A Beach Vacation

Each month this summer, we are featuring a travel or vacation related item. In June, we featured an 1895 catalog about the Hamburg-American Line express steamers.  This month, we are featuring a circa 1896 brochure about a hotel called The Beach House.

The Beach House, Sea Girt, NJ.  Brochure, circa 1896, The Beach House.

The Beach House was a hotel located on a knoll above the beach in Sea Girt, New Jersey. Located "within fifty feet of the surf, it commands a most charming ocean view." One side of the hotel looked out on the beach while the other side had a view of the lawn with a grove and shrubbery.

Besides going to the beach, vacationers who stayed at the Beach House could go fishing or sailing and play lawn tennis, croquet, archery, or billiards. For those who wanted to venture away from the hotel, there were shady drives and bicycle roads in the area. Located at the hotel was a full orchestra, and there were "frequent hops each week with dramatic and social entertainments during the season."

Both daily and weekly rates were available. The daily rate was $3 and up while the weekly rate was $18 and up. A room for one person began at $18 per week while a room for two people began at $34 per week, depending on the size and location of the room. There were also special rates for families vacationing early in the season.

This circa 1896 Brochure about The Beach House is located in the Trade Literature Collection at the National Museum of American History Library. More images of the brochure are on Galaxy of Images.

Check back in August for another vacation related item.

—Alexia MacClain