Ship Bottom, LBI — The 1817 Rescue That Named the Town, the 1910 Wreck of the Fortuna, and Ron Jon Surf Shop's Real First Store

A Shipwreck Name, a Recovered Anchor, and a Surf Shop That Made History

Ship Bottom's identity starts with a real shipwreck-rescue story that became the town's actual incorporated name, not a marketing nickname. Per local historian John Bailey Lloyd and multiple secondary sources, in 1817 Captain Stephen Willets of Tuckerton led a rescue after a schooner capsized in fog near the shoals off what is now Ship Bottom. With an axe, Willets and his crew chopped a hole through the overturned hull near the keel and, after much struggling, freed a young woman trapped inside. The location of the wreck and rescue became known thereafter as Ship Bottom. U.S. Life-Saving Station #20 was later established here in 1872, and Captain Wesley Truex, the station keeper, built the first permanent residence in 1898 -- a small year-round community gradually grew up around the station in the decades that followed.

A second, later, fully documented wreck deepened the town's connection to the sea. On January 18, 1910, the Italian steel bark Fortuna -- a 924-gross-ton, 193-foot, three-masted vessel built in 1869 in Hamburg, Germany, and carrying a cargo of coal from Montevideo, Uruguay, bound for New York City -- ran aground and capsized during rough seas and thick fog at 16th Street beach, on what was then called Beach Arlington. All 18 people aboard, including Captain Giovan Adragna, his wife, their two children, a newborn infant, and 13 crew members, were rescued without casualty by the Ship Bottom station of the U.S. Life-Saving Service. The wreck remained visible on the beach through most of 1910 until wreckers cut it up for salvage. In 1983, resident Carole Bradshaw found the Fortuna's anchor protruding from the sand; it was recovered, authenticated, and is now displayed on the lawn of Ship Bottom Borough Hall. A centennial re-enactment in January 2010 drew roughly 100 participants to a scale-model presentation led by Bradshaw, who documented the full story in her 2010 book titled Fortuna.

Ship Bottom is also the real, current birthplace of a well-known East Coast surf-shop chain -- not a themed reference, the actual first physical retail location. Ron DiMenna, a native of the Manahawkin area just across the bay, began selling surfboards he bought from California in front of his family's grocery store starting around 1959. The business grew quickly enough that he moved it across Manahawkin Bay to Ship Bottom, where in 1961 he opened "The Original" Ron Jon Surf Shop -- the chain's first true storefront. The company expanded to a Florida location within a couple of years and grew over the following decades into a chain of roughly 13 to 14 stores, including locations in New Jersey, Florida, Alabama, Maryland, South Carolina, and international locations in Grand Turk and Cozumel, Mexico (sourced counts differ slightly, so this figure is hedged rather than stated as an exact number). The flagship Cocoa Beach, Florida store is described by the company as the largest surf shop in the world, at more than 52,000 square feet. This has a genuinely current news hook: Ron DiMenna died on September 6, 2025, at age 88; company president Michele Goodwin said Ron was known as a free spirit and his love for the beach and the sport of surfing endured throughout his life, and no cause of death was reported. The original 1961 Ship Bottom storefront building was demolished in summer 2025. DiMenna and his wife Lynne co-founded the Surfing's Evolution & Preservation Foundation, which supports Florida beach health, and the company said it would continue normal operations with his vision carried forward through both the retail chain and the foundation.

Ship Bottom's flood-risk profile is also real and documented, not a generic coastal disclaimer. Per New Jersey Department of Community Affairs data, compiled by NJ Spotlight and cross-referenced with U.S. Census figures, Ship Bottom was the single hardest-hit municipality on all of Long Beach Island during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, with 46% of its housing stock damaged -- 829 total homes, broken down as 752 with minor damage, 38 with major damage, and 39 with severe damage, plus 110 rental units and 157 businesses affected. Other LBI towns saw far less housing damage in the same storm: Surf City 27%, Beach Haven 10%, Long Beach Township 9%, Harvey Cedars 5%, and Barnegat Light less than 1%. The research available notes Ship Bottom's low elevation and bayside/oceanside exposure at the narrow northern end of the island, without offering -- and this page does not invent -- a specific engineering explanation for the gap. Today, Ship Bottom participates in FEMA's Community Rating System as part of the National Flood Insurance Program, earning residents a 15% reduction in flood-insurance premiums, even though the entire municipality sits within the 100-year floodplain and is designated a Special Flood Hazard Area by FEMA, where properties face a 26% chance of flood damage over the life of a 30-year mortgage per FEMA's own general risk framing.

On geography and everyday life: Ship Bottom sits on Long Beach Island in Ocean County, New Jersey, with a total area of just 0.99 square miles -- 0.71 square miles of land and 0.28 square miles of water. It is known locally as the "Gateway to Long Beach Island" because Route 72, via the Manahawkin Bay Bridge, is the sole road access onto LBI, and that road passes directly through Ship Bottom. The 2020 census counted 1,098 year-round residents, down 5.0% from 2010, while the summer population swells to roughly 20,000 -- a striking contrast for a town under one square mile. Older demographic data (2010) showed 92.91% White and 9.17% Hispanic or Latino residents of any race, with a median age of 54.2; a 2006-2010 American Community Survey estimate put median household income at $60,673, a dated figure that should not be read as a current one. Ship Bottom operates under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government, with a weak-mayor/strong-council structure; as of March 2011 (also a dated figure), registered Republicans made up 50.3% of the electorate. Younger students attend the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District (pre-K through 6th grade), and older students attend Southern Regional School District (7th through 12th grade); combined enrollment for 2020-21 was 215 students. On incorporation, sources differ on the exact date but agree on the year: Wikipedia states the borough was originally incorporated as "Ship Bottom-Beach Arlington" on March 3, 1925, from portions of Long Beach Township, while the Borough's own official history states five communities -- Bonnie Beach, Bonnet Beach, Edgewater Beach, Beach Arlington, and Ship Bottom -- merged to form the borough on May 25, 1925; both agree the name was shortened to simply "Ship Bottom" in 1947. 2025 marked the borough's centennial, observed with a Centennial Gala and, per TAPinto NJ reporting, a "Day at the Bay" celebration on Saturday, September 13, 2025, featuring live music, food, vendors, and fireworks, alongside a Borough Hall dedication with a maritime-history theme per The SandPaper. Notable people connected to Ship Bottom include actor Matt Cook (born 1984, known for "Clipped" and "Man with a Plan"), longtime Bon Appetit editor and cookbook author Zack Hanle (c. 1915-1999), former Major League Soccer defender Matt Kmosko (born 1972), and former Philadelphia City Council member Stanley B. Smullen (1906-1998). No current (2025/2026) median home sale price or effective property-tax rate specific to Ship Bottom was independently confirmed this research pass -- treat Long Beach Island real estate in general terms as a high-value, high-demand vacation-home market within Ocean County's property-tax structure, rather than a fabricated specific dollar figure. This is also a New Jersey market, not a Delaware one: New Jersey levies a real state sales tax (6.625% statewide as general background only, with Urban Enterprise Zone reduced-rate exceptions existing in some New Jersey cities but not confirmed to apply to Ship Bottom) and has its own property-tax system, distinct from any no-sales-tax framing used elsewhere. 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.