When the first settlers came to what is now Lakewood, there was nothing there execpt a dense forest, and some old Indian trails, The settlers gradually cleared the land, built their homes and created small hamlets, which they named after families or events which identified the particular localities. The first recorded history of present Lakewood began with the "Three Partners� Mill," an area running parallel with the present State Highway 88, in the area of the South branch of the Metedeconk River. In this area, three Skidmore brothers John, George and Henry, settled. They dammed the stream and built a sawmill; in fact, lumbering continued to be a main source of income for the settlers until it was discovered that the soil was rich in ironstone, a brown lumpy ore, hard and studded with gravel.
Then, in 1814, Jesse Richards moved here from Washington Township, Burlington County. (This is the same Jesse Richards responsible for the glass works and iron furnaces at Batsto; his
family was also involved in other ventures, such as the one at Atsion.) He and a partner, William Irwin, organized a company to develop ironstone. They purchased large tracts of land
to get water sheds for their mill ponds, ore for their smelters and timber for their fuel and built a blast furnace. Soon the settlements of "Three Partners� Mill" became known as
"Washington�s Furnace." In addition, Richards organized Lakewood�s first mail service. He employed one man, who drove to and from Freehold with letters and other valuables
where they were picked up by the stagecoach, which ran between New York and Philadelphia.
The iron ore business of Richards and Irwin was very successful until 1832 when it began to fail and was finally purchased by Joseph W. Brick,
another resident of Burlington County. Brick revived the blast-iron furnace business and organized the Bergen Iron Works, and within the next several years, the iron works
business grew rapidly. By 1884 the population of "Washington�s Furnace" had grown to 200. Almost all of the inhabitants of the community were employed in one way or another by
Brick. Rows of log huts, housing employees, extended along Clifton Avenue from First Street to Main Street and between the two lakes, which had no names at this time. In fact, the
community changed the name of the settlement to "Bergen Iron Works". (Elsewhere on this site, you can read about this village when it was known as
Bricksburg).
By 1866, the discovery of anthracite coal near large iron deposits in Pennsylvania spelled the end of the bog-iron industry in this area. It was at this time that the Bricksburg Land and
Improvement Company was formed. The Executor of the Brick Estate and the heirs who owned the balance of the holding of Brick in the village comprised the newly organized
company and placed the land on the market, advertising five and ten acre tracts in various New York City newspapers. The village was laid out in streets by Samuel Shreave, a
civil engineer. The first agent of the Land Company was Major William J. Parmentier, grandfather of one of Lakewood�s former Tax Collectors, Amory J. Parmentier.
In the 1860�s, several prominent bankers came to Bricksburg to invest in the real estate. Among them were Charles H. Kimball and Samuel B. Davis. They, together with Captain Albert M. Bradshaw, the leading real estate man in the village, and J.M. Leavitt, acquired all of the stock of the Bricksburg Land and Improvement Company.
In 1865, Riley A. Brick, the son of Joseph W. Brick, erected a two and a half story building on Main Street, east of the present Post Office. This architectural wonder was originally known as the Bricksburg House and later became known as the Laurel House. The "Romantic Laurel House" as it was then known was host to the Vanderbilts, Goulds, Rockefellers, Astors, Tilfords, Rhinelanders, Kipps, Arbuckles and scores of other families of social prominence. Oliver Wendell Holmes and Rudyard Kipling were also visitors to the House.
Because the name of the town did not suit the visions its promoters had for it, Samuel D. Davis suggested the name "Brightwood." Erastus Dickinson suggested "Lakewood" and the Times and Journal conducted a house-to-house canvass of the citizens, who voted for "Lakewood" by a large majority. On March 20, 1880, the Post Office officially recognized the name of the village as "Lakewood." Soon Lakewood became known as the resort in the heart of the pines.
Several magnificent hostelries were constructed during the ensuing decades, among them were the Laurel-in-the-Pines and the Lakewood Hotel, both of which opened their doors in 1891. The Lakewood Hotel was once the winter headquarters of Tammany Hall, in the days of Richard Croker. It stayed open long after the season closed, to enable President Cleveland to pass his dying days as peacefully as possible. In addition, it served as a rest and rehabilitation center for the wounded of World War I. The hotel was built by a syndicate headed by Nathan Strauss and its structures covered 14 acres between Clifton Avenue and Lexington Avenue. In addition to the great hotels, Lakewood saw the establishment of a large number of magnificent homes, including the John D. Rockefeller Estate, now Ocean County Park; and the Grover Cleveland Cottage, formerly located on Lexington Avenue, north of Carey Street. Socialites, such as the Packs, the DeForests, the Willocks and the Lynches, settled here.
By 1891, the village of Lakewood was the largest in the Township of Brick. However, the surrounding villages of Greenville, Herbertsville, and Bethel (Southard) produced most of the governing officials. As a result, the village of Lakewood received little attention. This led to the movement to establish the village itself as a Township and on March 23, 1893, the Township of Lakewood was created and incorporated by the State Legislature.
Up until 1902, the Township of Lakewood had no town hall. The Committee met in the various stores and offices of its members. However, in this year, Captain Alfred M. Bradshaw furnished the Township with its first Town Hall, a brick building located on the corner of Ocean Avenue and the railroad. This building served as the Township Hall until 1924, when a brick structure was erected in the place of the present Municipal Building (which itself was erected in 1969).
Many famous figures in the world of entertainment and sports worked and trained in the Township of Lakewood by the early 1900�s. Richard Dix starred in a motion picture set in Lakewood, and the Laurel-in-the-Pines Hotel was the scene of Charles Evans Hughes� discovery that he had lost the presidential election. In addition, James J. Corbett, Kid Mc Coy, Benny Leonard, Max Schmeling and Joe Louis trained in Lakewood. The New York baseball Giants used Lakewood as their training base during World War II.
The building boom that followed the close of World War I increased the population of Lakewood to 8,000. Many hotels were built with the added tourist trade, the population during the winter months rose to 35,000. Lakewood, by this time, was well established as a meeting place to the elite and a renowned winter health resort. Many modes of transportation brought visitors from all parts of the country; among them the Jersey Central Railroad�s famous "Blue Comet", the Public Service, Greyhound and Capitol Bus Lines. In addition, a private bus line operated by Pillion and Shibla made several daily runs between Lakewood and Asbury Park.
Subsequently, during the 1920�s the original four hundred began to leave Lakewood, and with their exodus the complexion of the town changed. The poultry and egg business developed and became one of Lakewood�s biggest industries. Many immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe settled in the Township and, at one time, there were approximately 60 poultry farms in Lakewood.
In 1943, Rabbi Aaron Kotler, Dean of Beth Medrash Govoha, a School founded in Eastern Europe (Belorussia) in 1898 for the study of the Torah and Talmud, purchased a building in Lakewood and reopened his Yeshiva with 13 students. Today there are over 4,500 and full and part-time students in this world-class institution.
Toward the end of the depression, in the early 1930�s still more changes occurred. The Rockefeller Estate on Ocean Avenue was offered as a gift to the County of Ocean by its trustees; the Gould Estate, along the northern side of Lake Carasaljo, had long since become the site of the present Georgian Court University; the Pack Estate would soon house St. Mary�s Academy. Estates and mansions were converted into hotels and apartment houses. However, the second World War brought a temporary boom to Lakewood�s hotel industry. In addition to serving its vacationers, it became a center for servicemen from Fort Dix, Lakehurst and Camp Evans. Nevertheless, by the mid 1960�s, Lakewood saw the end of most of its largest hotels, and by 1967 the Lakewood Hotel, Grossman Hotel and Laurel-in-the-Pines Hotel were no longer in existence.
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