OUR MISSION

Unite preservation advocates and visitors to explore a history experience at the Jersey Shore and Sandy Hook National Historic Landmark. We believe in preserving significant places in our history along with the interpretation, understanding and appreciation of a shared past that fosters, strengthens and enriches our local community identity.

GOALS: 1. Support existing efforts to preserve any and all artifacts of our coastal heritage, 2. Develop permanent exhibits to educate the public, 3. Work in partnership with other existing groups towards shared goals, such as: non-profit partners and historical societies as they relate to the N.J. Northernmost Coastal Seashore.

The Jersey Coast Heritage Museum archive at the Twin Lights Museum in Highlands, N.J. is dedicated to preserving the rich heritage of the Highland Beach excursion resort. The 1893 Sandlass House on the Sandy Hook Peninsula is the resort’s last remaining structure. As lovers of the shore, we’re celebrating the early day-trippers who discovered the joy of access to ocean and river beaches. This experience is the precursor to what we know today as the coastal Monmouth County and the greater Jersey Shore experience.  

A hard copy of Highland Beach excursion resort’s digital archive is also available on request in the History Room at the Long Branch Free Public Library, Long Branch, N.J.

New Goal on the Horizon

The 1893 Sandlass House, one of Preservation New Jersey’s 2022 10 Most Endangered Historic Homes, was honored May 17, 2022 on the State House steps in Trenton, N.J. This nomination has been a catalyst to reinforce our efforts and open doors for consideration while we seek to rescue & preserve this history at Sandy Hook.

Our preservation team strives to offer a glimpse into the Jersey Shore’s Golden Age at the birth of leisure time. We give profound gratitude to all the founding members and supporters of the Jersey Coast Heritage Museum.  Our passion for saving history and historic preservation is reflected in our efforts to bring awareness found in this seaside magic, the beauty of Highland Beach and the Jersey Shore’s past. The journey to explore this history is an incentive to share different aspects of the resort’s key role in American and local history.  The partnerships forged create a venue to share our knowledge and interest with the general public through our digital archive and community outreach for historic preservation.  Our goal, to deliver impactful results, through the current Twin Lights Museum Exhibit, showcases the once grand history of our Gateway to the Jersey Shore.  A new display featuring William Sandlass and the Highland Beach excursion resort is curated by Twin Lights historian, Nicholas Wood, in the South Tower of the museum and the Highlands History Room. This unique exhibit celebrates Jersey Shore history in a way that increases wonder in our coastal heritage.

We wish to thank each one of you for the heartfelt interest shown over the last few years supporting our quest to mark this history as a vital legacy of the Jersey Shore.  The memories shared by so many and their days at this once grand resort, touch our hearts.  The Jersey Coast Heritage Museum digital archive and its advocates will be supporting our cultural resources whenever and wherever the opportunity arises.

History

The William Sandlass House was built in 1893 as part of the Highland Beach excursion resort on Sandy Hook. Its internal framing timbers were salvaged from an 1889 Gravity Railroad roller coaster, the first attraction built at the resort.  In 1936, at the U.S. War Department’s request, William Sandlass was ordered to move his home to its current location where it remains on the original resort property at Sandy Hook today.

The Sandlass House is a two-story frame structure in the traditional American 4-Square form with a bay front and a hip roof. The residence is located in what was the heart of the Highland Beach excursion resort, the first and only “Golden Era” resort of its kind at the southern end of the Sandy Hook peninsula between the Shrewsbury River and the Atlantic Ocean. The building exhibits a vernacular style and was the only house built of its type at the resort. Although, the resort’s Surf House hotel, Boathouse and Shooting Gallery featured the same American-4 Square architectural design. With the Highland Beach Improvement Company purchasing ten lots of oceanfront and riverside property, the company leased these lots in 1887 to William Sandlass.  His early success in the American Coastal Resort experience resulted in a thriving source of entertainment and recreation for the masses coming from New York, North Jersey and the local surrounding areas.  

Although in a state of disrepair, the house exhibits many features of its 1893 design, and remains recognizable as the original building shown in photographic records.  This parcel of land at Highland Beach was originally part of the Wardell Beach property sold to the Highland Beach Association.  The association sub-divided Wardell Beach into 74 building lots and renamed ten of these lots Highland Beach.  By 1887, a Cottage Colony rose up as Ferdinand Fish, the president of Highland Beach Improvement Company, developed the remaining lots which extended to Navesink Beach.  The Cottage Colony and the Highland Beach excursion resort, each with its own train station, opened this seaside community to visitors and vacationers by 1888. As the last vestige of this resort on the peninsula today, the 1893 Sandlass House stands alone on the shores of Sandy Hook adjacent to the Highlands Bridge in the NHL at the NPS GATEWAY National Recreation Area, Sandy Hook, NJ.

2024 HISTORIC PRESERVATION ADVOCATES

• Dina Long, Former Sea Bright Mayor

• Sea Bright Councilman, John Lamia

• Sea Bright Town Council Members

• Highlands Town Council Members

• Frank Smith, Former President of JCHM

• Jeff Tyler, Former President of JCHM

• Don & Barbara Krueger, IT, JCHM Website

• Chris Brenner, Documentarian (Navesink Studios) & JCHM Trustee

• Jean Howson, Historian

• Sean Moran, Co-Founder, JCHM Non-Profit

• Jay Anderson, Architect, JCHM Trustee

• Susan Sandlass Gardiner, Co-Founder, JCHM Non-Profit

• Mark Aikins, JCHM Non-Profit General Counsel

• PRESERVATION New Jersey non-profit

Jersey Coast Heritage Museum (2016-2024)

TRUSTEES :

Dina Long, President
Frank Smith, Vice President
Susan Sandlass Gardiner, Secretary
Chris Brenner, Treasurer

Jay Anderson, Architect

Sean Moran, Media Consultant

Tom Hanley, (Retired) Institutional Investor

Mark Aikins, General Counsel

Founding Members (Emeritus):
Rick Geffken (President 2016 to 2017)

Jeff Tyler, (President, 2017 to 2018)

Lynn Fylak, Navesink Maritime Heritage Association (JCHM Trustee, 2017)

Sandlass Crew:
Contributors that made this possible.

Felicia Campanella, Anderson Campanella Architects
Russell Card, President, Historical Society of Highlands, vintage photographs
Courtney Cordaro, Computer Graphics, P.R. & Media Outreach
Walt Guenther, Historical Society of Highlands, Highlands History Room at Twin Lights Museum
Sharon Hazard, Historic Preservation Journalist, JCHM Newsletter Contributor
Jean Howson, Archaeologist & Cultural Resources Manager
Barbara Krueger, Community Advocacy & Social Media
Don Krueger, Community Advocacy & Social Media
Hank Sandlass, Advisor
John Schneider, Videographer

Mark Stewart, Secretary/Treasurer, Twin Lights Historical Society

Jim Walters, Educational Consultant

Margaret Westfield, Historic Architect