Plumber in Long Branch, NJ, Monmouth County

Long Branch emerged as a beach resort town in the late 18th century, named for its location along a branch of the South Shrewsbury River. In the 19th century, theatrical performers of the day often gathered and performed there. It was visited by many Presidents during the Gilded Age, including Chester A. Arthur, James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, and Woodrow Wilson, along with President Donald Trump in the modern era. Seven Presidents Park, a park near the beach, is named in honor of the visits of the first seven of these presidents. The Church of the Presidents, where these same seven presidents worshiped, is the only structure left in Long Branch associated with them.

President Grant and his family summered at their beachfront cottage in Long Branch the first year of his presidency in 1869 and for most of the rest of Grant’s life. During this time, Long Branch came to be called the “summer capital”. President James A. Garfield was brought to Long Branch in the hope that the fresh air and quiet might aid his recovery after being shot on July 2, 1881, an incident that left the assassin’s bullet lodged in his spine. He died here on September 19, 1881, exactly two months before his 50th birthday. The Garfield Tea House, constructed from railroad ties that had been laid to carry Garfield’s train, is in Elberon.

The famous Long Branch Saloon of the American Old West, located in Dodge City, Kansas, was given its name by its first owner, William Harris, who had moved west from Long Branch, New Jersey, his hometown.