Daniel J. Maher is certainly one of the most fascinating leaders — both civic and commercial — in all Long Branch history.

Mayor Maher, 1957.

This epic promoter, developer, builder, restaurant-bar owner, and politician was a fierce advocate for the city’s oceanfront. There he would rule over Long Branch pier and boardwalk culture for 40 years — with a flair and hospitality much missing today.

Indeed, from its early development in the mid-1920s up until the late-1980s fire that ended it all, it was the Maher blueprint that prevailed on the city’s oceanfront. Maher first got involved in the city when he acquired the Long Branch Pier for $15,000 in back taxes in late 1921. In setting up the Ocean Pier and Amusement Association, his goal was to build “one of the finest amusement centers on the coast.”

After years of lawsuits and delays the city’s “Million Dollar Pier” was mostly completed about 1913. Sam Rosoff — known as the “millionaire ditch-digger” — completed the protracted seaside project. And then not much happened for another decade.

In January 1922 Maher and his company (with $500,000 in capital) introduced an “elaborate” plan to develop the “vacant, concrete pier,” according to the Long Branch Daily Record. Baker, Miller & Company of Connecticut — “the greatest amusement engineers in the country” — were the designers on the big pier plan. Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters built most of the “amusement devices.”

“Long Branch repays those who have confidence in its future and who will speak well of it.”
—Long Branch Daily Record, September 1930

Soon the pier was buzzing with activity. Talk about “Roaring” times. By July 1926, Maher had built and was operating a huge dance ballroom and merry-go-round. Pier favorites like “Skee-Ball,” “The Whip” and “Palm-Reading” were there too. Plus he had a shooting-gallery, funhouse and high-striker. Oh, and great fishing and swimming. In May 1927, the Long Branch Daily Record claimed the “monolithic pier” had become “an amusement center” and “fisherman’s paradise.”

Seeking to enlarge his boardwalk empire in April 1929, Maher paid $200,000 for a block of stores 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. Seymour & Braun were the architects.

Maher’s Dance Hall on city pier, 1930s.

Maher joined the boardwalk food and drink biz when he opened Arcadia Grill in June 1930. Called “the last word in modernism,” the $50,000 restaurant seated 250. By Summer 1936, it was renamed Maher’s Restaurant. The spot survived past several fires in the 1960s and rebuilt; it was finally wrecked in an April 1969 blaze. Maher started to unload his boardwalk properties in 1960 and by 1964 he was uninvolved at the Long Branch oceanfront.

Maher was a shore development blur during the 20s. He also built Chelsea Baths, the once popular city pool club near the pier. It opened in July 1925 at the corner of Ocean and Chelsea Avenues. Andrew Lustbaum, the city’s leading car salesman, was Maher’s partner. And prior to its burning in 1928, Maher also rented and filled the old Long Branch Casino at Ocean Avenue and Broadway with interesting acts — including boxing and wrestling, auto polo and formal dance balls, movies and concerts.

In addition to his remarkable business career, Maher also can boast of an exceptional civic record. He was a Long Branch Housing Authority member from 1939 to 1965 and its chairman for over 15 years. The LBHA, established in April 1938, got busy quickly with Maher’s instinct to build. Its first major project, Garfield Court for 128 families, was opened in August 1940. A.A. LaFountain built it for $667,000. The project — covering 7 acres along Rockwell and Central Avenue — was “one of greatest improvements ever achieved” in city history, according to the Long Branch Daily Record. Today, the LBHA purview includes nearly 1,600 residents and 750 units city-wide. Born of the Great Depression’s relentless grip, in the beginning in addition to “slum clearance” in the city, the goal with to provide “modern, low rent apartments for those with low incomes.”

Dancing on Maher’s Pier — 90 Summers Ago — HERE

Maher was also an active Long Branch Chamber of Commerce member and served as its president from 1951-52. But even with all his “pier power,” Maher’s political career had its ups and downs. After losing a race for Long Branch Commission in 1952, Maher won a seat in May 1956 and then was appointed as city mayor serving until 1960.

A staunch Republican, in capturing the mayor’s job he topped fellow city commissioner and staunch Democrat J. Paul Kiernan by one vote among the five-member governing body (Kiernan would return the favor on becoming mayor in 1960). Prior to losing a city commission reelection bid in May 1960, Maher had begun to sell all his beachfront interests and was all gone by 1964.

A native of Trenton, Maher served in the US Army during WW I. His wife Ruth (a former opera singer) was a fixture by his side, serving as hostess at their boardwalk restaurant. The couple had no children. Upon his passing in June 1980, his many admirers remembered him for his “character and ability.”

More Pier Stories:

• Long Branch Boardwalk & Pier History — HERE
• Dancing on the Pier: 90 Summers Ago — HERE
• Long Branch Pier Fire: 36 Years Ago — HERE
• Long Branch: City of Beach Clubs — HERE

Iconic Long Branch — Chelsea Baths pool club with the city pier in the background, 1932. The new club opened in July 1925 at the corner of Ocean and Chelsea Avenues. Two summers later an Olympic-size swimming pool — the largest on the NJ coast — was added. Founding owner-developers were Daniel Maher (then pier owner and later city mayor) and Andrew Lustbaum (a pioneering city auto dealer and mechanic).

Glory Days — Busy beach day with the pier in the background, 1936.

Looking good! — Long Branch boardwalk, 1940s.  In those days Maher said Long Branch was “the toast of the North Jersey Shore.”

Fishing on the Long Branch Pier, 1940s. Fishing here dates back to the late-1910s.

Long Branch Pier, 1960s.

The pier merry-go-round was ruined during a major hurricane (winds hit 75 mph), September 1944. Owner  Daniel Maher opened the carousel in 1926. It was valued at $10,000.

Long Branch Casino at Broadway and Ocean Avenue, 1920s. Maher frequently rented the building for events.

Marine Gardens apartments sketch proposal, Long Branch Daily Record, May 1948. The $250,000 LBHA project was on Ocean Avenue. Hall-Meslin Company were the builders.

Marine Gardens apartments on Ocean Avenue, 2013. Affordable oceanfront living in Long Branch — MORE INFO.

Maher’s on the Long Branch boardwalk, 1940s. In July 1934 liquor was sold legally on the city boardwalk for the first time in 16 years; Maher’s got the first license.

Maher’s Restaurant, 1930s.

Maher’s Restaurant on the Boardwalk, 1954 postcard. The popular seafood eatery suffered major fires in 1960 and 1963. It was all acquired by Jay Jay Realty Company in 1964.

Inside Maher’s Restaurant on the boardwalk, 1950s.

Arcadia Grill ad (later to be Maher’s Restaurant). Long Branch Daily Record, June 1930.

New Arcadia Grill. Long Branch Daily Record, August 1930.

Play Ball — Mayor Dan Maher tosses out the first pitch to start the beginning of the IAMA baseball season at Long Branch Stadium, Long Branch Daily Record, May 1957.

Pre-Maher — Chelsea Avenue Pavilion on the boardwalk, 1918. The city-owned facility was hosting live music along the oceanfront as early as the 1890s. It was wrecked in a vicious 1944 storm. Behind is the pier still under construction.