Long Branch City Hall Images
Plus, the “Mayors of Long Branch” —
LB …
Long Branch has had two municipal buildings in its long and storied history — both located on Broadway.
The first city hall opened in 1891. The three-story, red brick building was designed by David Henry of Patterson, NJ and cost $25,000. A 700-pound bell hung in the building’s turret for 80 years. Prior to its construction, LB commissioners met on the top floor of the Atlantic Firehouse on Broadway and Second Avenue.
Even though the Long Branch Commission ran things in town, official credit for the building goes to the Ocean Township Committee of which it was part. The city took absolute control of the building in 1905.
Known as “the grand old lady of Long Branch, ” it was torn down in 1976. According to a June 29, 1976 Asbury Park Press report, the day the old city hall was demolished “hardly anyone came by to see.” Mazza & Sons were the wreckers. The lime and sandstone structure had been rotting for years.
In October 1972, the city council adopted a bond ordinance to construct a new city hall. After 18 months of delays while city officials, merchants, and residents debated about the best location, construction started in May 1974. The final cost was about $2.7 million; its total area was 32,600-square feet. The builder was Hall Construction Company of Little Silver and Uniplan Associates of Princeton was the architect.
By November 1975, the city government was operating in the new facility. The building was officially dedicated in July 1976 in conjunction with the city’s American Bicentennial celebration. During this time, Henry R. Cioffi was city mayor, Dr. Sal J. Prezioso was city administrator, and Jennie DeFazio was city clerk.
Old Long Branch City Hall on Broadway, 1905.
Long Branch City Hall, 1905.
Old Long Branch City Hall, 1906. Monmouth County District Court was held on the second floor of city hall, according to a May 1964 Long Branch Daily Record story.
“Long Branch Municipal Building” sign on Broadway, 2019.
Long Branch City Hall, 1906.
Long Branch City Hall council chambers, January 2023.
Long Branch City Hall with , September 2022.
Long Branch City Hall on Broadway, early 1900s.
Long Branch City Hall, 1905.
Long Branch City Hall, early 1900s.
Long Branch City Council chambers — Student Government Night, November 2022.
New York & Long Branch Rail Road train passing through the city, 1894. Old Long Branch City Hall tower on Broadway is visible at back left.
Long Branch City Hall, 2022.
Long Branch City Hall, 1940s.
LB City Hall, 1975.
LB City Hall, 1905.
LB City Hall, 1920s.
Old LB City Hall council meeting room. Red Bank Register, July 1976.
LB City Hall, 1907.
LB City Hall, 1890s. The building next door was the Jacob J. Garrabrandt wallpaper and paint business. A Hamilton, NJ native, he sold the propriety to the city in 1906 and died in 1910.
LB City Hall, 1920s. (Edward Thomas Collection).
LB City Hall, 1905.
LB City Hall, 1930s.
LB City Hall, 1940s.
LB City Hall, 1940s.
LB City Hall, 1972.
LB City Hall, 1976.
Bell is removed from LB City Hall prior to demolition, 1976.
Plaque dedicated to the old bell that hung in LB City Hall for a century, 1974 (Long Branch Public Library Photograph Collection).
LB City Hall, 2014.
LB City Hall, 2018.
LB City Hall, 1977.
LB City Hall, 2020.
New LB City Hall. Red Bank Register, June 1976. Within 6 months the building was falling apart.
New LB City Hall council chambers, 2018.
New LB City Hall council chambers. Red Bank Register, July 1976.
Mayor Henry Cioffi outside new LB City Hall. Red Bank Register, November 1975.
Asbury Park Press story, November 1975.
Sketch proposal for a new LB City Hall. LB Daily Record, 1965.
Mayors of Long Branch:
Mayor John Pallone
• John Pallone — 2018-present
• Adam Schneider — 1990-2018
• Philip D. Huhn — 1982-1990
• Henry R. “Skip” Cioffi — 1970-1982
• Paul Nastasio, Jr. — 1966-1970
• Vincent J. Mazza — 1965-1966
• Milton F. Untermeyer, Jr. — 1963-1965
• Thomas L. McClintock — 1961-1963
• J. Paul Kiernan — 1960-1961
• Daniel J. Maher — 1956-1960
• Dr. Alexander Vineberg — 1952-1956
• J. William Jones — 1948-1952
• J. Paul Kiernan — 1944-1948
• Alton V. Evans — 1936-1944
• C. Dorman McFaddin — 1932-1936
• J. William Jones — 1928-1932
• Frank L. Howland — 1924-1928
• Clarence J. Housman — 1920-1924
• John W. Flock, Sr. — 1918-1920
• Marshall Woolley — 1916-1918
• Bryant B. Newcomb — 1912-1916
• Henry Joline — 1912
• Edwin W. Packer — 1910-1912
• Charles O. McFaddin — 1907-1910
• Charles Asa Francis — 1905-1906
• Rufus Blodgett — 1903-1904
• Walter S. Reed, MD — 1902-1903
• Benjamin P. Morris — 1900-1901
• Augustus Chandler — 1899-1900
• Rufus Blodgett — 1894-1898
• George W. Brown — 1892-1893
• Thomas R. Woolley — 1891-1892
• George W. Brown — 1889-1890
• Wilbur A. Heisley — 1887-1888
• George W. Brown — 1885-1886
• Richard H. Woodward — 1883-1884
• Thomas R. Woolley — 1880-1883
• Joseph H. Cooper — 1870-1879
• Francis Corlies — 1867-1870
Note: From 1867 to 1904, the “mayor” was actually “president” of the Long Branch Commission. All were Democrats except Heisley, Chandler, and Reed.
First “Mayor” of Long Branch
His name is neither honored or recorded in city history. But Francis Corlies was the first “mayor” (or rather the first president of the Long Branch Commission). The “record” shows he was appointed in April 1867 and served until 1870.
These details appear in a January 1918 front-page story in the city’s official newspaper, the Long Branch Daily Record (story below). It seems plausible because Francis Corlies played a key role in the development of the North Jersey Shore, according to a July 1915 Long Branch Daily Record story.
Corlies was deep in the makings of the Long Branch & Sea Shore Railroad company — a than magical mode of transportation to easily shuttle the rich and famous from NYC to the Jersey Shore via ferry and train. In March 1864, Corlies was part of a committee that negotiated a land deal with President Abraham Lincoln to build a railroad starting on government property at Spermaceti Cove on Sandy Hook to Long Branch and on down to Manasquan. To ensure completion of the line from Sandy Hook to Long Branch by July 1865, Corlies was put in charge.
Later on as a shore area NJ state assemblyman for three terms, he was “instrumental in the initial movement for a government in Long Branch,” according to a Long Branch Daily Record story in May 1954.
He also helped organize the city’s first bank, the Long Branch Banking Company on Broadway in March 1872 and sat on the first Monmouth Park Racetrack board of directors in 1869. Born in Shrewsbury Twp., he was the son of Benjamin W. Corlies, one of Monmouth County’s top surveyors in his day. Francis died in April 1897 at age 70.
Most often, credit for being the first Long Branch leader goes to Joseph H. Cooper, a popular hotel owner, who served as commission president/mayor for nearly the entire decade of the 1870s — true boom times for the “Summer Capitol.” He owned the Metropolitan Hotel and grew it into a popular spot. Cooper Avenue in town is named for him. Both Cooper and Corlies were Democrats.
