BELMAR HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Museum & History Room

In 1872, when Belmar was called “Ocean Beach," it was not yet the Victorian ocean resort that was soon to develop. Ocean Avenue was a sandy dirt carriage path until developers built the grand seaside hotels, imported luxury buildings from the Philadelphia Centennial, and laid the first planks of the wooden boardwalk on the sand. Visitors began to arrive for the fresh salt air and daily ocean bathing – deemed to be a healthy activity.