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Twin ~ Lights - Highlands in Monmouth County, NJ
Twin ~ Lights - Highlands in Monmouth County, NJ

As long as people have been visiting the Twin Lights, they have also heard the siren song of the nearby beaches. For more than 150 years, bathers have frolicked in the surf of the Atlantic or relaxed in the calmer waters of Sandy Hook Bay. The first regular boat service to this area from points north began in 1832. Train service followed after the Civil War. The area began to flourish as a destination for beachgoers after a permanent bridge over the Navesink was completed in 1872.

Highland Beach truly took off in the late 1880s, after a portion of Sandy Hook was developed and promoted for recreational use. This area—just across from the Twin Lights, was rechristened Highland Beach. Highland Beach became a mix of private homes, hotels, beach clubs and family-friendly amusement parks. Long piers accommodated the steamers that brought city dwellers from New York and Northern New Jersey in search of relief from the summer swelter.

The area’s draw as a resort began to wane in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. Wind, weather and neglect took its toll over the next 20 years. The discontinuation of train service after World War II cut into tourist traffic. Those who could travel by car began exploring shore areas to the south—a trip made possible by the opening of the Garden State Parkway. The beaches continued to be popular, of course, but as fewer day-trippers came, business focused more on the full-time (and summer rental) residents of Eastern Monmouth County.

Today, the beaches within view of the Twin Lights accommodate both area residents and daily or weekend visitors. This trend began in the 1960s and 1970s, when Sandy Hook transitioned from private and government hands to become what is now the Gateway National Recreation Area.

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Taken on: July 31, 2013
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