Long Branch Pier & Boardwalk: Seashore Fun
The first-ever “Long Branch Pier” out over the Atlantic Ocean was probably built in 1828. Called the “Bath House Pier,” it was used mainly as a dock for steamboats to and from New York City. It was destroyed in a wicked November 1854 nor’easter — the same storm that doomed the infamous clipper ship New Era.
In August 1875, the “East End Excursion Pier” (and an adjacent hotel) in North Long Branch was opened — financed by “Gilded Age robber barons” Jay Gould and Jim Fisk. Poorly constructed, it was wrecked by a storm in less than a month. More Long Branch piers would follow.
The 672-foot “Ocean Pier” was opened in June 1879 by the Long Branch Pier Association. Designed by Maclay & Davis of NYC and built by Job Johnson of Brooklyn (both also worked on the Coney Island Pier), it sported a wide promenade deck and underneath were 600 cabanas. It was damaged by a major storm after just two years.
The “Iron Pier” — probably the most elaborate of all the city’s wharfside efforts — opened in 1881 at the apex of the Long Branch summer resort craze. It stood until 1901 when it was severely damaged, first by a storm and later by a boat collision.
After a decade of delays and litigation, the “Amusement/Fishing Pier” costing $1 million, finally opened in 1912. Built by Samuel Rosoff and later the Hennebique Construction Co., this last city pier ultimately reached 950-feet-long. A November 1945 hurricane chopped off the end.
In 1979, the pier was acquired by Ric-Cic, Inc. (Carmen and Thomas Ricci and Patsy Cicalese), who invested $1 million in upgrades including the Haunted Mansion. By 1980, Cicalese was the sole owner. In 1985, he re-themed the pier area — coming up with the idea of Kid’s World after visiting “Sesame Place” in Pennsylvania.
That pier would survive past all previous piers, 75 years — until June 1987 when it burned in a spectacular fire. It stood an ugly wreck for over a decade and was finally removed in April 1998. In 2005, the $100 million Pier Village community opened — minus a pier. City officials have been debating the idea of a new pier for over 30 years. The last time the matter was seriously discussed the price tag for a modern pier cleared $100 million.
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For all the glory of being a presidential summer resort, with unmatched shore location and grand oceanfront accommodations, the idea of a “boardwalk” in Long Branch is a 20th century concept. Indeed, a Long Branch boardwalk from North End to West End (part-concrete, part-composite lumber, part-wood) still exists today — it’s over 115 years old.
In promoting “a pier” idea to Long Branch residents and officials, the Asbury Park Press quoted a University of Pennsylvania professor in a June 1904 editorial: “the key to the ocean is a boardwalk.” And the Long Branch Daily Record had advocated for a boardwalk (a double-decker) along the city oceanfront as early as December 1903.
The world’s first boardwalk had opened in June 1870 in Atlantic City and the trend spread up and down the NJ coast. Both the Asbury Park and Belmar boardwalks went up just before the one in Long Branch did.
In March 1905, the focus on a new Long Branch boardwalk sharpened when the Long Branch Daily Record reported on a design plan by J. Wesley Seaman, the city engineer. At that stage it was called “Bluff Walk.”
Official action finally came in February 1906. According to the Red Bank Daily Register, the city council as part of a $400,000 oceanfront improvement bond: approved Dean, Schwiers & Sutton Co. of NYC to build a 9,921-linear-foot wooden boardwalk (just under 1.9 miles) for $90,000 and George W. Rogers & Company of Sea Bright to construct the bulkhead and jetties for $154,000. During a July 4, 1906 city celebration the new boardwalk — with 600-feet completed — was “jammed” with visitors. Mayor C. Asa Francis was the official greeter.
Among those to both own and operate pier and boardwalk businesses through the years were: Isaac Cranmer, Daniel Maher, Leon Minogue, Matt Sowul, Jimmy Liu, and Pat Cicalese.
The Long Branch Pier and Boardwalk made grand summer times for eight decades and created lasting memories. It brought loads of fun and paid its share of taxes. Here is the photo collection I’ve built to date. Enjoy:

Long Branch Pier, 1879. Job Johnson of Brooklyn built the 660-foot-long iron pier opposite Leland’s Ocean Hotel.

Workers refurbishing four old storefronts along Ocean Avenue near Chelsea Avenue into a western-themed saloon look. Red Bank Register, May 1973. Owner Pat Cicalese renamed it “Pistol Pete’s Restaurant” in his dad’s honor. It had been Mike’s.

The Haunted Mansion at Long Branch on the boardwalk as it appeared on Opening Day, June 30, 1978 (Asbury Park Press Photo). “Dracula” was played by John H. Kinsey, Jr.

Ocean Avenue and Laird Street intersection looking south, 1930s. Note 25-cent parking off the boardwalk.

Peter’s Pavilion on the Long Branch boardwalk, 1920s. Greek natives Peter Karunos and Sam Arvanitis opened the business in the area before 1918 and ran it until 1954.

Chelsea Avenue Pavilion in ruins after the Hurricane of ’44. The boardwalk was “pounded unmercifully by sea and storm to create a debacle unsurpassed in the city’s history,” according to the Long Branch Daily Record, September 1944. The city-owned pavilion dated to the 1890s.

Where there’s smoke — Long Branch Pier fire, June 1987 (Frank Mainieri Photo). City firefighters at the McDonald’s on the Boardwalk. Officials believe the blaze started there.

Dark Day — Long Branch Pier fire, June 1987 (Frank Mainieri Photo). Looking east on Chelsea Avenue; Pistol Pete’s is on the left.

Hooked — Long Branch Pier fire, June 1987 (Frank Mainieri Photo). The US Coast Guard fought the fire from the sea.

Hot Spot — Long Branch Pier fire, June 1987 (Frank Mainieri Photo). The boardwalk McDonald’s collapses into the sea.

An interesting 1930 Long Branch Daily Record story offers some perspective and history on piers in Long Branch.

Busy summer day near the Chelsea Avenue Pavilion with the Long Branch Pier in the background, 1920s.

Long Branch Pier fire, June 1987. Amongst the damage were these arcade pinball machines (Frank Gibson Photo).

“The Shops at Pier Village,” 2022. Long Branch’s “pier/boardwalk” of today — via Kushner Companies. MORE INFO.

Today’s “Carousel at Pier Village” on Ocean Avenue. The menagerie-themed, merry-go-round opened in July 2019 — restoring an “iconic charm of historic Long Branch.” The city owns the ride, Carousel Works in Ohio built it, and Extell Development paid as part of its large expansion of Pier Village. MORE INFO.

The city’s merry-go-round on the pier was ruined during a major hurricane (winds hit 75 mph), September 1944. The owner then was Daniel Maher and the carousel was valued at $10,000. The first Long Branch carousel dates to 1908.

Merry-Go-Round on the Pier, 1940s. Built in the early 1900s, according to the Long Branch Daily Record — it included 52 wooden animals, hand-carved from Europe. It was the only belt-driven ride on the Jersey Shore. It operated until 1979 when it was dismantled and replaced by the “Wave Swing” ride.

Long Branch Roller-Coaster, early 1910s. Opened in 1910 — known also as the “Scenic Railway” — it sat across from the pier in Ocean Park. Once the world’s highest coaster, it only lasted a few seasons — when the son of builder William Piper was killed on the ride in Sept. 1913.

Long Branch Boardwalk, 1928. In February 1925, Walter E. West was awarded a city contract to build and then lease a smaller boardwalk pavilion (l) just north of the Chelsea Avenue Pavilion (r). By October 1926 Max Altman was involved there.

“World’s Finest Ocean Boulevard” — postcard bragging. At right is the Long Branch Casino; it opened in June 1907.

Ocean Avenue near the Long Branch pier before a boardwalk, 1905. Just an “old dirt path,” according to Entertaining a Nation.

New Long Branch Boardwalk sketch proposal. Long Branch Daily Record, March 1905. The plans were drawn by J. Wesley Seaman, the city engineer. Dean, Schwiers & Sutton Co. built it for about $90,000.

Haunted Mansion at Long Branch model. The grand opening for the 32-room, 37-actor fright-house was June 30, 1978. Admission was $2.50. It was all part of a $1 million renovation project on the city’s Amusement Pier. Staruch Associates was the architect. Owners Ric-Cic Corp. had wide interests in the family amusement business having worked in Seaside Heights, Brigantine, and Seaside Park. The Mansion burned in the June 1987 LB pier fire.

Long Branch boardwalk, 1934. By this time the boardwalk was “certainly in need of rehabilitation,” according to a Daily Record editorial. “A few shooting galleries, games of chance, and occasional dancing constitute the program offered visitors. Bathing is the sole legitimate asset Long Branch has to offer.”

Long Branch boardwalk looking north, 1940s. At right is the Chelsea Avenue Pavilion built in the lat 1890s.

Long Branch Recreation Pier ad. Salt Water Sportsman magazine, June 1977. The Sowul family bought the pier in 1964.

Jimmy’s Jetty on the Boardwalk, August 1975. In 1968 Jui Yung “Jimmy” Liu acquired a large section of the boardwalk — making Jimmy’s Jetty with The Cafe Bar, Jimmy’s Famous Hot Dogs and a Chinese-Seafood Restaurant. He also owned the Exxon station on Broadway and many city rental properties. According to a July 1977 Long Branch Daily Record profile, “hard work” and “wheeling and dealing,” were the keys to his success. Born in Shanghai, China in 1929, Jimmy launched nearly 40 US restaurants before his death in September 2002.

Jimmy Liu and his son, Jimmy, Jr. inspect the rebuilding of their boardwalk business after a 1984 end-of-summer fire, May 1985.

Haunted Mansion at Long Branch, 1980s. The pier’s frightening attraction lasted for nearly a decade.

Chelsea Arcade Company at Ocean and Chelsea Avenues, 1908. Opened in July 1907, it housed a merry-go-round, penny arcade and sold Root Beer, candy, popcorn, and souvenirs. Robert W. Zimmerman built the structure for $7,500. Anthony T. Woolley ran the operation. Charles Looff, who built the first carousel at Coney Island in 1876, did the work in Long Branch. It held 125 people and cost a nickel to ride. In 1909 a $2,000 Boecker organ was added. Later it was called the Chelsea Roller Skating Rink. The building was torn down in April 1928 to make way for the expanding Chelsea Baths.

Chelsea Roller-Skating Rink, Long Branch Daily Record, 1908. Raymond Disbrow and Henry Morris opened the boardwalk operation in January 1908. It could accommodate 200 skaters and had a mechanical band. Admission was 25 cents. The maple-floored rink was 5,625 square feet. Morris “Mott” Wood, a champion speed skater and Long Branch native, gave lessons at the rink in 1908. Lyman Koch acquired the business in 1924.

Long Branch in peak glory days, 1890s. A stroll by the West End Hotel on Ocean Avenue (r). Owners the Hildreth family built the connecting bridge and pavilion in 1880 for $5,500.

Early evening crowd gathers at the Amusement Pier, 1960s. Leon Minogue ran the arcade on the pier for over 25 years — operating “a boardwalk concession” as early as Summer 1938.

City boardwalk area near Chelsea Avenue. Long Branch Daily Record, July 4, 1959. In April 1929, Daniel J. Maher paid $200,000 for a block of 34 stores (called the Arcade) along 425-feet of boardwalk from Chelsea Avenue to Melrose Terrace. The original stores east of the boardwalk on Ocean Avenue were built by D & D Realty Company in 1926 (with an annual rental income of $26,000). Seymour & Braun were the architects and construction costs were $74,400. Maher (also a LB mayor) would rule over the city oceanfront for the next three decades. He sold off all his interests (pier, restaurant, and boardwalk concessions) in May 1964.

Pier Village looking north, 2021. MORE INFO. Anti-littering rules for city’s boardwalk and beach area date back to July 1906; City Councilman James Dunn introduce the first ordinance.

Long Branch Fishing Pier, July 1986. At the time, the fishing pier section was leased by Harry Bassinger for $17,000 per year. His brother, David, leased the Scotty’s Arcade portion of the pier. Pat Cicalese owned it all. Everything would burn in 11 months.

Long Branch Pier, 1980. Still popular then: it had the Haunted Mansion and the Water Slide, skeeball and pinball, Danny’s Hit-Away batting cages and Jungle Golf, Stuff Yer Face and Pier Pub and much more, making the Summer of 1980 one of the best ever along the oceanfront.

Ocean Avenue, 1920s. The first official attempt to build a “magnificent oceanfront boulevard” with a “boardwalk to its east” came in July 1905, when Councilman J.N. Flanigan suggested building a 125-foot wide roadway and boardwalk from Seaview Avenue to Brighton Avenue. The price tag was $400,000. The city council soundly rejected the plan 9-2, according to the Long Branch Daily Record.

” Long Branch Golf Land” along the boardwalk, 1960s. The miniature golf course opened in 1960. The first 18-hole putting course along Ocean Avenue was opened in July 1927.

Rotting remains of Long Branch pier. The oceanfront site was condemned by the city in August 1997 and finally torn down in April 1998. In conjunction with the city’s $2.6 million beach replenishment project, US Army Corps of Engineers contractors did the demolition work for just $19,000. In June 1998, a three-member condemnation committee ruled that the burned-out remains of the pier/amusement park were worth $550,000. Owner Patsy Cicalese had asked for $4 million.

Chelsea Avenue Pavilion on the Long Branch boardwalk, 1920s. Hosting live music as early as the 1890s, it was wrecked in the “Great Atlantic Hurricane” of September 1944.

Wizard’s World Arcade on the boardwalk and arcade, 1970s. Richard Seninsky operated the arcade for over 30 years.

Fishing off the Long Branch Pier, 1970s. Matt Sowul bought the pier in 1964 from Daniel Maher. The Sowul family sold their pier interests in May 1979 to Ric-Chic.

Fishing off the Long Branch Pier, 1950s. The spot had anglers coming from all over the county and state.

July 4th Celebration on LB Boardwalk ad, Long Branch Daily Record, July 1959. Who remembers these businesses?

New Arcadia Grill on the boardwalk. Long Branch Daily Record, August 1930. Called “the last word in modernism”– the $50,000 restaurant seated 250. The color scheme was tan & green. Owner Daniel Maher, a future city mayor (1956-1960), owned much of the surrounding pier/boardwalk area.By Summer 1936, it was called Maher’s. The spot was hit by several fires in the 1960s and rebuilt; it was finally wrecked in a April 1969 blaze. Maher sold his boardwalk properties including the eatery in 1964 to Jay Jay Realty.

Junior’s Restaurant on the LB Pier 1960s. George Cafantaris was the owner/operator for 37 years; he lost everything in the 1987 fire. Known as “a living institution on the pier,” he died in April 2009.

The roller-coaster (“a scenic railway”) was located opposite the Long Branch Pier, 1912. Called the “highest roller coaster in the world,” it was later moved to Keansburg.

Flame out — LB Pier fire, June 1987. The devastating fire started under the boardwalk at the McDonald’s.

The Haunted Mansion at Long Branch, 1980s. Situated on the famed city pier, it was 10,000-square-feet.

Ocean Pier — the brand new city pier extended 860 feet into the Atlantic Ocean. Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, June 1879.

Long Branch roller-coaster, 1910. Called the “Scenic Railway” — it was built across from the pier in Ocean Park by William Piper. At the time it was the world’s highest coaster. It only lasted a few seasons, until Piper’s son Raymond was thrown from one of the cars and died on Labor Day weekend 1913.

Maher’s Restaurant on the LB Boardwalk, 1954. Owner Daniel J. Maher was a former LB city mayor (1956-60). The business suffered major fires in 1960 and 1963. It was all acquired in 1964 by Jay Jay Realty Company.

Arcadia Grill on the LB boardwalk ad (before Maher’s Restaurant). Long Branch Daily Record, June 1930. Cost to build the 250-seat restaurant was $50,000.

LB Pier, 1879. The Plymouth Rock steamship owned by James Fisk is seen docked. The round-trip LB-to-NYC boat fare was 60 cents.

LB boardwalk with no pier, 1909. The Chelsea Avenue Pavilion was built by the city before the turn of the century and wrecked in a September 1944 hurricane.

Long Branch Fishing Pier postcard, 1940s. By 1944 it was considered “the largest fishing pier in the world,” according to the Daily Record.
LB Pier Memories …
While researching the history of Long Branch piers (there have been five in all; the first built in 1828), I ran across a few things more than once. Any of these sound familiar:
Morris Pop Corn Stand, Jaeger’s Restaurant, Pier Pub, Long Branch Pier Association, Chelsea Pool, Jungle Golf, William Piper, Daniel Maher, Sowul family, Jimmy Liu, Ric-Cic Co., Job Johnson, skee-ball, Long Branch Pier and Land Company, Ferris Wheel Marathon of ’75, Stan Dziuba, Kid’s World, Pistol Pete’s, Raymond Baffery, Haunted Mansion, Shooter’s Lounge, Rufus Hatch’s Iron Steamboat Co., Bill Shiel, George Gold, Garrett Hennessey, and Palm trees.

Peter’s Pavilion on the Boardwalk, 1950s. The business opened in 1920 and was run by Peter and Georgia Karunos. Born in Sparta, Greece, Peter ran his shop until his death in Sept. 1954.

LB fishing pier, 1950s. Ben Sowul and sons operated the fishing pier and tackle business beginning in the early 1960s.

LB Pier postcard, 1960s. Francis and George Beecher operated the rides concession on the pier during the early 1960s.

Pistol Pete’s along the west side of the LB boardwalk, 1977. Bill Tsarouhis owned the business beginning in 1973 and for years after the pier fire in 1987.

Haunted Mansion on the LB Amusement Pier, 1978. Grand opening for the 32-room, 37-actor fright house was in July 1978. Admission was $3. Owned by Carmen and Thomas Ricci, it all burned in June 1987.

Chelsea Water Slide, 1978. Located on the west side of Ocean Avenue between Laird Street and Chelsea Avenue.

LB Pier, 1980. Ric-Cic, Inc. bought the pier in 1978 and developed the Haunted Mansion, Water Slide, and Kid’s World.

LB pier fun and games, 1980s (Dan Hennessey Photo). In the background is “Jet City” a new 50-foot-tall roller-coaster ride opened in July 1979.

Kid’s World on the LB pier fire remains, 1987. (Rich Bendock Photo). Newark-born Pat Cicalese had acquired the property in 1980.
Long Branch Pier Fire Video: June 1987 — HERE