Heights as part of the owners’ broader expansion plans for the Casino Pier", according to their website page.

 For another round of summer, the carousel will continue to bring smiles to the faces of its residents and vacationers. After this summer though, it is expected that the carousel will be moved to another location in Seaside Heights. So, while seasons come and go, the good news is that the carousel will be around for many years to come.

Please return to read Part IV of our five part series! We would love to hear your memories of the bridges of Seaside Heights and the carousel.

 

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ONE OCEAN BOULEVARD
1 Boulevard and Porter Avenue, Seaside Heights, NJ
Visit our website at:  http://www.oneoceanblvd.com

To schedule an appointment to see One Ocean Boulevard

 

Call James Anzano at: 908 330-1446

Email: JAnzano@Glendenning.com