Stafford Township Historical Society Museum - Stafford Township, New Jersey
Posted by: 
gparkes
N 39° 41.749 W 074° 15.698
18S E 563305 N 4394257
This 140 year old building has a new lease on life as a history museum and chamber of commerce visitor information center.
Waymark Code: WMAMGG
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 01/29/2011
Views: 6
Stafford Township Historical Society preserved this building for our appreciation and for future generations. Their website says the following:
The Manahawkin Train Station was moved in 1990 from its original location at Letts and Stafford Ave., about where Larry's Barber shop now stands, to it's present location in Heritage Park. The Historical Society raised funds for the restoration of the historic building. The insides have been refinished and you can still see the many years of use scuffed into the floor.
In 1883 and 1884, the Pennsylvania Railroad built the first railroad bridge from Manahawkin to Ship Bottom and the down to Beach Haven and north to Barnegat City. This line connected with the Tuckerton Railroad at Manahawkin where the Manahawkin Station was later constructed.
The Pennsylvania and Tuckerton Railroads ceased operations around 1935 due to increased availability of automobiles and the loss of the trestle bridge to Long Beach Island during a storm.
The station is currently being used as an Information Center (funded by the Southern Ocean Chamber of Commerce) and museum for Stafford.
Open on Saturdays, 10am to 2pm during the summer months.
A marker on site contradicts some of the above information, indicating it was built in 1872, by the Tuckerton Railroad. The marker states:
Stafford Township Historical Site
Stafford Township Historic Preservation Commission 2006 ~ Mayor Carl W. Block and the Stafford Township Council
Installed as part of the Troop 65 Eagle Scout Project by Jerry S. Gambino
Manahawkin Railroad Station (1872)
The railroad came to Manahawkin as part of the post Civil War railroad boom. The Tuckerton Railroad (1871 - 1940) developed 28.0 miles of track between Whitings and Tuckerton providing a transportation corridor between Philadelphia and the Southern Ocean County shore area. From 1886 to 1935, a spur of the Pennsylvania Railroad provided access to Long Beach Island.
Manahawkin has had two railroad stations. During the first winter, the original station was deemed unfit for winter operation. Therefore, stationmaster M. L. Peckworth operating from Sprague's General Store across the street. Between April and August of 1872, the station that still exists in Heritage Park was built on Stafford Avenue. The last station master was Frank Southgate. All the rails and ties were removed by 1940, leaving little other evidence of the railroads that ran through the area at one time.
After abandonment of the Tuckerton Railroad, a local businessman, Wayne "Zip" Pharo used a car and log rollers to move the station building across the lot for use as his wood shop. The station was purchased in 1964 by Flosters and moved to 755 East Bay Avenue for use as an antique shop. In 1990, the station was purchased by the Stafford Township Historical Society and the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce.