Trolleys Sections
Digital interactions for Friends of the
Township of Ocean Historical Museum!
FORMER SECTIONS OF THE TOWNSHIP OF OCEAN
"Monmouth County developed the most extensive trolley service of all the shore counties." By 1870, a horse-drawn trolley line was opened in Long Branch; the line was electrified in 1889. The Atlantic Coast Electric Railroad Company, established in 1895, extended the Long Branch line south through Allenhurst to Asbury Park; the electrified line was officially opened on July 27, 1895. The trolley route traveled from Asbury Park through Allenhurst along Main Street, traveling past the company's car barn on the corner of Main Street and Elberon Avenue, turning east on Elberon Avenue, and then turning north along Page Avenue towards Deal. Seeing this as a selling point, the Coast Land Improvement Company advertised, "The new electric Railroad to Elberon and Long Branch passing directly through the [Allen] estate makes it literally a part of Asbury Park."
Due to the large volume of passengers, much of the trolley line was double-tracked in 1904. The Atlantic Coast Electric Railroad Company was reorganized in 1905 as the Atlantic Coast Electric Railway. During its height of service, the tracks connected the communities of Long Branch, Elberon, Deal, Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Bradley Beach, Neptune City, Avon, Belmar, Spring Lake, Sea Girt, and Manasquan. In 1924, the East Jersey Power Company took over the trolley line and merged with the Coast Cities Railway. Trolley service through Allenhurst was discontinued in 1930.
