100 years of Point Pleasant Canal celebrated

Historical Society offers presentation

Originally Published in the Ocean Star Newspaper on Nov. 14, 2025

POINT PLEASANT — The Point Pleasant Historical Society held a presentation last Wednesday in honor of the upcoming 100-year anniversary of the Point Pleasant Canal, chronicling its long and storied history.

The presentation, given by historian and historical society member Fred Potter, detailed how the story of the canal, which was made to connect Barnegat Bay to the Manasquan River, reflects the larger story of how the seafaring culture of Point Pleasant was largely molded by the uncertain conditions of the late 20th century. 

This December, the canal will be 100 years old. Potter said that the acquisition of the land happened largely around 1914. He traced the canal’s history up through one of the first major bridge collapses in 1962 and finished the story with modern-day efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers to repair bulkheads and fences. All the while, Potter weaved his own personal experiences and anecdotes about the canal, giving the audience a first-hand experience of many of the major events in the history of the canal and the surrounding boroughs. 

In 1912, the location of where the canal would be built was finally decided upon, a stretch of land 1.7 miles long and 150 yards wide, reaching depths of up to 40 feet. Workers dug only about a half mile before the onset of the first World War, and the work was halted until 1918. 

Then, in December 1925, “the last shovel allowed the Manasquan River and the Barnegat Bay to connect,” Potter said.

Just a few years later, in 1929, the swing-out style Lovelandtown Bridge that was located on Bridge Avenue (NJ Route 13) was built. The Lovelandtown Bridge was a staple of the community, and was cherished by local residents and students of the nearby high schools; In fact, an alumna of Point Pleasant Beach High School, Pearl Connolly, attended the presentation. Connolly told a story about how she and her graduating class, Class of 1965, were among the last students to walk over the bridge before it collapsed in 1962. Thankfully, the bridge collapse, caused by the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, was expected and the bridge was empty at the time. No one was injured. 

Later, in 1964, Point Pleasant officials petitioned Congress to change the name from the “Bay Head Manasquan Canal” to its current name: “The Point Pleasant Canal.”

Problems resulting from the canal

Some of the major canal issues that began to arise in the early 1930s were the result of the sudden shift in the water of Barnegat Bay and the Metedeconk River; where there used to be still lakes there were now tides, currents, and varying levels of salinity. These factors began to have a major impact on freshwater fish, cranberry bogs and the banks and bridges of the canal. 

Lack of bulkheads caused bridges to be undermined and banks to erode. The massive influx of sand and minerals caused the Manasquan inlet to briefly shoal over to the point where residents could walk from Manasquan to Point Pleasant “without getting their feet wet,” Potter said. Efforts to restore the inlet began, and the inlet was reopened in 1931. 

Just a few years later in 1935, the U.S. government began building wooden bulkheads, an effort that wasn’t complete until 1947. As helpful as the bulkheads were, they too eroded over time, and in the 1960s, the Army Corps of Engineers stepped in and began dropping boulders into the canal. Potter explained that this resulted in some sections of the canal becoming like rapids, as the same amount of water as before was now flowing through the smaller areas between the boulders.

Even recently, Potter says, the canal is considered treacherous for Jet Skis and kayaks, even despite more recent efforts to replace bulkheads with corrugated steel and to remove boulders. 

Looking forward

The presentation concluded with a sweeping reflection on how the canal shaped the town. 

The canal created more space for residents along the Barnegat Bay to dock their boats, and gave more properties in the area access to the ocean, laying the groundwork for the community of fishing and boating that we are familiar with today. “The boat traffic in the summer in the canal is simply amazing,” Potter said. “Our lagoons and shore lines are riddled with pleasure boats of all types and sizes.”

Potter speculated that it is possible that the government of today may not have seen the need for such a canal, citing modern roadblocks like environmental impact studies, and changes in military and supply movement over the last century. 

Regardless, Potter says, the canal remains a prevailing symbol of Point Pleasant, and represents the heights that we can achieve when we work together as a community.

“Let’s be thankful it was built and say happy centennial birthday to the Point Pleasant Canal,” Potter concluded.

After the presentation, a vintage map showing the original plan for the canal was on display. Potter and some of the other members of the historical society stayed to answer questions and provide context for the map; even Potter’s three grandsons stayed, eager to point any questions toward their grandfather.

“We think it’s important to preserve the history of Point Pleasant,” Potter said.

The Point Pleasant Historical Society Museum is open to the public every Thursday between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. and by appointment and is located in the rear of Point Pleasant Beach Town Hall. The society asks that appointment requests be sent to ppbhistoricalsociety@gmail.com. Interested parties are also welcome to sign up for their monthly newsletter, “History Term Paper,” which chronicles niche historical topics in and around the Point Pleasant area.