Legacy Monmouth: The Gilded Age Shore and the Families Who Built It

From the 1890s farmstead to the Gilded Age promenade, Monmouth's story is written in the places that still stand

Most of the Gilded Age "cottages" that gave Long Branch its nickname have gone, but what survives tells the fuller story: a working farm, a 250-year-old farmhouse, a lighthouse on the Navesink, and a church where seven presidents gathered. This week's Legacy Monmouth walk is anchored on those four — the Longstreet Farm and the Holmes–Hendrickson House in Holmdel, the Twin Lights in Highlands, and the Church of the Presidents in Elberon — and on the families, from the Conovers of Colts Neck to the Applegates of Wemrock Road, who built and kept them.

The Gilded Age shore that Long Branch built

By the 1880s and 1890s Long Branch had become one of the East Coast's premier summer resorts, drawing the country's wealthiest families within a short rail ride of New York City.

• Developer Lewis B. Brown laid out the Elberon section of Long Branch in 1866–67 — "Brown's Park" — and helped build the grand Elberon Hotel, anchoring the area that became the resort's showcase – monmouthbeachlife.com
• Elberon earned nicknames for its social prominence — "Hollywood of the East" and the "Playland of Millionaires" — and Seven Presidents Park on the beach commemorates the seven U.S. presidents associated with the area – wikipedia.org
• President James A. Garfield came to Elberon in 1881 seeking fresh air after being shot, and died there on September 19, 1881 – wikipedia.org
• Long Branch's resort era left almost no large "cottage" intact today; the buildings and beach clubs that replaced them now hold the neighborhood's memory – thecitypulse.com

The families — Longstreet, Holmes, Conover, Applegate

Beneath the resort boom were the county's own lines: the Dutch- and English-settled farming families whose names the shore still carries.

• The Holmes and Hendrickson families gave their names to a 1754 farmhouse — the Holmes–Hendrickson House — whose Dutch-Flemish form survives in Holmdel – wikipedia.org
• The Conovers (originally Covenhoven), among the earliest Dutch settlers, built one of the first homes in Colts Neck circa 1754; a marker was recently placed at the former Conover homestead on Conover Road – visitmonmouth.com
• The Applegate family has farmed on Wemrock Road near Freehold since 1908, running Battleview Orchards — billed as New Jersey's oldest pick-your-own farm — through four generations – battlevieworchards.com
• In 1939 Monmouth County ranked second in New Jersey for apple production, a figure the Applegates and their neighbors helped put there – battlevieworchards.com

Living farms and farmhouses — Longstreet Farm and the Holmes–Hendrickson House

In Holmdel, two historic sites sit side by side and let visitors step back through the centuries at their own pace.

• Longstreet Farm is a living-history recreation of 1890s rural Monmouth County life, operated by the Monmouth County Park System on 9 of Holmdel Park's 664 acres – nj.gov
• Its 19 buildings, including a farmhouse built from 1790 to 1810 and a rare surviving Dutch barn, were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 – wikipedia.org
• The Holmes–Hendrickson House, built around 1754 by William Holmes, was relocated in 1959 and is listed on the National Register (1978); the Monmouth County Park System maintains it in cooperation with the Monmouth County Historical Association – wikipedia.org
• Admission to the farm is free and the farmhouse opens on weekends and holidays in season – wikipedia.org

The lighthouse and the record-keepers — the Twin Lights and MCHA

On the Navesink in Highlands, the Twin Lights kept the harbor safe; in Freehold, the Monmouth County Historical Association keeps the county's records.

• The Twin Lights are two octagonal stone towers built in 1827–28 on the Navesink Highlands and, per the National Park Service, the first American lighthouses to use Fresnel lenses – nps.gov
• The site is owned and operated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Parks, Forestry & Historic Sites – twinlightslighthouse.org
• Its second-order Fresnel lens was made in Paris and displayed at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair before coming to the Twin Lights – twinlightslighthouse.org
• The Monmouth County Historical Association, established in 1898 in Freehold, holds a museum collection of more than 35,000 objects and archives of more than 1,000 manuscript collections – monmouthhistory.org
• MCHA also preserves and interprets five significant historic sites that represent the county's architectural heritage – monmouthhistory.org

The Church of the Presidents and who keeps it

At 1260 Ocean Avenue in Elberon, the county's last great Gilded Age structure is being brought back.

• Consecrated in 1879 as St. James Protestant Episcopal Chapel, the building is the only site in the country associated with seven U.S. presidents — Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, McKinley, and Wilson – wikipedia.org
• After the congregation thinned and services ended in 1949, the Long Branch Historical Museum Association acquired it in 1953 and reopened it as the Long Branch Historical Museum in 1955 – longbranch.org
• As of April 2026, the church is undergoing a major renovation funded by close to two million dollars in secured state and federal grants, aimed at restoring and reopening the structure – longbranch.org

Why it matters locally

These places matter because they are the county's continuous record — a farm still working, a farmhouse still standing, a lighthouse still lit, a church still being restored — held in public or community stewardship rather than lost to a single owner's decision. For a Monmouth family, that continuity is the point: the same shore where the Applegate orchard and the Conover farmstead began is the shore their grandchildren can still visit, and the institutions that keep these sites open are the ones a family can support, visit, and pass along. That is how a place stays a home instead of becoming a postcard.

How to get involved

• Visit Longstreet Farm in Holmdel. The living-history farm is run by the Monmouth County Park System and admission is free. Longstreet Farm on nj.gov
• Support the Monmouth County Historical Association. MCHA sustains the county's museum and archives in Freehold; memberships and contributions keep the collections and site programs open. monmouthhistory.org
• Support the Twin Lights Historical Society. This volunteer nonprofit partners with the state to help preserve the Navesink lighthouse. twinlightslighthouse.org
• Follow the Church of the Presidents restoration. The Long Branch Historical Museum Association leads the effort to restore and reopen the Elberon landmark. longbranch.org
• Pass along a farmstead tradition. The Applegate family's Battleview Orchards, on Wemrock Road near Freehold, has welcomed visitors for pick-your-own fruit since 1908. battlevieworchards.com

How Love of Humanity supports this work

Love of Humanity is a Monmouth County 501(c)(3) that works alongside the county's heritage institutions and the families who support them as a peer, not a funder. We help families understand what these institutions actually do — the easement, the docent shift, the archival collection, the restoration campaign — before they commit, we connect planned giving with the institutions that will steward it, and we co-develop the family-education content that turns a single visit into a durable understanding of how the giving will land. If you sit on a board, direct a foundation, or steward a family office in Monmouth, we build co-branded family education with the institutions you already trust. Reach the executive director at partnerships@donatetoloveofhumanity.com.

This roundup is editorial. No fees were paid. Love of Humanity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.