Oceanport has no ocean, no port: Its curious history highlighted as centennial nears

Dan Radel | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Oceanport nears its centennial Oceanport is getting ready to celebrate its centennial in 2020.

OCEANPORT - Happy almost birthday, Oceanport.

Next year, Oceanport will turn 100 years old. To commemorate the centennial, the Oceanport Historical Committee is writing a book to complement the one the town did for its 50th anniversary in 1970.

And it won't just be "an old history book," town historian Frank Barricelli said.

"It has to deal with the people who've been in the town and moved the town along in the last 50 years because that's what the first book did," Barricelli said.

Historically speaking, Oceanport doesn't come into existence until 1920 when the town's people felt strong enough to "break away from Eatontown and become its own borough," Barricelli said.

Of course, there was plenty of history before that. Native Americans fished and hunted on the Shrewsbury River before members of the Monmouth Patent began scouting the area and making land purchases from the Indians in 1665.

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One of the patentees, William Reape, promoted the settlement. When he died in 1670 his land holdings were inherited by his wife, Sarah Reape.

She settled her family on what was called "Pootapeck Neck" and built her home on the banks of the Shrewsbury River where Wardell Circle is today.

Her small home became the kitchen area of the Port Au Peck Hotel. The hotel closed in 1922 during Prohibition and burned to the ground in 1923. Clambakes were a specialty of the hotel and were frequently held in other Oceanport locations.

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The town went by many names. There was Peggy's Point and Eatontown Dock where charcoal was shipped by steamboat to New York City. In the mid-19th century, it started to be called Ocean Port, when there still was an inlet where Sea Bright is today.

However, that inlet closed up long ago and today "the town has neither an ocean nor a port," said Mayor Jay Coffey.

From shipping, the town's fortunes shifted briefly to horse racing in the 1870s when the Monmouth Park Racetrack was opened. In 1893 though, New Jersey outlawed horse betting, and it would stay that way until 1946.

"A race track without wagering does not survive," Barricelli said.

As luck would have it, in 1917 the U.S. Army came looking for a site for its Signal Corps and turned a potato farm into Camp Vail, later to be called Fort Monmouth.

"The town was kind of small, so when the army goes in, all of a sudden business picks up, you can rent your house out. Everybody who knows how to use a saw gets hired," Barricelli said.

Three years later, Oceanport is born.

"We're actually pretty relevant. We have a lot more history than we thought," said committee member Robin Kelly.

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Centennial events

More than just the book, the committee has planned a slew of events to mark the centennial.

Monmouth Park is hosting Oceanport Day which will feature "The Oceanport Centennial Race,” on June 7.

The Centennial Gala will be held at the Turf Room at Monmouth Park on Oct. 17.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.