“Galilee” of Monmouth Beach Images

by Greg Kelly · Published November 27, 2021 · Updated January 9, 2022

The borough area known as “Galilee” — located roughly from Central Road to the Sea Bright border — is a spot rich in history and imagery. The name is derived from a biblical city in Israel.

This seaside area in Monmouth Beach includes a once thriving commercial fishing village, railroad line and station, the US Life-Saving Service, US Coast Guard, NJ Marine Police, the grand building that housed them (now the MB Cultural Center), and the St. Peter’s Church at Galilee. Throw in the shipwrecks, storms and seafood and the area has a real charm to it.

Here are some area images I’ve located — and I’m always looking for more. Here’s my e-mail.

“Anna-Marie” pound boat and crew in the surf at Galilee, 1940s. Typically, the wooden craft was 33-feet long and weighed 500 pounds.

Galilee Groovin’ — Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band hang out at Lockwood’s Sea Food market on Ocean Avenue, August 1973. The Boss sits in front. Nelson Lockwood was the boss going back to 1892 — the family sold fish at this store and lived next door in a large home. All at Galilee — mere steps from an ocean and a river. In the photo behind Bruce ( l to r): David Sancious, Vini Lopez, Clarence Clemons, Garry Tallent, and Danny Federici.

Lockwood’s Sea Food market atop the seawall, 1920s.

Lockwood’s Sea Food market hit by “mountainous seas,” November 1935.

Lockwood Sea Food market when is was across Ocean Avenue on top of the seawall, 1920.

Lockwood’s Sea Food market on Ocean Avenue, 1943. The family business sold retail and wholesale seafood.

Lockwood’s at extreme high tide, 1935. The store was literally blown off the seawall during a 1958 storm.

Aerial photo of Lockwood property, early 1950s.

Lockwood’s Sea Food market (l) and “Lockwood Cottage” (r) on west side of Ocean Avenue, 1958.

Lockwood Sea Food market, 1970s.

The “Lockwood House” in Galilee, 1970s.

Lockwood Sea Food market on Ocean Avenue, 1978.

US Life-Saving Station #4 at Monmouth Beach, NJ. October 1894. Pencil sketch by Milton James Burns (1853-1933).

US Coast Guard Station on Ocean avenue, 1930s.

The Green Inn — in its Gilded Age glory.

Green Inn promo ad. The Financier, 1905.

Green Inn for sale. Long Branch Daily Record, May 1912. Top bid was $30,000 by Hugo J. Hanft of New York. The Galilee building dates to 1881.

Green Inn, early 1900s.

Ocean Avenue in Galilee looking north, 1940s.

MB Cultural Center after Superstorm Sandy, November 2012.

US Coast Guard Station on Ocean Avenue, 1940s.

MB Cultural Center, 2021 (R.C. Staab Photo).

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee, 1925. “A large green building with a towering belfry” — according to a LB Daily Record, August 1949 report, the church was moved three times.

US Coast Guard station, 1958. The USCG operated out of this building on Ocean Avenue in MB for nearly 50 years — 1915 to 1964.

Storm damage to old Ocean Avenue seawall, 1953.

Galilee fishermen with their daily catch, 1930s.

Galilee fishermen and Swan pound boat fight the waves, 1955.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee fire, May 1955.

Fishermen gather at pound boat in Galilee, 1940s.

Large pound boats at Galilee, 1930s.

A collection of fishermen traps at Galilee, 1940s.

E.O. Peterson, Sr. in his Galilee office, 1950s. He formed Peterson Enterprises in 1954, which included fish freezing and storage, bait fish and ice supply, shrimp supplies, and real estate among others. A former MB fire company chief, E.O., Sr. died in January 1973.

People line-up to buy fish from pound boats on beach in Galilee, 1930s. The St. Peter’s Church in the background was moved across the street in 1933.

Abandoned fisherman’s shack at Galilee.

U.S. Life-Saving Station #4 in Monmouth Beach, 1857.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee, 1920s. Built right at the water’s edge, it was dedicated in August 1873.

Riker House being floated from Monmouth Beach (perhaps to Rumson?).

U.S. Coast Guard Station, 1930s.

Surfmen from U.S. Life-Saving Station #4 in MB.

Old Peterson Enterprises property in Galilee, 1974.

Galilee fishermen repairing nets, 1920s.

Fish baskets at Galilee, 1920s.

Storm damage along Ocean Avenue, 1960s.

Galilee pound boat ashore, 1940s.

Peterson Enterprises shrimp trucks, 1970s.

Storm flooding along Ocean Avenue, 1930s.

Aerial photo of of Galilee area looking north, 1927.

Aerial photo of of U.S. Coast Guard Station, 1950s.

Aerial photo of Monmouth Beach looking south from Sea Bright, 2017.

The Flottbek, a German three-master shipwrecked at Monmouth Beach, November 1901.

Marketing photo of Peterson’s Enterprises facility in Galilee, 1960s.

“A Break in the Railroad” (Between Sea Bright and Long Branch).

MB Cultural Center sea view, 2017.

MB Cultural Center fire, Sept. 2016.

US Life Saving Station on the beach in Galilee, 1850s.

The MB train station in Galilee. It was about a half-mile north of the other MB depot.

Galilee fishermen in their workings, early 1900s.

The Green Inn on Ocean Avenue in Galilee, 1908. The whole complex was damaged during a series of storms in 1913-14.

US Life-Saving Station, 1907. Built in the “Duluth style.”

Wooden seawall in Galilee in post-storm ruins, 1931.

Mending nets at Galilee, NJ, early 1900s. By Max Mongel.

Trap shooting at Galilee. Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, August 1889.

U.S. Life-Saving Station, 1908.

Lockwood’s Seafood Market on Ocean Avenue, 1920s. Business there began in 1892.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee just before its move across Ocean Avenue, 1937.

Pound boat “Swan” coming ashore, 1930s.

Storm waves top MB seawall in Galilee, 2015.

U.S. Coast Guard boat and crew, 1920s.

Yacht Bar in the Marine Room at Vivian Johnson’s Nightclub on Ocean Ave, early 1930s.

The U.S. Life-Saving Station #4 in MB, 1877.

Gail Gannon painting of St. Peter’s Church of Galilee.

MB Cultural Center, 2018

A pound boat comes off the beach and across Ocean Avenue to protect from storm waves. Directing traffic is Joseph Tomaini, Monmouth County Road Supervisor, October 1949. (APP Photo).

First pound boat guy, APP 1941.

MB Cultural Center, 2017.

US Coast Guard station, 1960s.

Storm damage in Galilee, 1940s.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee (l) after storm, 1931.

U.S. Life-Saving Service medal of honor.

U.S. Coast Guard station in Galilee, 1930s.

Lockwood’s Seafood Market at high tide, 1930s. The store was blown off the seawall during a 1958 storm.

Remains of the Jerolamon’s Boat Works, 1960s. The oldest known boat building business on the Shrewsbury River was opened in 1861 by Abram Jerolamon. It passed on to his son Willard and then to his grandson Harold in 1936. The business suffered a major fie in 1948 and in 1952 Ulricksen-Wilson of Keyport acquired the business. Harold Jerolamon died in 1957.

U.S. Coast Guard boat and crew, 1920s.

Gail Gannon’s Galilee painting.

Galilee fishermen meet after work, 1920s.

Galilee fishermen pull in pound boats, 1920s.

Horses struggle to pull in pound boats, 1920s.

Asbury Park Press story, December. 1969.

U.S. Life-Saving Station, 1906.

MB Cultural Center at sunset, 2019.

U.S. Coast Guard station at MB abandoned, 1996.

MB Cultural Center, 2007.

MB Cultural Center, 2019.

Vivian Johnson’s Nightclub in Galilee on fire, 1935.

NJ Marine Police Station in Galilee, 1972.

Storm tides surround St. Peter’s Church of Galilee, 1931.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee, early 1930s.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee , 1949.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee on fire, 1955.

Beach at Galilee, 1920s. (Jack Flaherty Photo).

Surfmen at U.S. Life-Saving station in Galilee, early 1900s.

Side view from U.S. Coast Guard Station, 1943.

MB Cultural Center before renovations, late 1980s.

West family goes fishing in Galilee, 1910.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee, 1920s.

“Preparing the Line’s for Morrow’s Fishing. A Scene at Galilee” in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, December 1888.

MB Cultural Center, 2018.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee fire, 1955.

U.S. Coast Guard storage garages, 1990s.

Ocean Avenue flooding in Galilee, 1950s.

Ocean Avenue seawall in Galilee, 1950s.

NJ State Marine Police station, 1992.

NJ State Marine Police station, 1997.

U.S. Life-Saving Station #4 surfmen, early 1900s.

Lockwood’s Seafood Market beach side, 1920s.

U.S. Coast Guard Station area, 1920s.

MB Cultural Center sketch proposal by Albert Benoist, 1999.

MB Cultural Center dedication plaque, 2000.

U.S. Coast Guard boat, early 1900s.

Alfred Thompson Bricher painting of MB coast, early 1900s.

U.S. Life-Saving Station, 1906.

Ship’s Bell from The Flottbek.

The Flottbek, a German three-master shipwrecked at MB, November 1901.

U.S. Coast Guard Station, 1919.

Damage from Storms of 1913-14 to Ocean Avenue home in Galilee.

U.S. Coast Guard Station, 1940s.

U.S. Life-Saving Service surfmen don “A Wild Night” from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1883.

Francis A. Silva oil painting of Galilee, 1880.

Shrewsbury River viewed from Galilee, 2017.

Peterson ice and storage buildings off Park Road, 1980s.

U.S. Coast Guard Station, 1940s.

Lobster pots from Galilee fishermen, 1980s.

Pound fishing boat from Galilee, 1940s.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee on Ocean Avenue, early 1900s.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee being moved across Ocean Avenue, 1937.

MB Cultural Center, early 2000s.

U.S. Coast Guard Station, 1940s.

Shrewsbury Fishermen barn on Seaview Avenue, 1971.

St. Peter’s Church of Galilee on fire, May 1955.

MB Cultural Center tower, 2016.

U.S. Coast Guard Station, 1940s.

Galilee fishing boats on the beach, 1930s.

Green Inn in Galilee. Built in 1881 on Ocean Avenue. At its peak, the main house offered 17 bedrooms, two large cottages, four bungalows, and 600-feet of beachfront and boardwalk. The property had been run by Col. J.E. Ewing until his death in 1907.

Green Inn in Galilee, 1905. Later called the Miramar Inn, it burned in Sept. 1914. A 1907 LB Daily Record report called it “one of the most delightful spots on the Jersey Coast.”