Local History Archives - Remax at Barnegat Bay

Lavallette Real Estate Has What You’re Looking For

Posted on: July 1st, 2021 by admin

Lavallette real estate makes families happy like this trio high fiving on a couch surrounded by moving boxes

Regardless of what type of home you are searching for, you can find it in Lavallette. There are houses on the beach, homes on the bay, and everything in between. Condos, townhomes, single-family homes, and multi-family homes can all be found in this market. Along with that diversity comes a range of price points. With such a versatile market, we feel sure that if you contact our Lavallette real estate office, we can find what you’re looking for.

A Brief History of Lavallette

Honoring U.S. Navy Admiral Elie A. F. LaVallette, this city by the sea was designated back in 1878. The addition of the railroad across the bay into South Seaside Park helped this towns development. The expansion was slow going, but the area became more and more popular for the summer. This brought more people, creating the need for things like churches, stores, and, of course, the Yacht Club. This well-known club was established in 1904. Originally a fishing town, Lavallette’s population began to increase in the 1920’s and 1930’s. This was mostly due to the addition of important utilities like electricity, running water, and gas. As early as 1937, there is a request for a 4-lane highway across Barnegat Bay to accommodate the increase in population. Today, there is little space left to develop and is still a summer town, primarily.

Today’s Lavallette Has Recreation for All

The town has four playgrounds. They all range in size and have a variety of play equipment to entertain the kids. In addition to that, there is also sports fields available for use by reservation and for a small fee. This includes a fields and courts for baseball, soccer, tennis, pickle ball, basketball, volley ball, shuffleboard, and bocce ball. And let’s not forget everyone’s favorite, mini golf. There are also three beautifully maintained parks overlooking the bay. Being a summer town there are also other fun things to do like biking, crabbing, and fishing. Add on to that summer concerts and movies on the bay and no matter what type of activity you’re looking for, you can find it in Lavallette.

Lavallette Real Estate Offers Up Good Eats Too

There is nothing like enjoying a meal and along with a beautiful sunset. If you are looking for an “Ideal beach town café” according to one review on Trip Advisor, check out the Bay View Café. This restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner so it is perfect any time of day. For something a little different, The Ohana Grill is for you. Bringing the taste of the island to Lavallette, this restaurant is rated 4.8 out of 5 stars on their Facebook page.

Of course, there are also the must haves like Dunkin Donuts and Jersey Mikes Subs. But there is also a fresh produce store and a number of pizzerias. And everyone needs ice cream in the summer. We can’t neglect to mention Lavallette’s own Kohr’s Frozen Custard, Iceberg Ice Cream, and the crowd-pleasing The Music Man singing ice cream shop.

Casual to more elegant, savory to sweet, when you buy a home in Lavallette real estate, you do not have to go far to find good food.

Lavallette Real Estate Has Homes Galore

Just as with everything else we discussed so far, the real estate market in Lavallette has a wide variety to choose from. Being a summer town, many of the homes located in Lavallette are rental properties. Now is a great time to invest in real estate and Lavallette is a great town to do it in. The popularity of this town is not going to cease any time soon, there will always be a need for rental homes. For those looking for a primary residence, there are plenty of those too. Take a look at our Featured Homes page to browse a few of the beautiful homes that are available now in Lavallette, Seaside Park, and Ortley Beach. Even just that abbreviated list shows you the range of types of homes in these shore towns.

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10 Fascinating Facts About the Jersey Shore and the Seaside Barrier Island

Posted on: June 28th, 2019 by admin

Everyone knows about our beaches, the boardwalk, the shore nightlife, and all the other attractions that bring people to towns like Lavallette and Seaside Park.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that our area has a rich history, too. Throughout Ocean County, in towns like Toms River, Seaside Heights, Point Pleasant and others, there are some fascinating historical tidbits that will enhance your appreciation of the area.

Here are a few of our favorites.

There really is a Lucky Leo! Lucky Leo’s is one of the boardwalk’s most famous arcades, and its namesake is a real person. It’s named after Leo Whalen, a former Lakehurst resident who watched the Hindenburg fly into town as a boy.
We have no idea where the name “Toms River” comes from. The most common story says that it is named after Thomas Luker, a ferryman who used to run a ferry that crossed what was then called Goose Creek, but that has yet to be confirmed. The town may also be named after English Captain William Tom, and there was also a local Native American man named Tom who some suggest may have been the origin of the name. We may never know the truth!
Speaking of Toms River, newer residents may not realize that the town’s name was only recently declared to be Toms River. Until 2006, Toms River was just an unofficial nickname for the downtown area around Washington Street. The town’s official name was Dover Township.
Ocean County used to be part of Monmouth County. It split off into its own county in 1850, but prior to that not only were the two counties one, in the 1700s what is now known as Toms River was actually a part of Shrewsbury Township.
Today’s tourists, summer residents, and summer renters aren’t the only ones who call the barrier island home. In what is now Seaside Park, the Lenape Native Americans lived on the island (which they called “Seheyichbi,” or “land bordering the ocean”) during the summer months, subsisting on fish, crabs, clams, and scallops. When the weather cooled, they went inland again, just like people do today.
Toms River is the county seat, but it won out over a seemingly unlikely competitor by a very, very narrow margin: Lakehurst nearly took the crown in 1850 when Ocean County separated from Monmouth County.
When Seaside Park was incorporated in 1898, its name was slightly different. At the time, it was called Sea Side Park. In 1914, a township clerk accidentally wrote it as Seaside Park in the town’s meeting minutes. The error stuck, and today two words are one.
The shore area thrives thanks to the Garden State Parkway, but that is a fairly recent development in history. The Parkway only first connected North Jersey to the Shore in the 1950s. Prior to that, the trek to our beaches was a long and difficult one, made along Route 9, which was a two-lane, local road. It was an arduous drive!
In 1955 in Seaside, a faulty neon sign lit an Ocean Terrace business on fire. High winds spread the blaze. It caught fast. By the time it was extinguished, 85 buildings had been destroyed.
Seaside Heights exploded in population during the 1920s, growing by more than 150%. The primary reason? A bridge across the bay being built in 1914 and the construction of the boardwalk. Today, of course, it’s one of the biggest attractions at the shore.

There is a lot more where this came from, too. Do you have an interesting historical tidbit for us? Let us know! We’d love to include them in future articles.

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