Monmouth Beach Inn
History & photos …
Resting along the banks of Manahasset Creek was the landmark Monmouth Beach Inn. This hospitable and sometimes-raucous boarding house and bar was known as the “MBI” by locals.
The true origin and construction date of the building are unknown. According to an August 1908 New York Times report, a day-long carnival was held in celebration of the opening of a new bridge from Monmouth Beach into Long Branch. The wooden river overpass was at the west end of Valentine Street over Manahasset Creek. The festivities included land and water sports, a marine pageant, and a reception at Manahasset Hotel on the Long Branch side. The Monmouth Beach inn structure was up at the time.
Perhaps it was the Manahasset Park Association, which had begun development of the area in 1894, that built the MBI? Or maybe the it was the Monmouth Beach Land & Construction Company (Clarence M. Fowler as president) which took area control in 1901, according to the Long Branch Daily Record.
In its heyday, the property on Valentine Street covered three acres. The inn had two bars, a pool table and shuffleboard, kitchen, four dinning rooms, four fireplaces, and 16 rooms for rent upstairs. The place had its up and downs. The location was the summer retreat for the East End Democratic Club of Newark in the early 1930s. Other names — John F. Monahan Club, Shore Club and Gallegher’s — were tried too.
“If you think how much are the drinks it’s not night life. ”
—Ernest Hemingway
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 pitcher who would go on to win the most World Series games in history (10), played outfield for the MBI. For a time when he was an MBI player, Ford was already a World Series champion for the Yanks in 1950.
By the mid-1950s, Valentine Street area residents were calling the inn a “public nuisance” — with too much noise, profanity, and late night organ and jukebox music. Between 1933 and 1967, the MBI had 10 different proprietors (including Charles K. Jones, William Benequit, Martin Lavine, Anne McEvoy, Lillian Bade, Richard and Ethel Carter, Theodore Susynski, Harry Woolley, and Nell and Howard Baurband); the last owners were Dan and Terry Carmody.
Famous for its party atmosphere and fun-loving patrons, the MBI ceased operations in April 1967 and was mostly destroyed by a January 1968 fire (during an ice storm). Firefighters back then estimated the building was about 100 years old. After the fire it stood for several years as an empty shell surrounded by weeds. The nearby Valentine Street Bridge that connected Monmouth Beach and Long Branch was first opened in 1908. The 380-foot-long bridge — at one time heavily trafficked and owned by the county — was removed in 1965.
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, 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 (1999-2012) and today it’s Beach Tavern.
The old MBI land is now occupied by the Sands Point South condominiums. Opened for Summer 1974, the Valentine Street complex had 58 units (starting at $26,990). It had a tennis court and a pool. Decorated in a “contemporary colonial-style with warm earth-tone colors,” the project developers were the NJR Development Corp. and Driftwood Associates.
More:
• Monmouth Beach “Yankees” — HERE
• Boyle’s Tavern: “Neighborhood Bar” — HERE
Interesting article Greg. Thanks for posting.
I recall some trivia from the MBI. I can name most of the players from the 1950 softball team. Interesting that my father, who was the pitcher on that team, always joked about how he pitched and Whitey Ford played center field. LOL. The Monmouth Beach Inn was my first home in 1952. My father and grandfather, Harry J. Woolley, leased the MBI for a couple of years.
Anyway — I enjoyed reading the article. Best wishes.
I love seeing these pictures. My grandparents, Bill and Terry Flaherty, are in a few. So grateful to have these.
I lived in Monmouth Beach for the entire 1960s — went to school there. We lived at 36 Monmouth Parkway. The Boyle’s were good friends of ours.