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The society operates a house museum and research library within this beautiful Victorian home in Toms River.

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Since 1950, the Ocean County Historical Society has worked to preserve and share the history of Ocean County and eastern New Jersey. In 2001, the society acquired this Victorian home in Toms River, allowing the museum and research library to move out of its space in the county courthouse. The Richard L. Strickler Research Center maintains a library of over 8000 volumes as well as historic photos, microfilm, and manuscripts.

Ocean County Historical Society Museum and Research Library

This short walk through Toms River includes stops at some of the community's historic homes as well as the Ocean County Historical Society Museum and the Toms River Seaport Society and Maritime Museum. The tour consists of entries authored by the Ocean County Cultural and Heritage Commission.  

The Legislature Act which set off Ocean County from the southern half of 
Monmouth County on February 15, 1850 was created after an appeal from Joel 
Haywood, a pioneer Stafford Township resident. Haywood complained that the 
citizens south of the Manasquan River were not receiving their fair share of 
funding for roads, bridges and welfare for its poor.

Toms River was selected the new county seat of government over Lakehurst 
by a one vote margin.

The new governing body of Ocean County conducted their organizational 
meeting on May 8,1850 at the Tavern of Thomas P. Barkalow, located on the 
corner of Main and Water Streets in Toms River. Colonel Samuel C. Durham, the 
local dock master, was chosen to be the first director from among the body of 
twelve freeholders. Each of the six townships selected two representatives to the 
Freeholder Board. (Stafford, Dover, Jackson, Plumsted, Union and Brick.)

While the new Freeholder board was conducting monthly meetings, which 
began at 8 a.m. and sometimes lasted for two to three days, consideration was 
being given to determine where the new Courthouse would be built. Several lots 
in the Village of Toms River were offered by interested citizens, but the one 
chosen was "a lot on the center of my lands on the north side of the road from the 
meeting house to the Schenck's Mill Road", a cornfield on what is now 
Washington Street. It was offered by Joseph Coward who was so pleased when 
his site was selected that he presented the Board with 6,000 bricks to start the 
construction.

The design of the Greek Revival-style Courthouse reflected the mid nineteenth 
century interests in classical architecture which was built from the architectural 
plans borrowed from Hudson County. With its tall Doric columnns supporting a 
massive pedimented portico, the Courthouse is an excellent example of the temple 
form that was the most distinguishing feature of the Greek Revival style.

The new Courthouse began to take form with the bricks shipped from 
Haverstraw, New York by schooners and unloaded at Robbins Cove at the foot of 
Allen Street. Teams of horses pulled the wagon loads of brick up the hill to the 
new building site. The building was finished in September 1851 so that all of the 
official business of the County could be conducted in one building.

While the construction was going on, the freeholders continued to meet in the 
Thomas P. Barkalow House (later the Ocean House) and at the Riverside Hotel 
across the street.

After the Courthouse construction was completed, the Hudson County 
architectural plans were entrusted to a local man to be returned to that county. He 
did not get too for out of town on horseback before he stopped off at Hyers 
Tavern in Jackson. The plans have never been seen since.

The official county seals were selected at their first meeting. The County 
Freeholders' seal was a sloop, the County Clerk's seal was a schooner and the 
Surrogate's seal was a steam boat. These seals reflected the commercial interest of 
the citizens enclosing the words "Ocean County, N.J."

The old cornfield, where the courthouse was built in the center of what later 
became a city block, is now bounded by Horner Street, Hooper Avenue, and 
Washington Street.

Hooper Avenue was just a narrow dirt lane to Cedar Grove and the Metedeconk 
in 1850. Thomas Hooper, a local Toms River merchant, felt so strongly the the 
town was now going to expand eastward that he used his own money to widen 
the Metedeconk Road. He was honored by having the road bear his name.&nbsp;

Washington Street, at that time, was called the "Meeting House Road." The old 
Methodist Meeting House stood in the cemetery at the crossroads of the two 
roads.

The Meeting House Road had only extended to Dock Street; its name was 
changed to Washington Street in the 1870s for Washington Hadley who built his 
mansion at what is now known as "The Mott Place" at Dock and Washington 
Streets.

The first County Courts were held in the old Mormon-Church which was 
located at the triangular point formed by Flint Boulevard and South Main Street 
on the south side of the river. Governor Daniel Haines had appointed James 
Gulick, as the first Judge of the Court on Common Pleas in Ocean County. Other 
officials appointed by the Governor were Joseph Parker, Sheriff, John J. Irons, 
County Clerk, and David I. C. Rogers as Surrogate. The first Supreme Court 
Justice to sit in the new Courthouse was James C. Nevins.

The second floor in the new Courthouse housed the Courtroom which seated 
250 persons on plain straight - backed benches. The judge's bench of carved 
Black walnut was on a raised dais behind the walnut rail which separated the 
bench from the spectators.

The 1872 extension of the Courtroom in back of the judge's bench called a 
"Grecian bend," with an overhead domed skylight, brought a more Victorian look 
to the Greek Revival style 1850 Courthouse. It is believed that it was at that time 
that the use of dark wood and elaborate ceiling carvings of birds, cupids and 
ribbons were added in the French Rococo period of the late Victorian period.

A costly fire in the Grecian bend on October 26,1929 destroyed the judge's 
bench and furniture, charred the seats and woodwork and damaged the 
courtroom with smoke. The fire broke through the skylight which caused a draft 
that fueled the fire, but the local firemen were able to contain the fire to the 
Courtroom, thus saving the Courthouse.

This large Court Room, located in the most impressive building in town, has 
been used for many community, civic and religious functions other than the 
courts. During the Civil War, this room was the scene of Union recruiting rallies. 
Company F. Fourteenth New Jersey Volunteers, under the Command of Captain 
Ralph B. Gowdy, was organized in this room. Military drills were conducted on 
the lawn in front of the Courthouse steps.&nbsp;

As the village expanded during the building boom of the 1850s the
Courthouse became surrounded by homes. The Gulicks, Havens, Van Hise and
the Van Nostrands were some of the famous who lived in the block. In 1853 the
Methodist Church built a church on the northeast corner of the block, at the
corner of Hooper Avenue and Washington Street. That church stood until 1874
when the congregation built another church across the street. All of these
homesite eventually became part of the Courthouse Complex as the County
began to expand and the need for additional governmental facilities became
necessary for its efficient operation.The Sheriff's House, with ten attached jail cells, was built behind the
Courthouse by Robert Aitken for $4250 in 1851 in the Federal/Greek Revival
style. The Sheriffs and their families occupied this building for over 75 years. In
1921 twenty-four new jail cells were added in a wing at the rear of the 
building. 

Until 1926, family functions and social affairs were held in the living 
quarters of the Sheriff's House, which occupied the front section of the 
building, while prisoners were incarcerated in the cells attached to the 
back of the house. Those first ten cells were nine feet long, nine feet 
high and five feet wide. Each cell had a cot behind iron doors. A 
corridor divided the cells with men and women fraternizing there during 
the daytime hours, but locked in separate cells at night. In the first 
two decades of the jail there were rarely more than two prisoners 
confined at one time with an annual average of about twelve prisoners. 

No prison records were kept until 1860 when Sheriff Charles Wardell began 
compiling them. His records show the crime cost the County about $1,000 
per year. The sheriff's wife cooked the meals for the prisoners which the 
sheriff carried through the connecting door of the living quarters to the 
prisoners in the jail. The County paid the sheriff fifty cents for each 
meal fed to the prisoners. 

The old bell, housed in the cupola on top of the building, was used by 
the Sheriff to alert the Village when there was a prisoner escape. This 
bell is now in the belfry of the Cedar Grove Methodist Church on Bay 
Avenue and Cedar Grove Road. 

The old wooden portion of the Warden's house and several cells were torn 
down in August, 1921. The Freeholders hired the Pauley Jail Company of 
St. Louis, Missouri, at a cost of $75,000, to build twenty-eight cells 
attached to the old jail, fourteen cells on each tier. These cells had 
running water and a toilet.&nbsp; 

The County began to show signs of population growth after World War I and 
the need for an additional Court Room became apparent. A new Hall of 
Records, to house the County Clerk in the first floor, a Court Room and 
law library on the second floor, was built in 1926 at cost of $55,805.42. 
An alley was created between the two buildings with a bridge connecting 
the upper floors of the original Court Room to the new Court Room. 

The County showed little population growth during the depression years of 
the 1930s. World Was II brought officers to the area from the Naval Air 
Station at Lakehurst and Fort Dix. After the war many returned to live 
here permanently. By 1950 the County population began to expand. 

In 1954, when the Garden State Parkway was completed and new housing 
developments began to sprawl about in the County and new citizens began 
to flock to the County from the cities, this second jail of 1921 could no 
longer accommodate the increasing crime rate. In 1940 we had a County 
population of 36,706. The demands for additional facilities became 
apparent as the County population expanded to 56,622 in 1950. In 1958 
there were 98,300 citizens. 

In 1950 the first of two additions were made to the west wing of the 
original Courthouse called the West Wing. The County Clerk's Office 
occupies this addition while the Surrogate and Small Claims Courts occupy 
the 1974 second expansion of this West Wing. 

The 1926 Clerk's Hall of Records was torn down to make way for the 1950 
East Wing expansion. In 1965 Hankin &amp; Hyers, Architects, designed four 
new court rooms which were added to the 1950s section of the East Wing, 
New Judges were added to the Courts as the population growth propelled 
the County into a new era.&nbsp; 










In 1961 an additional jail expansion added a capacity for 110 inmates 
which was used in conjunction with the 1921 wing of the old Sheriff's 
House. The Probation and Sheriff's Department were also located in this 
addition located behind the 1950 East Wing addition. 


This 1961 jail addition still did not meet the court and jail
needs of the County since the population was increasing by 100,000
each decade. It had reached 346,038 by 1980. In 1985 the fourth
jail to be built in the County along with seven new courtrooms
were added in a new facility called the Justice Complex.
The new jail, with 196 cells, was built to the north of the
Courthouse, incorporating the old Sheriff's Street and former
home sites in its building site.
&nbsp;

The Courthouse Annex was built on the east side of Hooper Avenue,
opposite the Courthouse in 1959 to house the Board of Election and
the new voting machines which replaced the paper ballots. These
machines were removed in the early 1970s and stored elsewhere.
The first and second floors of the building then become the
headquarters for the Planning Board, Road Department and the
Engineering Department.The Courthouse became so crowded by the 1970s, when the County
population had grown by an additional 100,000 in the decade of
the 60's and had reached 208,470, that a new facility was required
to house the Board of Freeholders and the administrative division
of the County The Administration Building was built in 1973 on
the east side of Hooper Avenue, opposite the East Wing of the
Courthouse.


The continued population growth, up to about 415,000 by 1988 continues
 to put pressure on the freeholder board to look for new avenues to
house the increasing departments to service the county's growing
needs.

The grounds include commemorative trees, flagpole, flower beds
and war memorial plaques.1 "The Ocean County Courthouse Complex: A Brief History."

Finished in 1851, the Ocean County Courthouse still stands today as a reminder of Ocean County's long and fascinating history. 

Now part of a larger judicial complex, the courthouse remains the focal point of the area facing towards Washington Street.

Ocean County Courthouse

By the 1830s, the village of Toms River was a flourishing seafaring community. The village economy centered around the shipping industry where many sloops and schooners were built to export the regions pinewood and charcoal to the New York market. The Crawford House, similar in design and scale to the Horner House, reflects the simple wood frame architecture common along Captains Row in the 1830s. While the eastern section of the house was remodeled in 1929, the present owner has carefully restored the building's interior using original or similar materials such as South Jersey pine for floor planks and beams. All new material, including the cedar clapboard, was purchased and cut from the Double Trouble Sawmill, (National Register site), where the original materials were made. The house has been success- fully adapted into a law office. 1 "NEW JERSEY OFFICE OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION HISTORIC SITES INVENTORY T W INDIVIDUAL STRUCTURE SURVEY FORM."

This historic home dates back to the 1830s and features the Vernacular Georgian/Federal style. The Crawford House gains its significance from its historical association as the residence of two local mariners, Richard Crawford and Barzillar Grover. Both men chose to reside close to the source of their livelihoods along the Toms River.

Crawford House

The house was the residence of Captain George W. Giberson who was a prominent citizen of Ocean County because of his various roles as a sea captain, large saw mill and cranberry bog owner, bank director, and politician. Capt. Giberson sailed the. schooner, North America, from Toms River to the port of New York. In the early 1850s, he sold the schooner upon inheriting his father's saw mill and cranberry bogs at Double Trouble, (National Register historic site) . Being a successful businessman, Giberson served as a charter director of the First National Bank of Toms River. A measure of Giberson's influence and popularity is reflected in the fact that he was re-elected four times to the position of county freeholder during the 1880s. Based on evidence currently available, it appears that the Captain,. Giberson House was built in the early 1850s. Capt. Giberson purchased the property from Ebenezer Applegate in 1850. In the county surveyor's records, the house is mentioned in 1853 when East Water Street was surveyed for construction. Another local sea captain, John Beatty who commanded the brig, Keyston, lived in the Giberson House after marrying Captain Giberson's daughter. Capt. Beatty sailed to the Gulf ports and West Indies in his three masted schooner.

This historic home was built for Ebenzer Applegate in the 1850s and purchased by Captain George W. Giberson shortly after its completion. Giberson was a local politician, saw mill owner, former sea captain, and prominent citizen.

Captain George W. Giberson House

Joseph A. Pharo of Barnegat, a local builder, built this house for Edward Taylor at the same time that he built the Mott House and the Francis House on East Water Street. The Taylor heirs sold the house to Julia A. Hanington of Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1882. She and her son Robert were artists who painted many river scenes in and around Toms River. Robert built the studio in back of the house which connected with the carriage house. The house was sold to A.A. Brant, a local banker and coal and lumber merchant in 1899. The house was again sold to another artist, Florence A. Chalfont of Philadelphia in 1927 who used the studio until her heirs sold it to Harry C. Shinn who converted the studio into an engineering office in 1934.The most significant period of this house was during the occupancy of the artists, however, the prominence of A.A. Brant, in local affairs, has tended to give the house his name.

Constructed in the 19th century and located in a part residential and professional office area, the A.A. Brant House is situated on a high bluff overlooking the Toms River. The home features the Vernacular Queen Ann style of architecture and was acquired by influential New Jersey coal and lumber merchant A. A. Brant in 1899. 

A.A. Brant House

Joseph Francis dedicated his whole life to the cause of humanity and progress.
His many inventions changed the course of manufacturing and allowed new products
to be developed.
His inventions in life saving contributed to countless lives that were saved in the 
waters of the New Jersey coast and throughout the world.

In his early years he made improvements in wooden boats and other means of saving lives.
Among the wonders that Mr. Francis brought to the 19th century
were two devices that would save thousands of lives imperiled by shipwrecks worldwide.
He invented the process of corrugation which allowed him to produce the Corrugated Metallic Life Boat,
and the Corrugated Metallic Life-Car.
By means of heavy dies and a hydraulic press he was able to corrugate iron and other metal plates.
This corrugation of the metal plates stiffened them so that a light but perfectly strong boat could be built.
"... to him is due the credit of introducing the era of iron shipbuilding."
In addition he successfully produced other valuable improvements and inventions such as
the Nautilus Life-preserver, reverse bottom life boats, portable screw boats,
molded boats, life and anchor boats, corrugated pontoon wagons, steamers, floating docks,
stop corrugation, harbor and channel buoys, etc.
He improved wooden life boats by including self righting and self bailing.
By 1841 all government vessels and nearly all merchant ships sailing from New York City
had been provided with his life boats.

By 1819, he was 18 years old, and had built a prize winning rowboat.
The prize was awarded by the Massachusetts Mechanical Institute.
In 1830 he built the "Seadrift", a 30 foot, four oared rowboat of 1/4" Spanish cedar,
fastened by copper rivets, and weighing only 600 pounds.
His process of prefabrication produced a portable screw fastened boat that was easily
assembled on site.
Another of his boat building inventions was the pre-made form.
The boats were built upon these forms which produced an exact duplicate of the hull.
These boats were made of 1" square cedar strips nailed edge to edge to hide the fastenings,
therefore eliminating the caulking process.
In 1843 he produced his first corrugated metal boat using the molding process with cast iron forms.
The hull was made of 18 gauge galvanized sheet metal, riveted together.

In 1844 his corrugated Metallic Life-Car, outfitted with cork fenders to protect it from being
beaten against the shipwrecks hull, began to save lives.
In the month of January of 1850, in a blinding snowstorm,
his Life-Car saved 200 lives of 201 who on board the British emigrant ship Ayrshire.
The wreck was just south of Long Branch, NJ.
Within four years 2500 lives and a large amount of valuable cargo had been saved by Francis'
Life-Boats and Life-Cars, these being in use in nearly every part of the world.
In 1885 the Ayrshire life-Car was presented by the inventor to the National Museum in Washington.

His invention of the "stop corrugation" system allowed the ends of corrugated metal to be joined smoothly.
He had production facilities in Hamburg, Germany and Liverpool, England
where steamers and floating docks were produced for Europe and Russia.
In 1848 he built a corrugated copper barge and a corrugated iron barge for exploration
of the Dead Sea and the river Jordan.
He was noted in the Marine Journal by the Russian Imperial Navy in November 1860
for his floating docks and barges.

In 1888, a joint resolution, tendering him the thanks of Congress and authorizing the
President to cause a gold medal to be prepared, brought him recognition from the national
government and in April 1890, the medal was placed in his hands by President Harrison.
This medal was the largest ever bestowed by Congress.
It was designed by St. Gaudens and cost nearly $6000.
In April 1892 the aged inventor was introduced to the U.S. senate by unanimous consent
of that body - an unusual honor.

Mr. Francis was a life member of the American Institute and a member of the
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co. of Boston.
He Authored the book "life Saving Appliances" and contributed to many periodicals2 "Joseph Francis March 12, 1801 - May 20, 1893 Thumbnail Sketch of an Inventor and Entrepreneur."

 The Maritime Museum is headquartered in the 1868 former carriage house for the Joseph Francis estate. This building was in very poor condition when the society leased it from the county with the condition that the building be restored and maintained by the Seaport Society. The downstairs portion of the building, that once housed carriages and horses, now houses the library, ships store, ship model displays, and a small boat display. Upstairs was the grooms quarters and hay loft and is now an artifact display room, office, and meeting / work room

Outdoor storage sheds were added to the property and now contain part of the societies collection of wooden boats. The restoration shop was built alongside the museum, to provide much needed work space and tool displays.

The museum has constructed a building to house the A-cat Spy and other local boats. This building will be located on the south-west corner of the property, bordering Hooper Ave. and River Road.

The museum has a large collection of Barnegat Bay Sneakboxes including the 20 foot racing sneakbox Stormalong, Slade Dale's camping sneakbox Sheldrake, a 15 foot racing sneakbox, and a Barnegat Bay duckboat, the Delux Duck that competes in the annual Duckboat world championship. 

1 "Maritime Museum and Displays."

Toms River Seaport Society and Maritime Museum/Joseph Francis Carriage House

The primary significance of the structure is its historical association as the residence of Captain Amos Birdsall. Coming from a prominent seafaring family, Capt. Birdsall was regarded as one of the most successful sea captains and master ship builders along the Atlantic Coast. From Waretown, Birdsall built and captained numerous schooners that traded along the coast and later sailed to the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico. After his retirement from sailing, Capt. Birdsall concentrated on ship building and managing his fleet of fourmaster schooners which included the Agnes Manning, one of the earliest fourmasters on the coast. In 1868, Capt. Birdsall moved his family from Waretown to Toms River in order that he could commute by rail to his shipping offices in New York City. Birdsall also had financial interest in local banking and was the second president of the First National Bank of Toms River. &nbsp;1 "NEW JERSEY OFFICE OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION HISTORIC SITES INVENTORY T W INDIVIDUAL STRUCTURE SURVEY FORM."

This historic Toms River house was built in 1868 and offers a model of the Vernacular Colonial Revival style of architecture. The home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. 

Toms River New Jersey Walking Tour

Ocean County Historical Society Museum and Research Library

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