According to the “legend,” Captain William Kidd anchored his ship off what was known as Duck Creek (now called Sylvan Lake) back in the year 1679, found his way to a spot beneath two large pine trees, and then buried his treasure there. He then left the area never to return, and the treasure has never been found.
Fast forward roughly 200 years to 1871 when William B. Bradner and James A. Bradley, a wealthy New York manufacturer, invest in the purchase of 54 acres of land that would carry Bradley’s name alone, and Bradley Beach was born. Twenty-two years later in 1893 Bradley Beach became an incorporated community, and by the year 1927 it was a very popular resort town, and the facilities at the beach front included several hundred dressing rooms, hot water baths, two large open-air swimming pools and a number of stores. Construction of the Garden State Parkway in the 1950's contributed to an influx of metropolitan area residents seeking a year-round home with the appeal of living by the ocean coupled with an easy commute to the workplace.
Today there are approximately 5,000 year-round residents in Bradley Beach, and the population swells to about 30,000 in the summer season. This Monmouth County resort town is below Ocean Grove, and it is a place of lovely homes, inviting shops and restaurants and a great beach, as well as another boardwalk you’ll discover along the New Jersey shoreline. Hit the waves at Bradley Beach, home to some of the best surfing in the state of New Jersey and ideal conditions for swimming and scuba diving.
The Bradley Beach boardwalk extends for a mile along the beautiful and inviting sandy beach, and summertime is when visitors and residents can hear the sounds of music – for listening and dancing – coming from the gazebo that is next to the boardwalk. The boardwalk extends north into Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, and south through Avon-by-the-Sea, Belmar, and Spring Lake.
Bradley Beach is one more coastal New Jersey resort town where you can “…walk the boards.” For more information on Bradley Beach, New Jersey go online to
www.bradleybeachonline.com/
Bradley Beach Municipal Building
701 Main Street
Bradley Beach, NJ 07720
732-776-2999
Beach Information (732-776-2981)
Restrooms: (On the boardwalk) Evergreen, Third, La Reine and Newark Avenues
Concession Stands: Brinley, Second and Newark Avenues.
Surfing: One mile stretch from Third through Fifth Avenues.
Beach Tag Fees:
Seasonal: $60.00
Daily: $7.00
Seasonal (ages 14-15) $25.00
Seasonal (ages 60 and over) $25.00
Ages 13 and under: Free.
On Street Parking:
Free parking: west side of Ocean Avenue.
$1.00 per hour: east side of Ocean Avenue
Change machines: Brinley Avenue and Second Avenue
Note: Parking meters must be fed through Labor Day.
Disabled Beach access:
Newark and Second Avenues. Beach wheelchairs are available.
Toddler Parks: (ages 1- 4)
Cliff, La Reine and Second Avenues.
