Jersey Shore Magazine

J e r s e y s h o r e • F A L L / H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 5 12 BEACHCOMBER continued from page 11 Jill M. Ocone W here did the rocks at the Manasquan Inlet come from? What used to be where the Green Planet Coffee Company is now, on the corner of Arnold and Bay Avenues in Point Pleasant Beach? If you've got questions about the history of the towns Point Pleasant Beach or Point Pleasant Boro, Jerry Woolley, the Point Pleasant Beach Historian, is your go-to-man. Born right here in 1958, and a life- time resident of Point Pleasant Beach, it would be difficult to find someone with more passion for history or love of the area than Woolley. He has published six books and has centuries of information in his archives. Growing up just a few blocks from the boardwalk, he now lives in his grandparents' home on the west side of the railroad tracks with his wife, Eileen. It's the house his children grew up in, which has been in his family for generations. In fact, his ancestors can be traced back as Point Pleasant Beach residents all the way to the early 1800s. Woolley's interest in area history first began when, as a child, he saw his grandmother's postcard collec- The Most Interesting Man In 08742 Point Pleasant Beach Town Historian Jerry Woolley tion. "She'd pull them out and tell me about the places on the post- cards," he explained. The rich images of local sights and his grandmother's old stories sparked his curiosity. As a result, Woolley started his own postcard collection, which is neatly arranged in numerous photo binders and now numbers in the thousands. He eventually added his grandmother's postcards, and today, Woolley's is one of the most exten- sive collections of the Point Pleasant/ Jersey Shore area. As a student at Point Pleasant Beach High School in the 1970s, Woolley remembers two specific inci- dents that further peaked his interest in area history. One was a school assembly featuring local historian and author William M.E. Hess, who showed old movie footage of the Point Pleasant area as a part of his presentation. "He talked about the area, and I always remembered it. It's really what got me started," Woolley said. The second event occurred when he was a senior. Woolley was assigned a class project in history. For his assignment, he prepared a Jerry Woolley and his extensive library of Jersey Shore area historical archives. He is holding an original photo of Risden's Casino from the early 1900s. "Then and Now" slide presentation using old, historic photos of vari- ous Point Pleasant Beach locations. He then photographed the same locations with his own camera. The end result of his project showed the past and present and how the area had changed over time. He said, "It was received well and a lot of fun to make." Upon graduating high school, Woolley worked for several years at the local radio station, WADB, where he forecasted the weather, among other responsibilities. He is one of the original members of the Point Pleasant Beach Historical Commission and was active in the Point Pleasant Historical Society for many years, even serving as its President and Treasurer. Woolley now works as a postal employee, and as life's demands shifted over the years, he became less active in the local historical groups. One surprising fact about Point Pleasant Beach, according to Woolley, is that there are several old farm- houses still standing that date back to the mid-1800s. These are mixed in with regular homes and blend in with the shore neighborhood so well that unless someone knew the histo- ry of the houses, it would be difficult to pick them out. Another fact that might surprise locals and visitors alike is that even though work began on the Point Pleasant Canal in 1916, the idea of a canal connecting the Manasquan River to Barnegat Bay was actually conceived in 1833. It took a little over eighty years for engineers, gov- ernment officials, and planners to come together and make the Canal plan a reality. Work was halted during World War I, and when it resumed, it would take a few more years to complete. The pivotal moment when the river flow met the bay water was, by Woolley's account, on December 15, 1925 at 3:15 PM, when the last shovel of dirt was

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