Capturing the Heart of Belmar
Share the Unique History of Your Belmar Home!
Belmar is a treasure of architecture styles, from cottages to grand old homes, that reflect not only how our little Boro was formed, but how the American culture has grown.
Our initiative is to Capture the Heart of Belmar by preparing a photographic history of the homes in our beautiful borough. To accomplish this, we need your help. As the borough continues to evolve, we are losing some of our older homes. Let’s track the beautiful and unique structures we now enjoy. Take a few minutes to capture the historic qualities of your home in photo to include in our newly created pictorial history of the heart of Belmar.
Photos of homes or unique additions/structures at least fifty years old on your property are sought for preservation. If your home is newer on the original footprint and you have photos of the original structure we would welcome photos of “now and then” — the old structure and the new. You can email or bring photos of your home or elements of your property to the Belmar Museum, 900 E Street, Belmar.
We will include photos of your home, preserved in our museum. We are particularly interested in older homes or perhaps simply a portion of your structure with some unique feature or architectural style. New homes with before and after photos are also sought. The following is a list of some of the aspects of your property that are of on-going interest.
BEFORE & AFTER PHOTOS
What is most intriguing is if you have an older photo of the structure taken at a time of initial construction. It is great if you can capture the structure from the same angle in your current photo. Before and after photos of renovations are always of interest. Documents confirming the date of construction and original owners, builders or architects are important. If you have deeds, plans, or sketches from the early stages of construction, please provide a copy or allow us to make a copy in order to preserve Belmar’s history.
STRUCTURES & BUILDING ELEMENTS
Some of the elements of your home or property that should be captured and preserved include:
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widow’s walk
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turret
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original wood wainscoting or flooring
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unique fireplace
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old barn or outhouse
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stained-glass windows
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original deed or paperwork
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so much more...look around and share your home’s history!
In addition, we welcome your story. If your house has a unique story worth capturing and preserving (such as a former life as a boarding house or business), please send us a short description. These wonderful tales add a great deal to preserving our history!
HOW TO SUBMIT PHOTOS
To participate in this project, take a photograph of the outside of your home. Be certain to include your name and address as well as the date each photo was taken. You may e-mail the photos and supporting data to the BHS at info@belmarhistoricalsociety.org. Kindly state HOME PHOTO in the subject line. You may also present photos and information to one of our volunteers at the BHS Museum where we can download it off a USB drive. You do not need to make prints.
OLD PHOTOS PRESERVED
The BHS is always looking for old photos of Belmar, and any other Belmar memorabilia you’d like to donate. Please consider sharing your treasures with the BHS so that everyone can enjoy them.
QUESTIONS?
Please don’t hesitate to call us with any questions about our project. We hope you will take the time to share with us the wonderful home history that is unique to Belmar.