“Where no one remembers your name …”

Resting along the banks of Manahasset Creek was the landmark Monmouth Beach Inn. This hospitable and sometimes raucous boardinghouse and bar was known as “the MBI” by locals. It started out as one guy’s golden retreat.

The Prospects
The main “cottage” had been the summer home of Major Henry Guy Catlin, according to the Long Branch Daily Record. The original burned in May 1900 and a 16-room house was rebuilt for that summer; Clarence Wilson was the architect. Born in Vermont and a University of Vermont engineering student, Catlin served in the Civil War and later became a very wealthy and respected mining engineer — striking gold literally and figuratively. Catin also owned several other Monmouth Beach properties and a NYC house.

“MBI”

Wilson was Long Branch’s most acclaimed architect of the early 20th Century. Based on Broadway for 20 years, he had trained as a draftsman on many of the finer Allenhurst homes. Hailed “a born architect” on his March 1922 passing, he also built the Townley, Goldstein and Cohen buildings and the Long Branch Casino, all on Broadway, and the Takanassee Hotel in West End.

The area grew busy when the nearby Conover Road Bridge opened in August 1908. The wooden Monmouth Beach-to-Long Branch overpass for Manahasset Creek was at the west end of the street. A day-long carnival was held in celebration, according to the New York Times. Festivities included land and water sports, a marine pageant, and reception at Manahasset Hotel on the Long Branch side. The Manahasset Park Association had begun development of the area in 1894. In 1917, the borough council changed two street names to create Valentine Street. The old roads, divided by Riverdale Avenue (which was once called Fresh Pond Road), were Conover Road (eastside) and Manahasset Street (westside). The 380-foot-long bridge — at one time heavily trafficked and owned by the county — was removed in 1965.

All the Catlin property and contents was sold at auction in summer 1922; Catlin died in 1925. John F. Monahan, a Newark Democrat power-broker (city commissioner and county sheriff),  acquired the property in 1927, formed an association and opened the “Shore Club.” Frank Spagnuolo was an early steward. Daniel Dondi was one of the first mangers in 1926. Later he ran the Airport Inn in Tinton Falls (from 1937-1971). The longtime Red Bank resident died in Sept. 1976.

In October 1944, Ted Suszynski “formally opened” the Momouth Beach Inn (open 6 days, 11:30 am to 1 am). Set on three acres of riverfront property, it included two bars, four dinning rooms, a kitchen, and four fireplaces. It also had pool and shuffleboard tables. There were 16 rooms for rent upstairs. The MBI would prosper in the post-war years. It did plenty of advertising in the local newspaper and was consistently looking for wait staff. It would gain a reputation for its fun-loving patrons (“door-slamming” and “horn-blowing in the parking lot”) and party atmosphere (“loud-talking” and “boisterous-singing”).

By 1948, the MBI was offering “television entertainment for patrons.” In the early 1950s, the inn sponsored a competitive men’s softball team; among the players was future New York Yankee Hall-of-Fame pitcher, Whitey Ford. And he could hit too. The lefty pitcher with the most wins in World Series history (10), played outfield for the MBI. During the time when he was an MBI player, Ford was already a World Series champion for the Yanks (1950).

“I drink to make other people more interesting.”
—Ernest Hemingway

As the 1960s neared Valentine Street residents were calling the inn a “public nuisance” — with too much noise, profanity, and late night organ and jukebox music. In deed, there was too much turnover in ownership. Between 1933 and 1967, the MBI had 10 different proprietors (including Charles K. Jones, William Benequit, Martin Lavine, Anne McEvoy, Lillian Bade, Theodore J. Suszynski and Walter Pawlak, Richard and Ethel Carter, Howard and Anela Bauerband; the last owners were Dan and Terry Carmody).

Last Call
The MBI ceased operating in April 1967 and was mostly destroyed by a January 1968 fire (during an ice storm). After the fire, it stood for several years as an empty shell surrounded by weeds. Howag Corp, an investment group led by Walter Mihm and Oscar Williams, acquired the MBI’s inactive liquor license in September 1968. After sitting dormant for many years (held by Judge Harry Lane, Jr.), the license was transferred and used at the Haul Out Restaurant on the river at the foot of West Street which opened in 1978. It later became Sallee Tee’s Grille (from 1999-2012) and today it’s the Beach Tavern.

The old MBI land is now occupied by the Sands Point South condominiums. Opened for Fall 1974, the Valentine Street complex had 58 units (starting at $26,990) with a tennis court and pool on the property. Decorated in a “contemporary colonial-style with warm earth-tone colors,” project developers were the NJR Development Corp. and Driftwood Associates.

More:
• Monmouth Beach “Yankees” — HERE
• Boyle’s Tavern: “Neighborhood Bar” — HERE

Pre-MBI — Henry Catlin summer home (r) seen from Manahasset Creek, 1909. The other buildings were swept away in rising-rivers storm in Winter 1914. Talk about ambitious — in Winter 1902 Catlin traveled 8,000+ miles to examine gold mining operations In Nevada and on the Pacific Coast.

MBI on Valentine Street, 1950s. “A borough landmark.”

Rustic Charm — Monmouth Beach Inn on Valentine Street, 1960s. The last MBI owner Dan Carmody was all man. A Hoboken native and former mounted police officer and business administrator in that city, he also was an attorney (graduating John Marshall Law School in Newark, today’s Seton Hall University School of Law). He was a Monmouth Park racetrack betting clerk for nearly 30 years prior to his June 2000 death.

MBI, 1950s. Howard Bauerband owned the MBI from 1953 to 1967. Born in Elizabeth, he died In October 1973.

MBI, 1955. “Famous for many years as the well-known restaurant and bars of the shore area.” — Long Branch Daily Record, 1948.

MBI, May 1948.

MBI (with “Shore Club” on front), 1940s.

MBI by Valentine Street Bridge, 1940s.

MBI on the right of the Valentine Street Bridge, 1920s.

City Side — Manahasset Creek Bridge heading into Monmouth Beach, 1920s. The MBI is at right.

Valentine Street Bridge connected Monmouth Beach and North Long Branch, 1940s. The MBI is at right.

MBI charred remains, January 1968. The inn was closed since May 1967.

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Manahasset Creek aerial image, 1933. The MBI is almost center. The body of water is a tributary of the Shrewsbury River.

Manahasset Creek aerial image, 2019 (Frank E. Snead Photo).

Double Cross — Manahasset Creek aerial view, 1951. Note the inclusion of both borough bridges: Patten (top) and Valentine (bottom).

Highest Bidder — Monmouth Beach property auction map, August 1919. An odd layout proposal for the barren land between Riverdale Avenue and Manahasset Creek more than a century ago. The package included 57 building lots — all owned by Life Insurance Company of Virginia. Joseph P. Day of NYC was the auctioneer. Note the circle and several paper roads (Charlotte, Relwof, and Winnar Places).

“Excellent Location” — The Catlin property on Valentine Street up for auction, Long Branch Daily Record, May 1922.

Another name for MBI — “Lillian’s Tavern.” Long Branch Daily Record, July 1941. She and her husband, Ernest, had owned a Keyport bar prior to his death in March 1939. She bought the 50-room Hotel Royal in Asbury Park in 1943 and sold three years later “for about $30,000.”

Formal Opening — Monmouth Beach Inn, Long Branch Daily Record, October 1944.

Record Reach — Amazing tale about the MBI, a borough solider and the local newspaper. Long Branch Daily Record, May 1945. He made it home safely and lived until March 1977.

MBI Sold! Long Branch Daily Record, May 1948.

The Shore Club ad, Long Branch Daily Record, June 1937.

MBI Shuffleboard League dinner, April 1956.

MBI Halloween Party, 1950s.

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MBI ad, Long Branch Daily Record, April 1946.

MBI ad, Long Branch Daily Record, October 1947.

“Innmen Ace” — Jim McConville pitches a shutout win for the MBI softball team, Long Branch Daily Record, May 1950. He was also the father of a future borough mayor and cheif of police.

MBI softball team, 1953. Back row, from left: Eddie Wells, Billy Marino, Maurice O’Dwyer, Jack Kuhlthau, Les Wilcox, Bill “Dizzy” Goldman, Dick Cassidy and Marty Connolley. Front row, from left: Edgar “Headgear” Marsh, Jim Hendrickson, Jim Grayson, Manager Frank Cassidy, Jim McConville, Red McWIggins, and Tommy Barham. Seated in front: Bat Boy Burt Barham.

Friends gather at the MBI, 1950s.

Good Friends Gather — Bill & Terry Flaherty and Gloria & Dan Hennessey at an MBI party, 1950s.

Celebration at MBI, 1950s.

“Shuffleboard Dinner” at MBI, 1954.

World War I soldiers gather at MBI before shipping out, late 1910s.

Story on Whitey Ford playing for MBI, Asbury Park Press, June 1952. As a 21-year-old rookie pitcher for the New York Yankees in the 1950 MLB season — prior to his time with the MBI team — Whitey went 9-1 with a 2.81 ERA. The Yanks won the American League pennant and he was winning pitcher in World Series clincher. The Yankees swept the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 that year.

APP story on MBI fire, January 1968.

MBI matchbooks.

Asbury Park Press ad (later became the MBI), June 1938.

MBI ad. APP, November 1947.

Thanksgiving Dinner at MBI, 1945.

Sands Point South condo ad. APP, Sept. 1974.

Sands Point South condo billboard ad, 1975. The first two families to take occupancy were the Kilgour and Birnbaum couples, according to the December 1974 Asbury Park Press.

Sands Point South condo complex, 2020.

Valentine Street looking across Manhasset Creek to Long Branch, 2019.

Other Side:

Manahassett Hotel, 1905. The postcard reads Monmouth Beach but the hotel was in Long Branch. Across the creek from the MBI, that city hotel burned in Feb. 1929.