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Old Coast Guard Station Manasquan InletOld Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0
B−History
History · Point Pleasant Beach

Point Pleasant Beach dates to 1886, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #322 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Old Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet. Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1900.

1886founded
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Point Pleasant Beach began

When was Point Pleasant Beach founded?

1886

Point Pleasant Beach dates its founding to 1886 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 746 in 19002020 census: 4,766140 years

How historic is Point Pleasant Beach?

B−

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1956.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Point Pleasant Beach’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Point Pleasant Beach is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #322 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Point Pleasant Beach’s overall grade.
Founding era1886, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194015.4% of homes (±4.9) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 2.1 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 47%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 31%

New Jersey towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New Jersey town has 3.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Point Pleasant Beach’s 2.1 sits near the middle of its state (41% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 points). Two sources give 1886.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Point Pleasant Beach’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Point Pleasant Beach are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18888 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1995. Watch Point Pleasant Beach change.Old housesHalf of Point Pleasant Beach’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Point Pleasant Beach’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Point Pleasant Beach’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Point Pleasant Beach on the map, 1888 to 1995

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Point Pleasant Beach. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Point Pleasant Beach on the 1888 USGS mapPoint Pleasant Beach on the 1893 USGS mapPoint Pleasant Beach on the 1901 USGS mapPoint Pleasant Beach on the 1947 USGS mapPoint Pleasant Beach on the 1953 USGS mapPoint Pleasant Beach on the 1971 USGS mapPoint Pleasant Beach on the 1989 USGS mapPoint Pleasant Beach on the 1995 USGS map1888Asbury Park sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Point Pleasant Beach.

The story

How Point Pleasant Beach came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Point Pleasant Beach.

Read it all →

The area that includes Point Pleasant Beach was first occupied by the Lenape Native Americans. On September 2, 1609, Henry Hudson and the crew of his ship, Half Moon, noticed the area on their way north to explore the Hudson River. Crew member Robert Juet noted in his journal, "This is a very good Land to fall with and a pleasant Land to see." The first European settlers were fisherman and farmers who first arrived in the 18th century. Summer tourism began in the early 19th century when Quaker Thomas Cook Jr. opened his farmhouse on the site of the current Antrim Elementary School to boarders, which began the trend that transformed the area into an oceanfront haven for visitors, a trend further established in the 1870 by Captain John Arnold, who built a roadway to the ocean, now known as Arnold Avenue. In 1875, he built the first bridge over the Manasquan River, linking the town to Brie…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Point Pleasant Beach, 1886 to 1996

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886
    FoundingPoint Pleasant Beach is established
  3. 1888On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1950Born hereDickie Harris is born here
  6. 1956Post officeThe Point Pleasant Beach post office opens
  7. 1964Born hereJames W. Holzapfel is born here
  8. 1969Born hereMichael Pinnella is born here
  9. 1996Born hereKatelynn Flaherty is born here
By decade

Point Pleasant Beach, decade by decade

Today18 recent
Line1368 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library2009Line1368 - Flickr - NOAA Photo LibraryPoint Pleasant, New Jersey2008Point Pleasant, New JerseyPoint Pleasant Beach, New Jersey2008Point Pleasant Beach, New JerseyPoint Pleasant Beach, New Jersey2008Point Pleasant Beach, New JerseyPoint Pleasant Beach, New Jersey2008Point Pleasant Beach, New JerseyManasquanInletPier7.13.08ByLuigiNovi72008ManasquanInletPier7.13.08ByLuigiNovi7ManasquanInletPier7.13.08ByLuigiNovi42008ManasquanInletPier7.13.08ByLuigiNovi4ManasquanInletPier7.13.08ByLuigiNovi32008ManasquanInletPier7.13.08ByLuigiNovi3ManasquanBeach7.13.08ByLuigiNovi52008ManasquanBeach7.13.08ByLuigiNovi5ManasquanBeach7.12.08ByLuigiNovi52008ManasquanBeach7.12.08ByLuigiNovi5BigJoeHenryTalentShow20082008BigJoeHenryTalentShow2008ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi72007ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi7ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi62007ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi6ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi42007ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi4ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi32007ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi3ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi22007ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi2ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi12007ManasquanBeachInlet9.15.07ByLuigiNovi1Point pleasant beach nj 0292005Point pleasant beach nj 029
On the National Register

1 historic place in Point Pleasant Beach

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2021
Old Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet
Old Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet
Buildings
Old Coast Guard Station Manasquan InletBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Point Pleasant Beach, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 5,415

Between 746 and 5,415 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Point Pleasant Beach’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Point Pleasant Beach

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Michael PinnellaAmerican heavy metal keyboardist · b. 1969
D
Dickie HarrisPlayer of American and Canadian football · b. 1950
J
James W. HolzapfelMember of the New Jersey Senate and New Jersey … · b. 1964
Katelynn FlahertyAmerican basketball player · b. 1996
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Point Pleasant Beach’s post office has been open since 1956.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Bay Head Junction
Gone or out of use
Point Pleasant Golf Clublocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

BrielleIts storyCPoint PleasantIts storyC+Manasquan2 historic placesA−

Questions about Point Pleasant Beach’s history

What year was Point Pleasant Beach founded?

In 1886, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Point Pleasant Beach’s post office opened in 1956, and the census of 1900 counted 746 people here.

How does Point Pleasant Beach rank for history?

Point Pleasant Beach is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #322 of 468 in New Jersey. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Point Pleasant Beach?

One place: the Old Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet (listed 2021).

How old are the homes in Point Pleasant Beach?

15% of Point Pleasant Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1963.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.