Lakewood Estate - Lakewood, NJ
Posted by: 
94RedRover
N 40° 05.477 W 074° 11.396
18T E 569055 N 4438203
Lakewood Estate, once the private summer home of John D. Rockefeller, passed to the County for use as a park after his death.
Waymark Code: WM5K8D
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 01/17/2009
Views: 3
Turning sharply R. from Laurelton the road winds northwest through evergreen forests and crosses the north branch of Metedeconck River. From this point, for 3 miles, are the grounds (L) of the LAKEWOOD ESTATE (private) of the late John D. Rockefeller. In places the estate borders the highway; at others a fringe of caretakers' and workmen's houses is outside the barbwire fence. There are two thickly wooded entrances in a tall hedge of fir trees.
--- New Jersey: A Guide to its Present and Past, 1939"
The 323 acre vacation estate of John D. Rockefeller included a mansion, stables and an arboretum of trees from around the country. In June 1940, the the family donated the estate of the late Rockefeller to the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders for use as a park. Unfortunately, budgeting reasons forced the mansion to be demolished, but many of the other structures remain. The old carraige house is now home to the Ocean County Police Academy.
My husband grew up in Lakewood in the 1950's and remembers this park being called "Rocky's Place."