Barnegat Peninsula
Encyclopedia
The Barnegat Peninsula, also known as the Island Beach Peninsula and colloquially as "the barrier island", is a 20-mile long, narrow barrier peninsula located in Ocean County
Ocean County, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 510,916 people, 200,402 households, and 137,876 families residing in the county. The population density was 803 people per square mile . There were 248,711 housing units at an average density of 151/km²...

, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, that divides the Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Bay is a small brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 30 miles long, along the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. It is a long barrier peninsula, as well as by the north end of Long Beach Island...

 from the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

. It is a vacation destination and summer colony
Summer colony
The term summer colony is often used, particularly in the United States and Canada, to describe well-known resorts and upper-class enclaves, typically located near the ocean or mountains of New England or the Great Lakes...

 area and is heavily dependent on the industries of tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

; real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

; and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

. The Barnegat Peninsula is one of the most sought-after areas on the Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used to refer to both the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities. . The New Jersey State Department of Tourism considers the Shore Region, Greater Atlantic City, and the Southern Shore to be distinct, each having...

 for tourists and local home owners alike. Notable communities on the peninsula include Point Pleasant Beach
Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey
Point Pleasant Beach is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 4,665....

, Bay Head
Bay Head, New Jersey
Bay Head is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 968. Bay Head is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean...

, Mantoloking
Mantoloking, New Jersey
Mantoloking is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States . As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough had a total population of 296. The borough has an estimated summer population of approximately 5,000...

, Lavallette
Lavallette, New Jersey
Lavallette is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 1,875. Lavallette is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.Lavallette was...

, Ortley Beach, Seaside Heights
Seaside Heights, New Jersey
Seaside Heights is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 2,887. Seaside Heights is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean...

 and Seaside Park
Seaside Park, New Jersey
Seaside Park is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 1,579. Seaside Park is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.The first inhabitants...

. The southern 10-miles of the barrier island is preserved in its natural state as Island Beach State Park
Island Beach State Park
Island Beach State Park is a New Jersey state park located just south of Seaside Park on the Barnegat Peninsula in Berkeley Township, Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry...

, New Jersey's longest stretch of undeveloped coastline.

Geography

The peninsula divides the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 from Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Bay is a small brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 30 miles long, along the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. It is a long barrier peninsula, as well as by the north end of Long Beach Island...

 in Ocean County, New Jersey
Ocean County, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 510,916 people, 200,402 households, and 137,876 families residing in the county. The population density was 803 people per square mile . There were 248,711 housing units at an average density of 151/km²...

. It stretches approximately 20 miles from Manasquan Inlet
Manasquan Inlet
The Manasquan Inlet is an inlet that connects the Atlantic Ocean withthe Manasquan River, dividing the counties of Ocean Countyand Monmouth County in the state of New Jersey....

 in Point Pleasant Beach
Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey
Point Pleasant Beach is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 4,665....

 in the north to Island Beach State Park
Island Beach State Park
Island Beach State Park is a New Jersey state park located just south of Seaside Park on the Barnegat Peninsula in Berkeley Township, Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry...

 in the south. It is separated from Long Beach Island
Long Beach Island
Long Beach Island is a barrier island and summer colony along the Atlantic Ocean coast of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States...

 to the south by the treacherous Barnegat Inlet
Barnegat Inlet
Barnegat Inlet is a small inlet connecting the Barnegat Bay with the Atlantic Ocean in Ocean County, New Jersey. It separates Island Beach State Park and the Barnegat Peninsula from Long Beach Island...

.

The area surrounding the peninsula were described by Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...

, in 1609, as "...a great lake of water, as we could judge it to be ... The mouth of the lake hath many shoals, and the sea breaketh on them as it is cast out of the mouth of it." The name of the peninsula is derived from that of the adjacent inlet and bay, which were originally named in 1614 "Barendegat," or "Inlet of the Breakers," by Dutch settlers, referring to the waterway's turbulent channel.

Communities

Communities on the peninsula include Point Pleasant Beach
Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey
Point Pleasant Beach is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 4,665....

, Bay Head
Bay Head, New Jersey
Bay Head is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 968. Bay Head is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean...

, Mantoloking
Mantoloking, New Jersey
Mantoloking is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States . As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough had a total population of 296. The borough has an estimated summer population of approximately 5,000...

, Lavallette
Lavallette, New Jersey
Lavallette is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 1,875. Lavallette is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.Lavallette was...

, Ortley Beach, Normandy Beach, Seaside Heights
Seaside Heights, New Jersey
Seaside Heights is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 2,887. Seaside Heights is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean...

, and Seaside Park
Seaside Park, New Jersey
Seaside Park is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 1,579. Seaside Park is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.The first inhabitants...

. Additionally, Brick Township
Brick Township, New Jersey
-Transportation:The major county routes that pass through are CR 528, and CR 549 . Two state routes pass through: Route 70 and Route 88...

 Beaches I, II, and III, Dover Beaches North
Dover Beaches North, New Jersey
Dover Beaches North is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Toms River, in Ocean County, New Jersey. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 1,785. The CDP includes the communities of half of Normandy Beach, Normandy Shores, Ocean Beaches 1,2 and 3,...

, and Dover Beaches South
Dover Beaches South, New Jersey
Dover Beaches South more commonly known as Ortley Beach is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Toms River Township, in Ocean County, New Jersey. As of the 2000 United States Census, the CDP population was 1,594. It is more commonly called Ortley Beach...

 are located on the peninsula.

Point Pleasant beach
Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey
Point Pleasant Beach is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 4,665....

 is a popular family resort known for its boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....

, aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

, and fishing industry
Fishing industry
The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products....

. The town is also adjacent to the Manasquan River
Manasquan River
The Manasquan River is a waterway in central New Jersey. It flows from central Monmouth County, beginning in Freehold Township, to the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties between the communities of Manasquan and Point Pleasant via the Manasquan Inlet. It widens greatly as it nears the ocean, making...

 and Manasquan Inlet
Manasquan Inlet
The Manasquan Inlet is an inlet that connects the Atlantic Ocean withthe Manasquan River, dividing the counties of Ocean Countyand Monmouth County in the state of New Jersey....

.

Bay Head, is noted for its quiet beaches, the Bay Head Yacht Club and its fine Shingle-style seashore houses. Bay Head was founded in 1886 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

Mantoloking, the second wealthiest community in the State of New Jersey, is known for its Shingle-style houses overlooking the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 and Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Bay is a small brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 30 miles long, along the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. It is a long barrier peninsula, as well as by the north end of Long Beach Island...

. The Mantoloking Yacht Club has produced Olympic-champions.

Normandy Beach, New Jersey, Lavallette
Lavallette, New Jersey
Lavallette is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 1,875. Lavallette is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.Lavallette was...

, Dover Beaches North, New Jersey
Dover Beaches North, New Jersey
Dover Beaches North is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Toms River, in Ocean County, New Jersey. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 1,785. The CDP includes the communities of half of Normandy Beach, Normandy Shores, Ocean Beaches 1,2 and 3,...

 (Ocean Beach and Chadwick Beach); Ortley Beach; and Seaside Park
Seaside Park, New Jersey
Seaside Park is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 1,579. Seaside Park is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.The first inhabitants...

 are predominantly summer-only coastal towns with extremely small winter populations. They are popular for their fairly affordable housing stock, their ocean beaches and access to water activities on Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Bay is a small brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 30 miles long, along the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. It is a long barrier peninsula, as well as by the north end of Long Beach Island...

 and the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

.

Seaside Heights
Seaside Heights, New Jersey
Seaside Heights is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 2,887. Seaside Heights is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean...

 is the principal community in the southern half of the peninsula, world-famous for its boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....

 and amusement piers lined with food stands, shops, games-of-chance, and amusement park rides. Seaside Heights has a summer population of close to 40,000 and a winter population of just 5,000. The town is popular with vacationers from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 itself and beyond. In the summers of 1998 and 2002, MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 hosted their summer-broadcast in Seaside Heights.

The main thoroughfare connecting these shore towns is Route 35
Route 35 (New Jersey)
Route 35 is a state highway in the U.S. state of New Jersey, primarily traveling through the easternmost parts of Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean counties. It runs from the entrance to Island Beach State Park in Berkeley Township, Ocean County to an intersection with Route 27 in Rahway, Union County...

. Connections to the mainland include the Mathis and Tunney Bridges
Thomas A. Mathis and J. Stanley Tunney Bridges
The Thomas A. Mathis Bridge and J. Stanley Tunney Bridge are a pair of bridges that span Barnegat Bay in Ocean County, New Jersey, connecting Route 37 in Toms River with Pelican Island and communities along the Jersey Shore on the Barnegat Peninsula...

 in Toms River
Toms River, New Jersey
Toms River is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Toms River Township and is the county seat of Ocean County, New Jersey. It is part of a larger Toms River Township...

 connecting Seaside Heights, Route 35 running north from Point Pleasant Beach to Manasquan
Manasquan, New Jersey
-Government:Manasquan is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office and only...

 over the Manasquan River
Manasquan River
The Manasquan River is a waterway in central New Jersey. It flows from central Monmouth County, beginning in Freehold Township, to the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties between the communities of Manasquan and Point Pleasant via the Manasquan Inlet. It widens greatly as it nears the ocean, making...

, Bridge Avenue between Point Pleasant
Point Pleasant, New Jersey
Point Pleasant is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 18,392...

 and Bay Head
Bay Head, New Jersey
Bay Head is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 968. Bay Head is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean...

, and the Mantoloking Bridge linking Mantoloking with Brick Township
Brick Township, New Jersey
-Transportation:The major county routes that pass through are CR 528, and CR 549 . Two state routes pass through: Route 70 and Route 88...

.

Since the Point Pleasant Canal
Point Pleasant Canal
The Point Pleasant Canal is a canal in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. It was completed in late 1925 to connect the Manasquan Inlet and Manasquan River with Bay Head Harbor on the northern end of the Barnegat Bay...

 was built in 1925 connecting the Manasquan Inlet with the Barnegat Bay, the peninsula is technically an island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

. It is sometimes referred to as Barnegat Beach Island, or more commonly, "the barrier island."

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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