From The Archives

Brielle: An Historic Community by the Manasquan River

A little more than 2 years ago, I found myself headed east across I195 towards the Jersey Shore. I was both curious and clueless about my destination—the little town called Brielle that I had been told was near the Shore. A few turns later, and now on Route 35 which runs down the coast after one crosses the bridge over the Manasquan River, I saw the exit sign for “Brielle, A Community by the River.”

My first impression of Brielle was that it was a quiet town. It had only two traffic lights, two prosperous-looking restaurants as evidenced by the number of cars in their parking lots, a post office, and a few stores. But then I turned onto Ashley Avenue where I saw some very handsome homes, some appearing to have been built in the later part of the nineteenth century. As it turned out, my host lived in a carriage house that was built sometime between 1880 and 1890. He told me that his home had been built on a large tract of land owned by the Potter family. The tract was divided into three parts in 1956: the original home on the Manasquan River, the carriage house, and a house built for the Potter’s son.

Between the river and the carriage house, there was a mysterious tall tower. My host explained that Brielle was named after a town of the same name in the Netherlands because they both had many windmills. The Brielle windmills were used to pump brackish water from the Manasquan River into evaporating beds. The salt that remained after the water evaporated was much valued during the Revolutionary War days when the British refused to sell us salt. It is said that an army marches on its stomach, and our revolutionary army needed salt to cure meat so that it could eat and fight the British. Today, only one handsome windmill remains—the one at the end of Ashley Avenue.

Brielle still has several historic homes that were built prior to the American Revolution. Three families who settled in the area of Brielle prior to the Revolution were the Longstreets (aka Langstraat), who came from Holland in 1657 and settled along the Manasquan River; the Osborns (aka Osbornes) who came from England sometime in the early 1700’s; and the Allens, who also were from England. The Allens settled in New England before coming to New Jersey in 1740.

But Brielle’s history goes even further back to the Dutch explorers. In 1609, and under the leadership of Captain Henry Hudson, they sailed the ship “Half Moon” from the Barnegat Bay, which is too the south of Brielle, along the Atlantic Ocean coastline to the Navesink Highlands. During that trip, the explorers encountered the Lenni Lenape people who lived along the coast.
Some of the early English settlers were loyal to “the crown;” some were patriots; others were simply passive. Not surprisingly, there were divisions within families. The oldest home in Brielle is “Boxwood Cottage.” It was built circa 1760 by a Longstreet who had married an Osborn. Because this Longstreet was known as a “passive Tory,” Boxwood Cottage survived an attack by the British when they burned to the ground all of the other homes in the area close to the Manasquan River.

Both the Osborns and the Allens were revolutionaries. The Samuel Osborn farmhouse, probably built around 1750, is still in existence and is now the popular restaurant, Harpoon Willy’s. A brick house, built by Abraham Osborn in 1780s is now part of the Manasquan River Golf Club. Less is known about the people who built or lived in some of the other older homes. For example, word of mouth has it that, among the owners of 324 Fisk Avenue, said to have been built in 1888m were a sea captain, a bootlegger, and an opera singer. It is said that it was the opera singer who decided to put down a marble sidewalk to the home after seeing the large marble slabs used on ships as ballast.

Very early on, Brielle became known for its ship builders and for its merchant ship captains who sailed up and down the Atlantic Coast, delivering needed goods. When gold was discovered in California, some of the bolder ship captains even sailed around South America and then north to California with much needed supplies for the prospectors. In 1872, railroad tracks began to be laid; and not long after that, hotels began to spring up because of the opportunities for big game fishing. Privately owned fishing craft were equipped to take visitors out to sea where they could fish for big game—swordfish, sharks, and blue fin tuna. In 1939, a great white shark weighing 998 pounds was caught by a woman; and in 1933 a giant sea manta weighing eight tons was brought in after it had become entangled in an anchor chain. Soon, Brielle was being called the “Sport Fishing Capitol of the World.” People who love to fish are still drawn to Brielle, and some fishing enthusiasts have made Brielle their home for that reason.

There is so much more that could be said about the history of Brielle. When I look back on Brielle’s past and compare it with the Brielle of today, I am impressed that it still has many people who are open to seeing possibilities and exploring opportunities. A surprising number of the people here have achieved a great deal—whether financially, creatively, academically, or simply in leading lives as the best people they can be. And from my own perspective, I think living in Brielle has bought out the best in me.

Mary jane Barretta, Ph.D.
Sales Associate, Jack Green Realty