Brielle Historical Timeline
| 1497 | John Cabot discovers North America under commission of Henry VII of England in June 1497 |
| 1609 | Henry Hudson claims the area around the Hudson River for Holland in September 1609 - The Dutch name the area, New Amsterdam |
| 1663 | 12 men from Long Island sailed to what is now Monmouth County and purchased land from the Indians - Thomas Rudyard, deputy governor of NY, gave this group a land grant known as the “Monmouth Patent” - Monmouth was named after Colonel Lewis Morris’s native county in England, Monmouthshire |
| 1664 | Holland cedes their holdings in the region, New Amsterdam (New York, New Jersey and western Connecticut), peacefully to Great Britain in 1664 |
| 1664 | James, Duke of York (Brother of King Charles II) grants Sir George Carteret (East Jersey) and Lord Berkeley (West Jersey) the lands between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers |
| 1664 | Middletown was the first village settled in Monmouth County in 1664; Shrewsbury was second, settled a short time later, also in 1664 |
| 1683 | Original four East Jersey counties established - Bergen, Essex, Middlesex and Monmouth - Monmouth was the first of the four counties to be settled - Ocean County split form Monmouth in 1850 |
| 1694 | Original two West Jersey counties established - Burlington and Salem |
| 1680 – 1750 | In the late 1600’s and early 1700’s settlers, primarily Dutch and English, began arriving in the aera now known as Brielle on the north banks of the Manasquan River - The area now known as Brielle was initially part of Shrewsbury, which was established on October 31st, 1693 - Howell, containing the area now known as Brielle, separated from Shrewsbury on February 23rd, 1801 - Wall, containing the area now known as Brielle, separated from Howell on March 7th, 1851 A small commercial port called the Landing, and later Union Landing, was established on the Manasquan River - Farming is the principal business activity in Brielle and Monmouth County - Local farmers used the port on the Manasquan River to send their local products to markets in New York City and Philadelphia - A modest ship building industry developed around Union Landing, as did shipping activities, known as “coastal trading” - As a result, many early families of Brielle were not only farmers, but also sea captains conducting a very robust coastal trade, shipping local products to the New York and Philadelphia areas and importing the necessities of the day Link to Sea Captains in Brielle - The main source of communications with the “outside world” was via schooners sailing from Union Landing on the Manasquan River to New York City and Philadelphia - Two prominent early families in Brielle were the Longstreets and the Osborns - Link to “Longstreet Family” article (TBD) - Link to the “Osborn Family” article (TBD) Link to The Osborn Family Graveyard |
| 1768 | The first bridge over the Manasquan River, the Upper Bridge, was built near Allenwood |
| 1778 | The Union Salt Works is destroyed by the British during the Revolutionary War in April 1778 - The Union Salt Works was located on the current site of Hoffman’s Anchorage on Green Avenue Link to Union Saltworks in Brielle |
| 1816 | The Long Bridge (Bridge #2) built over the Manasquan River at the end of Old Bridge Road around 1816 - Replaced by a wooden swing bridge in 1830 - The Long Bridge was replaced by a two lane bridge in 1934 just east of the Old Bridge Road location - The current four lane bridge was built in 2008 at the site of the 1934 bridge |
| 1825 | First school, built in 1825, was located directly across from the old Allen farmhouse, near the northeast corner of Riverview Drive and Route 70 - The school had one room; Benjamin Pearce was the first schoolmaster; fire destroyed the building - The building was replaced with a similar structure in 1840; this new building quickly became too small. Second two room school was built in 1856 on Schoolhouse Road, directly opposite the Scudder home -Fire also destroyed this school building Third school is Brielle’s current Municipal Building on Union Lane and was built in 1919 Four and existing school was built on Rankin farmland on Union Lane in 1954…expanded several times |
| 1850 | Captain James H. Green erected the first boarding house at the end of Union Lane on the east side of the street |
| 1850 | John M. Brown, son of William Brown, built the original Union House at the end of Union Land on the west side of the street on the riverfront - Mrs. Wainwright inherited the Union House form her father, John M. Brown, and started a general store located behind the hotel - The first Brielle Post Office was located in a corner of the Union House’s general store Link to History of Brielle’s Post Office - The Post Office moved to a newly constructed building on Green Avenue on July 1, 1914 - The first telephone in Brielle was located in the Union House’s general store - The Union House burned to the ground in1914 |
| 1872 | The railroad arrives in Manasquan from Farmingdale; station was built on Broad Street by the Pennsylvania RR - The railroad connected north to Sea Girt - The New York and Long Branch Railroad reached Squan Village in 1880 - The railroad bridge over the Manasquan River to Point Pleasant was completed in June 1880 - Brielle’s train station was built in 1881 between Woodlawn (now Woodland) and Park Avenues |
| 1881 | Group of men bought the Hank Voorhees farm in July 1881 and established the Brielle Land Association - The farm was subdivided into building lots on Magnolia, Park (now Fisk), and Woodlawn (now Woodland) Avenues Link to Brielle Land Association |
| 1882 | Third bridge built across the Manasquan River between 1878 and 1882; wooden planks with two lanes with a short draw on the Brielle side - This bridge was replaced by a two-lane wood plank structure on concrete piles with a steel swing in 1905 - This was replaced by a two-lane bridge around 1920, which collapsed in 1946 - This was replaced by the current, higher four-lane bridge, which was completed around 1950 |
| 1883 | The Three Bridges at Glimmer Glass - Park Avenue (now Fisk Avenue) bridge completed in July 1883 - Brielle Avenue bridge completed on August 17, 1883 - Green Avenue bridge completed around 1915; collapsed in 1936 and repaired - Glimmer Glass bascule drawbridge opened on August 13th, 1938 |
| 1884 | First Brielle train station built around 1884 - The original station burnt down; replaced by a smaller station, which was destroyed by fire in 1940 |
| 1885 | The Shibla House was built around 1885 by Mrs. Shibla; it was originally on the riverfront, later moved to Ashley Avenue - The ground was part of the original William Brown farm and was given to her by her grandmother, Mrs. John Brown - The Shibla was renamed The Windemere and run as a boarding house |
| 1890’s | As the railroad made access to the Jersey shore accessible, several inns were built in Brielle to accommodate the influx of vacationers - Captain Theodore Brown built Brown’s Inn at the foot of Brown Street on the riverfront - Brown’s Inn was located next to current day Captain John Bogan’s marina; it later burnt down - Captain Dory Brown built the Brielle Inn as an addition to the Follmer residence on Ashley Avenue - Captain Wynant Pearce built the Cresdale House next to the Brielle Inn |
| 1893 | Jasper Morgan, at the age of 23, left his home in Rice, Virginia and arrived in the Brielle area - Jasper was initially hired to work as a coachman for Mr. Van Note, who owned a local funeral home. He was next hired to work at Hardy Poland Company, house movers - Jasper married Mattie Harvey on July 5, 1900, in Plainfield, NJ - Jasper was the founder of what is now known as the Shiloh Baptist Church in Manasquan - With Jasper’s settling in the Brielle area, a thriving African American community developed in Brielle Link to Contributions of the Black Community in Brielle - Link to “Early Black Families of Brielle” article (TBD) - Link to “Pictures of Black Community in Brielle” (TBD) |
| 1899 | Manasquan River Yacht Club founded |
| 1900 – 1915 | Number of major fires in Briele; three hotels burned down during this period |
| 1910 | Mrs. Charles Freeman opened Three Cedars, a tea house, located at 504 Green Avenue on the riverfront |
| 1910 | Brielle’s fire department founded in 1910 with horse drawn vehicles - Mechanization started a few years later n 1914 Link to History of Brielle’s Fire Company |
| 1919 | Brielle incorporated on June 3rd, 1919…the day the referendum act passed |
| 1919 | Brielle’s Police Department organized in 1919 |
| 1922 | Brielle’s library originated in the home of Mrs. Mary J. W. Strong in her Longstreet Avenue home - In 1949, the library moved to two rooms in the old Rankin farmhouse on the Union Lane property (old Rankin family farm) the Brielle Board of Education purchased in 1949 - In 1954, the library moved to Assembly Hall in the basement of the old schoolhouse on Union Lane - In 1988, the library moved to its present location on the corner of Union Lane and South Street Link to History of Brielle's Library |
| 1925 | Point Pleasant canal opens on December 15, 1925 |
| 1931 | Manasquan River inlet officially reopens on August 29, 1931 - Link to the “Link to History of the Manasquan Inlet” article (TBD) |
| 1930 – 1960 | A major sports fishing industry develops on the Manasquan River in Brielle - New content - New content Link to Sport Fishing Capital of the World |
| 1936 | Brielle’s Chamber of Commerce organized in April 1936 |
| 1938 | Glimmer Glass bridge opens |
| 1956 | Brielle’s current post office on Higgins Avenue opens
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| 1957 | The Garden State Parkway completed, linking Brielle to north Jersey and the greater New York metropolitan area |
| 1957 | The Church In Brielle formally organized on March 3rd, 1957 - The church building was completed in 1958
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| 1962 | Brielle’s First Aid Squad organized in 1962 |