Vintage Postcards Reveal Early 20th Century NJ Coast

A collection of vintage postcards donated to the National Park Service is offering historians an in-depth look at life along the New Jersey coast in the early 20th century. These items, catalogued at the Sandy Hook museum, were donated in 1975 by the executor of Paul Koeptchem's estate, who lived in Highland Beach from 1907 to 1962.

Oral history interviews conducted by National Park Service historians with retired Lieutenant Colonel John Joseph Patrick Mulhern, who lived on the Sandy Hook peninsula between 1908 and 1927, provide context. Mulhern's recollections, published by the National Park Service, describe how coastal communities and maritime stations functioned prior to modern navigation and extensive development.

Mulhern's insights detail pre-electronic ship tracking methods used by marine observers who identified vessels by their physical characteristics. He also shared his personal connection to early radio technology, obtaining an amateur radio license in 1919. The collection includes images of landmarks like the Twin Lights of Navesink and the anchors of an early Marconi wireless tower.

Further details from the oral history explain the operation of the Twin Lights, with the south tower serving as the primary navigation light using a mechanical lens system. The north tower functioned as a backup. Mulhern also recalled how visitors could only enter the lighthouse with the keeper's permission, and that nautical charts later noted the light as privately maintained.

Reviewing postcards of the Highland Beach resort, Mulhern noted significant landscape transformations. Open fields and ponds from his childhood, where ice skating occurred and ice was harvested, have been replaced by homes and paved roads. The postcards also illustrate changes in transportation, from wooden trestles and gravel roads to the construction of the area's first single-lane concrete road around 1916 or 1917.

This valuable collection of postcards and oral history transcripts is preserved at the Gateway National Recreation Area, serving as primary-source evidence of the region's maritime history, technological advancements, community life, and evolving environment.