It’s difficult to narrow down a real name? It opened as Ocean Park in 1934 and closed as Long Branch Stadium in 1957.

LB Speedway, 1950s.

During my research I’ve seen it called City Stadium, Municipal Stadium, Memorial Stadium, Garfield Stadium, Atlantic Stadium, Ocean Park Stadium, Ocean Track, Long Branch Speedway and Ocean Speedway. That’s lots of re-branding efforts for a concept that never really worked. On perhaps the city’s most prime piece of beachfront. Today, the Ocean Place Hotel & Spa occupy the grounds.

Located on choice Long Branch real estate (Broadway, Ocean Avenue, Laird Street and Abbottsford Avenue is the boundary), the property has a complicated history. It once held the magnificent Ocean Hotel — the largest in the country in its day.

Going further back, according to a 1928 Long Branch Daily Record account, the area was the farm of Dr. Elisha Perkins before he sold to developer Samuel Cooper in 1831. He opened “Cooper’s House” which by the following year was a hotel that could hold 175 guests. The spot grew tremendously as a place of activity and hospitality. By 1872, under the able direction of the Leland chain, the Ocean Hotel was a sprawling wooden resort that flourished during  the Long Branch boom years.

Once “a mecca for notables,” according to a July 1903 boast in the Long Branch Daily Record, all the hotel resort’s glory seemed to fade away after Labor Day 1902, when the owner skipped town just head of his debts. It never reopened. In May 1905, the city council voted to acquire the property — 750-feet along Ocean Avenue at the foot of Broadway — for about $73,000. By that December, the great hotel was gone — with so much lumber remains that city officials despaired of possible “shanties being erected.”

Long Branch Stadium on Ocean Avenue, 1940s.

Thus, the city had control over sizable open property resting along two of the grandest boulevards at the Jersey Shore. The 10-acre Ocean Park opened amidst great fanfare and fireworks on July 4, 1906 — showing that Long Branch has been doing the “Fourth” right for a while now.

As part of that new development, the Long Branch Casino was built and opened in June 1907 (designed by Clarence D. Wilson and built by Richard H. Hughes for $50,000). Seating capacity was about 4,500. After it burned in a “roaring” early summer fire in June 1928, Mayor J. William Jones called it a “failure.”

During the early 1930s — into the teeth of the Great Depression — the area was redeveloped by the Long Branch Kennel Club led by its president, Myer Goldberg. He invested $150,000 on a new steel grandstand, sand track, lighting, drainage and landscaping. In July 1934, the oceanfront facility opened — as a quarter-mile greyhound racetrack. Staffed by 200 employees; with mechanical rabbit too. According to the Long Branch Daily Record, “Cheerful Dick” won the feature dog race on Opening Night.

Thought to be the fastest of all dog breeds, greyhounds have been clocked at speeds up to 45 mph. In a 1934 Long Branch Daily Record profile, Goldberg offered a brief history of dog racing, saying it all began back in Ancient Egypt. The person responsible for bringing it to America was Oliver P. Smith, who came up with the electric bunny idea in 1910. After some early interest in Long Branch (250,000+ visitors in the first season), the idea faded when greyhound wagering was declared illegal in New Jersey.

The city took over the complex in 1936 and leased out or held various events over the years, including: auto racing, football, night baseball, several Pooch Parades, the circus, and boxing and wrestling matches.

By 1949, the Atlantic Stock Car Association was racing there four nights a week in the summer (NASCAR had been formed in 1948). Stadium capacity grew to 7,000. Among the top drivers were: Lou Volk, Frankie Schneider, Johnny Cabral and Duke Heller. The facility also held the Sportsman Bar run by Nicholas Cammerano and Joseph Catalano. As the “ramshackle” arena fell into decline, at the end of 1958 city commissioners were considering a tear down. By February 1962 it was all gone.

The spot was later called Garfield Park in honor of the slain American President (who died in Elberon). Even as late as June 1961, the Monmouth County Firemen’s Day event was held on old stadium grounds. The mayor of Palermo, Sicily was the guest of honor. In October 1963, a “Punt, Pass & Kick” skills competition was held in the park. And the Long Branch birthing tale — a 1668 wrestling match won by John Slocum — was reenacted on park grounds in June 1965.

Today, the Ocean Place Hotel & Spa and its parking lot sit upon the grounds. First, it was the Ocean Place Hilton hotel — opening in July 1990. The resort hotel’s original developers, William J. Maloney, Sr. and Jr., had acquired the property from the city in October 1987 for $1.6 million. United Capital Corp. of Great Neck, NY has owned the 16-acre property since February 2012. The previous owner, Olympus Real Estate Corp in Dallas, bought the hotel from the Maloneys in 1998.

Looking Good — Ocean Park at its pinnacle, 1919. All visible are the President Garfield Monument, Long Branch Casino, Casino Annex and the bandstand — at Broadway and Ocean Avenue. The 10-acre oceanfront park opened with a bang on July 4, 1906.

Long Branch Stadium postcard, 1940s.

Odd Spot — President James Garfield Monument in front of Long Branch Stadium, 1961.

Amazing image from 1905 — A concert in progress at Ocean Park. Behind the bandstand is the new Long Branch Casino under construction. At right is the casino annex.

Spot for Crowds — Ocean Park hosts a concert, 1908.

From the Boardwalk — Ocean Avenue and Broadway: Long Branch Speedway (l) and Casino Annex (r), March 1937.

“Dog Track at Ocean Park.” Long Branch Daily Record, July 1936.

Long Branch Stadium visible from the city’s fishing pier, 1940s.

Some odd fun at Ocean Park: Auto Polo, 1910s.

Ocean Park hosts Auto Polo and more, 1913.

Long Branch Kennel Club Grandstand Season Pass, 1934. Myer Goldberg was club president.

Outside the stadium when it was racing dogs, 1934.

Ocean Park sketch proposal. Called “the beauty spot of the Jersey Shore” by the Asbury Park Press, July 1906.

Long Branch Carnival in Ocean Park, early 1900s.

Long Branch Stadium, 1940s.

City firefighters outside Long Branch Stadium on Ocean Avenue, 1934.

Dog racing at Ocean Park. Long Branch Daily Record, July 1934.

Metropolitan Auto Racing Association members picket outside the stadium. Long Branch Daily Record, May 1950. Still, nearly 4,300 spectators (a season high) packed the stadium that Saturday night to watch eight auto races.

Lots going on at Long Branch Stadium. Long Branch Daily Record, August 1949. By this time, attendance could reach 7,000 on busy Saturday nights.

Long Branch Stadium ad. APP, June 1951.

Long Branch Stadium (top) in relation to the pier, 1950s.

Long Branch Stadium aerial image, 1950s.

Long Branch Speedway on Ocean Blvd, 1937.

Greyhound racing at a busy stadium, 1930s.

Driver Ed Soden in his stock-car at Long Branch Stadium, 1950.

Duke Heller a popular local driver started racing in the city in 1949.

Stock-car racing at stadium, 1950s.

Long Branch Stadium ad: auto racing, 1949.

Long Branch Stadium grandstand. APP Photo, August 1961.

Long Branch Stadium program: Stock Car Races, 1940s.

Long Branch Stadium program, July 1946.

Long Branch Stadium program: Midget Auto Racing, 1950.

Long Branch Speedways baseball team, 1938. Johnny Johnson was the club manager. Game admission: Adults, 30 cents; kids, 15 cents.

Long Branch Speedways, a semi-pro baseball team that played at the stadium, 1930s.

Lower South Broadway area aerial view, 1940s. In the background is Long Branch Stadium. (Click on image to enlarge).

The old stadium under demolition by Joseph Mazza. Long Branch Daily Record, December 1961.

Old stadium grounds before the hotel development, late 1970s.

Long Branch Casino. Opened in 1907; burned in 1928.

Long Branch Casino in Ocean Park, 1920s.

Long Branch Casino Annex in Ocean Park, 1910. The building was torn down in 1945.

Congress Hall at Broadway and Ocean Avenue, 1861. Famous for its “Congress spring water from Saratoga,” it later became a section of the massive Ocean Hotel.

The grand Ocean House hotel in its prime, Summer 1880s. It closed in 1902.

Before the stadium — looking north where Ocean Avenue and Broadway meet, 1901.

City tax map of Ocean Hotel, 1875.

Proposal for new city park, 1961.

“A greeting card to the city” – Long Branch took another swing on developing its most prime piece of real estate as the 1960s began. This Mel Barnes sketch is from an oceanfront plan by the Greater Long Branch Chamber of Commerce. Long Branch Daily Record, September 1961.

The spot was very briefly called Funland Amusement Park, Summer 1952. Jacob Edelstein ran the operation.

Garfield Park at Broadway and Ocean Avenue — empty and overgrown (Dan Hennessey Photo), 1970s.

Ground-breaking for the new Hilton Hotel. APP, November 1988. The spot had been Garfield Park — the statue of the 20th American President seen there was moved the following year.

Ocean Place Resort & Spa now covers the grounds of the LB Stadium, 2010s. The 255-room luxury hotel cost $40 million. It opened as Ocean Place Hilton hotel in July 1990; Frank Gaynor was the first general manager.

Ocean Place Hilton Hotel sketch proposal. Red Bank Register, August 1988.