Point Pleasant Beach — Jenkinson's Continuous Family Ownership, the 1900 Shipwreck, and Two Real Storms

An 1886 Incorporation, Jenkinson's Nearly a Century of Continuous Ownership, and Two Real Storms

Point Pleasant Beach was incorporated as a borough on May 18, 1886, by act of the New Jersey Legislature, following a referendum passed the day before on May 17, 1886, carving the new borough from portions of Brick Township. The name is a straightforward description of its location on the Jersey Shore -- no more elaborate name-origin story is documented. This is this site's twenty-second New Jersey market, and the first of the next three-market batch -- Point Pleasant Beach, then Belmar, then Spring Lake -- built immediately after the completed Seaside Heights/Seaside Park/Bay Head trio. Nothing on this page re-covers any of those three markets' spine, figures, or storm-damage numbers; Point Pleasant Beach's own documented record stands on its own.

Before there was a boardwalk economy at all, the Lenape occupied this area, and Henry Hudson's crew noted the region favorably on September 2, 1609. European settlement began in the 18th century with fishermen and farmers, and summer tourism traces to around 1800, when Quaker Thomas Cook Jr. began opening his farmhouse to boarders. Captain John Arnold spearheaded the town's 1870s development, building a roadway to the ocean -- now Arnold Avenue -- and the first bridge over the Manasquan River in 1875. The Central Jersey Railroad extended service beginning July 3, 1880, and the first permanent boardwalk was built in 1915 between Philadelphia and Central Avenues, setting the stage for what came next.

What came next, in 1928, is this town's real distinguishing spine: Jenkinson's Boardwalk, a single family-run business that has operated continuously on this same stretch for nearly a century. Charles Jenkinson, who had previously run soda fountains in Asbury Park and Ocean Grove, acquired property here in 1926 and opened Jenkinson's Pavilion in 1928 with a candy shop, soda fountain, refreshment stand, novelty store, and a swimming pool across the boardwalk -- transforming what had been a sleepy stretch of shoreline. A dance hall followed in 1929, and a miniature golf course opened despite the Depression; by 1934 Jenkinson had acquired additional beachfront property at the inlet. After Charles died in 1937, his son Orlo took over, adding a miniature train ride in 1949 and a kiddie park in 1954. By the late 1970s the business had fallen on hard times and was purchased by Pasquale "Pat" Storino, who renovated the Pavilion and added an arcade, restaurant, and dinner theater in 1978, then acquired Fun Fair in 1980 and Holiday Playland (rebranded Jenkinson's South) in 1983, unifying what had been separate attractions into one destination. A devastating fire in 1989 destroyed the original Pavilion outright; Storino rebuilt it as a new 1,200-seat Pavilion with restaurants, bars, and arcade facilities. Today the operation includes an aquarium that opened in 1991, a fun house from 1998, roughly two dozen amusement rides, mini golf courses, dining venues, and arcades spread across a boardwalk about one mile long, running from the Manasquan Inlet to New Jersey Avenue. This history is presented as documented fact about a real, continuously operating family enterprise -- not as a current visitor guide, and no current (2026) ride lineup or admission pricing is stated here.

The boardwalk itself has been shaped by real storms, not abstractions. On February 12, 1900, the steel-hulled Scottish barque County of Edinburgh ran ashore here, an event significant enough to make national news -- reported by The New York Times -- and later commemorated in a painting by Antonio Jacobsen, a noted maritime artist of the period. Decades later, a hurricane in September 1938 destroyed the boardwalk's southern portion outright, permanently shortening it to roughly its present length. And in 2012, Hurricane Sandy destroyed nearly 2,800 feet of boardwalk, with repair costs estimated up to $2 million; in its aftermath, a seawall was constructed and residents were required to elevate homes on pilings above Sandy's storm-surge level. Together these are two genuinely separate, documented storm events -- not one town's damage figure borrowed to describe another's.

Geographically, Point Pleasant Beach covers 1.74 square miles total -- 1.42 square miles of land and 0.32 square miles of water -- sitting at the northern end of the Barnegat Peninsula, the same barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean along this stretch of shore. The 2020 census counted 4,766 residents, up 2.2% (101 people) from 4,665 in 2010; that 2010 count was itself down 12.2% from 5,314 in 2000 -- a longer-term decline that predates the more recent uptick. The 2020 median age was 50.2. A handful of real notable natives and residents round out the picture: Alfred M. Gray Jr., the 29th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps; Robert and Dean DeLeo of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots; Katelynn Flaherty, a University of Michigan basketball standout with 2,776 career points; and Leonard Lomell, a D-Day Army Ranger hero. The town's beach was ranked 8th-best in New Jersey in a 2008 New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium contest. This is a New Jersey market, with New Jersey's own real state sales tax and property-tax structure -- distinct from any no-sales-tax framing used elsewhere on this site.

No exact current (2026) median home price, effective property-tax rate, or flood-insurance premium specific to Point Pleasant Beach was confirmed in this research pass; treat any cost content here as illustrative, and confirm current numbers directly with a local agent, insurer, or the borough itself. No confirmed current ride lineup or pricing for Jenkinson's is stated here, and no seawall length or cost figure beyond the up-to-$2-million boardwalk repair estimate is invented. This page is independent research, not legal, tax, insurance, or financial advice; confirm anything time-sensitive with the appropriate licensed professional or local government office before making a decision.