A deed made in 1751 says that what we know today as Harvey Cedars was a “…hammock and a clump of cedars called Harvest Quarters.” Thus, the name of Harvey may not have come from a person but rather from a mispronunciation of the word “harvest.” Regardless of how Harvey Cedars got its name, whalers came south in the 1600’s chasing the Atlantic Greenland whales, or the “right” whales as they called them.

   The whalers built a 30-foot high tower called the “Owl’s Tree” to watch for the great mammals, which migrated in the area in February and March, but they so over-hunted the species that this type of whaling died out in the 1830’s. Farmers began bringing their livestock to graze on the island in the warm weather periods.

   The Great Swamp, as it was called, was a freshwater body that extended from Surf City to the southern boundary of Harvey Cedars. The hurricane of 1821 wiped out the freshwater swamp with saltwater from the sea. The earliest photographs show rows of huge dunes along the oceanfront of the barrier island, and Harvey Cedars had the same topography.

   In 1886 the Harvey Cedars Beach Company purchased and mapped the land from Sussex to Bergen Avenues, and Harvey Cedars was incorporated in December of 1894. The town experienced steady growth in the 1920’s and 1930’s, but Mother Nature was to play a major role in the community again and again.

   By the mid-1930’s Harvey Cedars was home to a general store, gas station,  real estate office, hotel, paved roads,  tearoom, a rowboat rental establishment, and had a population large enough to send a dozen children to a one-room school in Barnegat Light.

   The town was hit by a major hurricane in 1944 with 20 percent of the structures destroyed and many more damaged. In 1955 the Garden State Parkway was completed opening the town to North Jersey visitors.  Then, “The Storm of the Century” virtually destroyed Harvey Cedars. The town looked like a war zone following this event in 1962.

   Fifty people had taken shelter at the Bible Conference, which stood on higher ground, and they returned home to discover 350 homes destroyed and half the town’s ratables gone. It was the most heavily damaged town on the New Jersey coast.

   Unfortunately, most insurance did not cover damage by water in 1962, and many homeowners had mortgages to pay but no homes, so they built duplexes where their homes had been. Those who owned large tracts of land subdivided and sold lots.

   People are tenacious, and the rebuilding began. Today, Harvey Cedars is nestled between Long Beach Township's communities of North Beach and Loveladies, New Jersey.  Its active summer community schedules special events, often held at the Municipal Park and Fire House. Ocean and bayside bathing is available for sun worshippers, and the community is a destination for vacationers from near and far.

Beach badges are required from mid-June through Labor Day on the beach in Harvey cedars. They may be purchased at the Beach Badge Booth in Sunset Park.

Beach badge fees:

Pre-season (purchase at Borough Hall before June 15)……..$23.00

Seasonal (after June 15)……………………………………..$35.00

Weekly………………………………………………………$20.00

Daily…………………………………………………………$ 6.00

Senior Seasonal (65 and over with proof of age)……………$ 9.00

Borough of Harvey Cedars
7606 Long Beach Boulevard
P.O. Box 3185
Harvey Cedars, N.J. 08008
Main telephone # 609-361-6000

The Houses of Worship on Long Beach Island
     (all telephone numbers are area code 609)

Christian Science Society
10th Street & Barnegat Avenue
Ship Bottom, NJ
(494-6166)

First United Methodist Church
New Jersey & Beach Avenues
Beach Haven Terrace
(492-8088)

Grace Calvary Church (Independent)
19th Street & Long Beach Blvd.
Ship Bottom, NJ
(494-7777)

Holy Innocents' Episcopal Church
Marine Street between Atlantic and Beach Avenues
Beach Haven, NJ
(492-7571)

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (E.L.C.A.)
5802 Long Beach Blvd.
Brant Beach, NJ
(494-6888; Pastor's number: 494-8045)

Island Baptist Church
Third Street
Beach Haven, NJ
(492-7584)

Jewish Community Center of LBI
24th Street & Long Beach Blvd.
Spray Beach, NJ
(492-4090)

Kynett United Methodist Church            
Centre Street & Beach Avenue
Beach Haven, NJ
(492-0421)

New Life Assembly of God Church
203 16th Street
Ship Bottom, NJ
(361-9373)

St. Clare's Church (Roman Catholic)
Long Beach Blvd.
Loveladies, NJ
(494-8813)

St. Francis of Assisi Church (Roman Catholic)
47th Street & Long Beach Blvd.
Brant Beach, NJ
(494-8813)

Saint Peter's at the Light  (Episcopal)
7th Street and Central Avenue
Barnegat Light, NJ
494-2398

St. Thomas Aquinas Church (Roman Catholic)
2nd Street & Atlantic Avenue
Beach Haven
(494-8813)

St. Thomas of Villanova Church (Roman Catholic)
13th Street & Long Beach Blvd.
Surf City, NJ
(494-8813)

Spray Beach Chapel (Non-Denominational)
Beach Avenue between 23rd & 24th Streets
Spray Beach, NJ
(492-2040)

The United Church of Surf City (Non-Denominational)
7th Street & Central Avenue
Surf City, NJ
(494-5351)

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church (E.L.C.A.)
18th Street & Central Avenue
Barnegat Light, NJ
(494-2890) Phone and Fax