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Island Heights, N.J.: A ‘Magical Place’ That’s a Step Out of Time

Founded in the 19th century as a Methodist camp meeting site, this Ocean County borough retains an old-fashioned feeling, even as newcomers move in.

Living In ... Island Heights, N.J.

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By Jill P. Capuzzo

Residents and visitors are back on the boardwalk for sunset strolls, the pickleball courts are open and white sails have been dotting the shoreline of Island Heights, N.J. , for some time. But it wasn’t until this week, when the Island Heights Yacht Club’s junior sailing program started up again, that something of a sense of normalcy would return to this Ocean County borough on the banks of Toms River.

“I look forward to this every summer,” said Brian Hull, 44, a high school social studies teacher who has taught sailing here for the last 28 years. “All over town, you see kids riding their bikes, wearing their helmets and life jackets, heading down the hill to the yacht club.”

Despite the late start, Mr. Hull expects to squeeze most of the eight-week sailing lesson season in before Labor Day, although many of the boat races, along with other large public events, have been canceled. Still, for many of the borough’s 1,673 residents, life has not been dramatically altered throughout the months of a state-mandated coronavirus shutdown.

Island Heights

Dillon’s Creek

John F. Peto Studio Museum

island beach

“When I’m in Island Heights, I feel like I’m in a different part of the country,” said Michael DellaRocca, 67, a broker with Crossroads Realty who moved to Island Heights three years ago. “We’re not being stupid, but people have been running and biking, families have been getting together. If you didn’t leave town, you wouldn’t know anything was going on.”

With no commercial district, limited highway access and a public school system that serves just over 120 students, Island Heights has long seemed a step out of time, particularly in comparison with bustling areas like Seaside Heights, a short causeway ride away. Social activities center on the water in this 0.9-square-mile borough (a third of which is in the water). The yacht club and three other marinas are home to many boats from across Barnegat Bay, where numerous sailing regattas are normally held throughout the summer.

An abbreviated racing season will begin in early August, said Mayor Steve Doyle, commodore of the Island Heights Yacht Club. Other popular Island Heights events — including the fire department’s Summerbrew fund-raiser in late June and the Rotary Club’s Sailfest in September — were canceled because of a 250-person cap on public gatherings imposed by Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey.

“We’re adapting to the new normal,” said Mr. Doyle, 60, noting that borough council meetings are now being held outdoors. “Some families were hard hit by the Covid shutdown, dealing with job loss or financial issues. But everybody is supporting everybody else in town.” (As of late June, Island Heights had 14 Covid-19 positive cases and one Covid-related death, the mayor said.)

Mr. Doyle, who has summered here each year since he was a boy, moved to his family’s Victorian house full time upon retiring in 2016, a transition many of the borough’s residents have made.

Founded in 1878 as a Methodist camp meeting site, Island Heights has long served as a summer retreat, especially for those from the Philadelphia area. And while full-timers now outnumber summer-only residents, occasional rifts arise among the various constituent groups, said Harry Bower, who bought an 1890s farmhouse here for $175,000 in 1987.

“You have the townies, who want no change, and the yachties, who are just here for the summer, so they don’t care,” said Mr. Bower, 68, an art teacher and curator of the John F. Peto Studio Museum. “But in the last 10 years, we’ve seen new people, younger families moving here, who really appreciate the town’s charm.”

One of those appreciative newcomers is Therese Heimbold, 52, a commercial director at the US Pharmaceutical Corporation, who remembered her father talking about “this magical place” where he used to spend his summers. In 2017, she sold her house in Haddonfield, N.J., and bought one of Island Heights’ original camp meeting houses, a two-bedroom cottage, for $225,000.

Returning from her job in Philadelphia in the evening, Ms. Heimbold said, she finds her stress dissipates upon arrival: “I drive into town along River Road, and I see all the sailboats, and it’s pure serenity.”

What You’ll Find

Surrounded by water on three sides, Island Heights offers many homes with water views, nearly all a short walk from Toms River or Dillon’s Creek. While it technically sits on a peninsula rather than an island, the borough does have one of the highest shore points along the Eastern Seaboard, with a bluff that rises 60 feet above sea level. Atop this bluff is a mix of newer waterfront homes with long staircases down to private river docks and smaller houses, including a handful of turn-of-the-last-century cottages surrounding the camp meeting site grounds on West Camp Walk. About a dozen newer homes have been built throughout the town.

At the lower altitude, River Avenue hugs the curve of the river, where some of the borough’s grand Victorian and Queen Anne homes sit facing the water, complete with bright colors, ornate trim and the occasional widow’s walk. (Island Heights was once home to a number of ship captains.) About a third of the borough’s houses are within the Island Heights Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, although the designation doesn’t restrict renovations.

“It was enacted without teeth,” Mr. Doyle said. “But most people follow the rules in keeping up with the style. You’re buying into that culture.”

There are two small riverfront beaches in town, but many opt to cross the Route 37 causeway to the ocean beaches along Barnegat Peninsula, like Seaside Heights, Seaside Park and Island Beach State Park.

What You’ll Pay

As of early July, there were 23 properties on the market in Island Heights, Mr. DellaRocca said, including nine vacant developer lots along Dillon’s Creek. The most expensive house was a 1985 four-bedroom waterfront home with a 200-foot dock, listed for $1.275 million; the least expensive was a 1990 two-bedroom, two-bathroom house for $262,000. The development lots range from $650,000 to $1.1 million. Rental properties are almost nonexistent.

The average price of the 13 houses sold in the first six months of this year was $480,000; during the same time period in 2019, 28 homes sold at an average price of $411,000, according to the Monmouth Ocean Regional Multiple Listing Service. Elizabeth Hull, an agent with Re/Max and the wife of Mr. Hull, the sailing instructor, said the waterfront Victorians rarely come on the market, but when they do, they are priced at $600,000 or more, depending on the shape they are in.

The Hulls live in a rented house on “the bluff,” where Ms. Hull said she makes sure to keep cheese, wine and beer in her refrigerator, because “people are always dropping by to hang out.” More organized gatherings take place at the yacht club, which holds regular Friday night B.Y.O.B. catered dinners that are open to members and nonmembers. (Island Heights is a dry borough.)

Beyond the boating scene, Island Heights supports an active arts community, housing three art institutions (currently closed) within its borders: a cultural heritage museum, the Ocean County Artists’ Guild and the John F. Peto Studio Museum, in a building where Mr. Peto, a world-renowned trompe l’oeil artist, lived and painted in his final years.

While many events have been canceled, the Island Heights fire department is hoping to hold its Labor Day Races, a more than century-old tradition that concludes with squad members shoveling a dump truck full of peanuts onto the field for everyone to scramble and collect.

The Schools

The Island Heights School District , one of the smallest in the state, serves around 120 students from kindergarten through sixth grade. The elementary school provides Chromebooks to all its students and offers extracurricular clubs for chess, robotics, art, music and broadcasting.

Beyond sixth grade, students attend Central Regional Middle School and Central Regional High School, along with students from Berkeley Township, Ocean Gate, Seaside Heights and Seaside Park. The regional high school has about 1,400 students. In 2018-19, average SAT scores were 529 in English and 535 in math, compared with state averages of 539 and 541.

Among the private school choices are St. Joseph Grade School for prekindergarten through eighth grade and Donovan Catholic High School, both in neighboring Toms River.

The Commute

Island Heights is about 75 miles south of New York City and is served by buses only, out of Toms River. New Jersey Transit Bus No. 137 travels from the Toms River park-and-ride station (about a seven-minute drive from Island Heights) to Port Authority in Manhattan, in a little over an hour and a half. Tickets are $21.25 one way or $496 for a monthly pass. Academy Bus Lines runs a Parkway Express bus from the Toms River park-and-ride station to the Wall Street area; the trip takes about an hour and 45 minutes and costs $21 one way or $490 a month.

The History

In the early 1900s, the department store magnate John Wanamaker established Camp Wanamaker, a quasi-military encampment in the northeastern part of Island Heights, where young employees were sent for two weeks during the summer to take part in drills, drum and bugle corps training, field competition and swimming. The site was taken over by the U.S. Army during World War II and is where the borough’s municipal buildings and post office are now.

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Island Heights Yacht Club

Stories from the Island Heights Yacht Club

P.O. Box 721 River Avenue Island Heights, NJ 08732

Website: www.ihyc.com

Founded in 1898, Island Heights Yacht Club is one of the oldest yacht clubs in the United States. Located on Barnegat Bay along the central coast of New Jersey, it is home of the Wanamaker Cup.

ISLAND HEIGHTS YACHT CLUB BECOMES NSHOF FOUNDING MEMBER

A Brief History of Island Heights Yacht Club by Donald Bottomley, Past Club Historian

The following notes have been extracted from the original meeting minute book of the yacht club and cover the years from 1898 to 1911.

On July 28 1898, about 30 summer residents agreed to form a yacht club and for that purpose assembled at the house of Charles Webb (the white house across from the club). The first meeting decided that race entrance fees were $.50, and boats must be skippered by owners in good standing.

On Aug. 9, 1898, the club constitution was adopted. Article 2 states that the purpose of the club is to promote yachting and rowing (rowing has seemed to fall to the wayside). Article 7 states that the original annual dues were to be $3 for members and $2 for junior members. Rule 11 states that the crew for any yachts shall consist of one man for every five feet of deck length and each yacht shall return to port with the same number of crew that she left with.

Women were permitted to join in 1899 when an amendment was passed that allowed a ladies' auxiliary to be formed.

On April 7, 1900, the club incorporated in the state of New Jersey at a cost of $5.16. Riparian rights were purchased at the foot of Oak Avenue for $100.00. Construction on the club house began and the facility was ready for the summer of 1900. On April 28, 1900, the membership agreed on plans for a south wing to the club house, a pier, and to modestly furnish the house for less than $3500. They approved a north wing three years later for $3000. They also agreed to purchase the riparian grant from Thomas Perrine for $200. Interclub races then began with Bay Head and Seaside Park YC's. Spectators often viewed races from chartered railroad cars that left from the old Island Heights train station on River Avenue.

On Aug. 2, 1901, Bay Head YC, Mantoloking YC, Seaside Park YC, and IHYC agreed to mark a bay channel from Bay Head to Island Heights.

On June 6, 1906, the House Committee was instructed to look into the possibility of installing a telephone in the club house.

On July 7, 1906, Mr. Van Sant authorized the purchase of a row boat for the club not to exceed $10.00.

On Sept. 5, 1908, the Ladies' Auxiliary purchased the ship's clock which now rests on the west wall.

BACK TO YACHT CLUB STORIES PAGE

What to Do, See and Eat in Island Heights: An Enchanting Throwback in Time

The waterfront and the arts scene are top-notch..

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If you are an artist or a sailor, or simply someone who loves Victorian architecture and beautiful water views, you will be enchanted by the borough of Island Heights. Tucked into a pocket of the north shore of Toms River, this 1-square-mile Ocean County town feels like a throwback in time, with its stately former sea captains sitting proudly along the banks of River Avenue. Across the street is the 125-year-old Island Heights Yacht Club, where sailboats skim along the river.

Founded in 1878 as a Methodist camp-meeting site, the town of just 1,650 residents attracts day-trippers who come to watch a regatta or take a sailing lesson, and artists who find a wealth of paint-worthy spots to set up their easels. One world-renowned artist, the trompe l’oeil master John F. Peto, moved to Island Heights in 1889 and lived there until his death in 1907.  

Buy our September 2023 issue here . Cover photo: Laura Moss

Art or history buffs can see where Peto lived and worked at what is now the John F. Peto Studio Museum on Cedar Avenue (which is one of NJM’ s favorite under-the-radar museums ), or visit the Island Heights Cottage Museum on Simpson Avenue to get a sense of life here in the late 19th century. With a reputation as an artists’ colony, Island Heights is also home to the Ocean County Artists Guild, which hosts exhibits, events and classes.

The waterfront comes alive with Sailfest on the second Saturday in September, New Jersey’s largest sailing festival featuring music, food and boating.

For those seeking a bit more action, Seaside Heights is just across the causeway, where boardwalk amusements and beaches await.  

WHERE TO EAT

Xina Restaurant, just before the causeway to Seaside Heights, is a large, family-oriented fish and sushi restaurant, where the portions are large. Also located nearby is Aqua Blu Kitchen & Cocktails, a New American bistro that is in Toms River.

WHERE TO STAY

The Avon Hotel in Toms River is a two-star hotel just outside of Island Heights en route to the Shore, where rooms go for about $150-$215 a night.

Want to keep exploring? Check out more of our 12 favorite small towns to visit now .

Island Heights Yacht Club , 65 River Avenue; John F. Peto Studio Museum , 102 Cedar Avenue; Island Heights Cottage Museum , 105 Simpson Avenue; Ocean County Artists Guild , 22 Chestnut Avenue; Xina Restaurant , 3430 Route 37, Toms River; Aqua Blu Kitchen & Cocktails , 3410 Route 37, Toms River; Avon Hotel, 2215 Route 37 East, Toms River

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Island Heights Yacht Club

Location & Hours

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Island Heights, NJ 08732

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Cute building right off boardwalk. It's a nice location to walk around and just enjoy fresh air. If you walk pass the club you could find a two story gazebo for a better view of the water front. Tip. If you crave some dessert, you could find a Playa Bowl location which is only 5 min away. Thank you for reading this and I hope you find this helpful.

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Island Heights Yacht Club

Introduction.

Text-to-speech Audio

Photo courtesy of Island Heights Yacht Club

Backstory and Context

On July 28 1898, about 30 summer residents agreed to form a yacht club and for that purpose assembled at the house of Charles Webb (the white house across from the club). The first meeting decided that race entrance fees were $.50, and boats must be skippered by owners in good standing.

On Aug. 9, 1898, the club constitution was adopted. Article 2 states that the purpose of the club is to promote yachting and rowing (rowing has seemed to fall to the wayside). Article 7 states that the original annual dues were to be $3 for members and $2 for junior members. Rule 11 states that the crew for any yachts shall consist of one man for every five feet of deck length and each yacht shall return to port with the same number of crew that she left with.

Women were permitted to join in 1899 when an amendment was passed that allowed a ladies' auxiliary to be formed.

On April 7, 1900, the club incorporated in the state of New Jersey at a cost of $5.16. Riparian rights were purchased at the foot of Oak Avenue for $100.00. Construction on the club house began and the facility was ready for the summer of 1900. On April 28, 1900, the membership agreed on plans for a south wing to the club house, a pier, and to modestly furnish the house for less than $3500. They approved a north wing three years later for $3000. They also agreed to purchase the riparian grant from Thomas Perrine for $200. Interclub races then began with Bay Head and Seaside Park YC's. Spectators often viewed races from chartered railroad cars that left from the old Island Heights train station on River Avenue.

On Aug. 2, 1901, Bay Head YC, Mantoloking YC, Seaside Park YC, and IHYC agreed to mark a bay channel from Bay Head to Island Heights.

On June 6, 1906, the House Committee was instructed to look into the possibility of installing a telephone in the club house.

On July 7, 1906, Mr. Van Sant authorized the purchase of a row boat for the club not to exceed $10.00.

On Sept. 5, 1908, the Ladies' Auxiliary purchased the ship's clock which now rests on the west wall.

Additional Information

• Official website of the Island Heights Yacht Club

Events and Entertainment

September 7, 2024 • 10:00 am – 10:00 pm, please note there is a required security bag check when entering the fenced food, beverage and entertainment area. to minimize waiting please don’t bring backpacks, totes or large purses to this area. for everyone’s comfort and safety pets are also not permitted in this area., delicious food, beer & wine, september 7 @ 10:00 am - 10:00 pm.

Don’t Miss Our Fantastic, Affordable, Tasty Food & Beverage Vendors! Beer will still be just $5. ------ Participating Food Vendors: ------ Simply Sofrito – Empanadas (meat, vegetarian, vegan) and more [...]

Sailfest Governor’s Cup “A-Cat” Races

September 7 @ 11:00 am - 5:00 pm.

All A-Cat sailboats welcome! Yacht Club Membership is not required. Where:  Island Heights Yacht Club (Island Heights, NJ) Registration:  11:00-12:00 PM at Island Heights Yacht Club. $40 Entry Fee. Skipper’s [...]

Sailfest PHRF “All Boats” Sailing Regatta Race

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Island Heights Yacht Club    Founded 1898

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