Sea Girt

Sea Girt is a small, affluent, almost entirely residential beach borough in Monmouth County, between Spring Lake and Manasquan. It is known for its 1896 lighthouse, a quiet boardwalk that fronts houses rather than shops, and a limited downtown. A long stretch of its oceanfront is occupied by the New Jersey National Guard Training Center.

History Commodore Robert Stockton built a summer estate here in the 1850s, Philadelphia developers turned the land into a summer colony from the 1870s, and the borough split from Wall Township in 1917. In 1887 the state bought 120 acres for a National Guard camp and rifle range that became the "Summer Capital of New Jersey," where Woodrow Wilson learned of his presidential nomination. In 1896 the federal government built the Sea Girt Lighthouse to mark the inlet at Wreck Pond.

What makes it unique Two things set Sea Girt apart from quiet neighbors like Spring Lake. The first is the National Guard Training Center, an active state military base that has held prime oceanfront since the 1880s. The second is the lighthouse, the last shore lighthouse with a built-in keeper's house on the East Coast. Together they leave little room for commercial development and reinforce the controlled, residential feel.