Jersey Shore Magazine

732-892-0465 est. 1959 This undated image of Tucker's Island shows the lighthouse and nearby hotels. The island at one time boasted a tavern, school, and cottages beginning before the Revolutionary War. 24 / 7 Service Taxis • Limos • Airport Service Passenger & Wheelchair Accessible Vans Gift Cards Available Limo Reservations Online @ www.briggstransportation.com a 1-800-786-0447 y Please refer to page 59 Climate Controlled Indoor Pistol Range OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK Off Rt. 70 in the Lakewood Industrial Park www.shoreshotpistolrange.com Please refer to page 39 2 0 1 3 732-905-6888 F a l l / h o l i d a y 730 Airport Road Lakewood, NJ • Gift Certificates Available s h o r e Open To The Public Gun Rentals Available Lessons And Sales No Age Requirement Ten Pistol Lanes Firearm Supplies j e r s e y ucker's Island, also known as Short Beach, was typical of New Jersey's changing shoreline. Its story illustrates what the sea was doing to many of our beaches during Sandy. Reuben Tucker purchased the southern tip of Long Beach Island in 1765, when sportsmen and their families from the Philadelphia area began making regular stagecoach visits to the Jersey Shore. Tucker realized he could make extra money by offering "health and entertainment" in more comfortable accommodations, and his farmhouse soon doubled as an inn, especially for Quakers. After his death, his widow continued the inn-keeping tradition. Tucker's Inn was later replaced by the larger twenty-seven-room Columbia Hotel, and with the addition of a four-story hotel and a schoolhouse, the island had become a small community and an early ocean resort called Sea Haven. Around 1800, the ocean cut an inlet between Holgate and Tucker's Beach, and Tucker's Beach became Tucker's Island. A short brick tower, built in 1848 to guide traffic into Little Egg Harbor, was fitted with a Fresnel lens and became a lighthouse in 1855. In 1866, the Little Egg Harbor Life Saving Station was established on the island. The inlet north of Tucker's Island was fickle. At times Tucker's Island was attached to the larger Long Beach Island, while at other times it stood alone. During a blizzard in 1920, the inlet broke through and started to move south. Foot by foot, Tucker's Island was being erased. One by one, hotels and houses were washed away. On October 12, 1927, the lighthouse toppled into the sea. Earlier storms had undermined its foundation, and the sands were constantly being washed away. Eight years after the lighthouse was lost, the sea claimed the Coast Guard Station. The schoolhouse followed in 1938. By 1952, the entire island had disappeared. Tucker's Island is now nothing but a submerged sandbar. With the shifting waves, currents, and tides, Tucker's Island could rise again. —Gordon Hesse 732-892-1313 67

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