Yesterday we went to Seabreeze New Jersey to walk all of our dogs on a nice cool late Summer Day. The first thing we noticed was all the houses along the bay with NOBODY in them. Also there is this retaining wall that is crumbling in a big way.
Here is an entry in Wikipedia:The town is home to a small community of seasonal homes and does not have many year round residents. There is one road in Sea Breeze, Beach Avenue and it is unpaved. There are no marinas or businesses, but Sea Breeze is still used by salt water fisherman and bird watchers.We saw that 2 house were burned out. One was completely gone and the other was just a shell. These fires happened just recently on August 18th of this year.
In November, 2008, six of the 19 homeowners in Sea Breeze asked the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to buy their properties. A recently constructed seawall has been badly damaged by the waves, leaving the properties at great risk.
The State of New Jersey has not yet made a decision on the homeowners' request.
On May 17, 2010 "NJN News" reported the remaining homeowners have agreed to sell their property to the state
The DEP has been making offers and buying up Seabreeze properties since at least the fall of 2008, in an effort to acquire as many as possible there. The area has long been a stopping point for migratory birds, spawning horseshoe crabs and diamondback terrapin sea turtles.
Although the town has declined greatly since its days as a thriving Delaware Bay resort, homeowners there cherish the scenic maritime locale.
Only a few have lived there year-round, and it wasn't clear Wednesday if all of them had sold to the DEP. The vast majority of properties there are vacation homes.
A seawall completed in the spring of 2007 was meant to protect the town from the bay's wrath, and that of storms, but has continually deteriorated.
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| The Infamous Seawall at Seabreeze |
12 comments:
A friend said this on the previous entry about Seabreeze, that I had to delete
"Seabreeze will become Thompson's Beach, Moore's Beach, and all the other abandoned towns along the bayshore that the state decided to cut bait with."
I was down at Seabreeze not too long ago and took many photographs.
Its a great escape
Its a great escape
one of my best friends owned a house in seabreeze that had been in his family for so many years and we spent an entire summer in that house. it was our little home away from home where we could just escape reality, and i know i'll never forget that. i'll never forget the feeling i used to get when i would just sit out on the porch or even on the sea wall at night and just listening to the waves and feeling little drops of water splash up when the tide was high. when i heard about the demolition we went down there and i sat on that wall and cried.
i grew up in sea breeze. some of my greatest memories were made there. the only memory i have with my grandmother is swimming in my snoopy pool outback because i was too little to swim in the bay. my first pet, rocky, was a turtle i found there. the first time i was bit by a dog, the first time i went on a boat, the first time i went tubing, the first time i went skiing, the first time i drove on a jet ski, the first time i played a game we called washers, the first time i ever drove on a four wheeler, the first time i swam in a crick, the first time i drank a beer, the first time i had a smore, the first time i caught a fish, was in sea breeze. its where i learned how to swim. its where i could walk up the road and 'save' the animals by helping them find their way back to the water. i had friends there. everyone was friendly and knew everyones name. i just recently had a son and it kills me that he will never have the experience i did in sea breeze. no one will ever understand how the state buying the houses and people breaking into the houses and taking everything we had really feels. im planning on going back there this summer, i know its going to be hard, but it might be the last time i see it. its really is heart breaking.
I went to Seabreeze yesterday for the first time since the discussions to vacate the area were in progress. I was there once by myself and then took my kids to see what was left of it. At that time, remnants of houses that were bayfront still remained where the seawall is not. My son stood on steps of a house that was not longer there and odd remnants of houses washed away were on the beach. I was shocked when I went there yesterday (9/10/11) and saw the houses empty and all of the windows broken. I sat on someones dock on the creek and admired the view. When I looked back at the house, all I could think of was my house in Fortescue wondering if that town will someday come to the same end. Sad state of affairs. Look at the Delaware Bay and compare it to the Chesapeake. I realize the ground around both are different but I think the state has missed opportunities on the bay.
Thanks for your comments! It is sad how NJ did not have due diligence to save this town.
How dis you find my blog? I live in Millville now. Moved here in 2003.
How about you??
Have a great week
Visited Sea Breeze today, all of the homes along the shore line have been demolished, except for what is left of the foundation of the one home that burnt.
I visited Sea Breeze today, and there were a couple of workers leveling ground, laying down grass seed mats where homes had stood along the shoreline as you go in and turn left by the damaged sea wall. Just a lot of sand they are leveling on that road that led to the shoreline houses. Very desolate, but i'm happy I made the trip to see it finally.
I have taken photos of Sea breeze as it slowly began to return to its natural state and just looking at them makes me sad! when the two barges were there, when the Sea breeze inn was there. Watched it being taken by the bay.to its removal of the ruins of the Inn leaving only two small buildings remain, many, photos an album full. I shall miss that special place.
Amazes me that There is any waterfront property in nj that someone with some money hasn't taken over. Where are all the rich boat people? Too bad about this place, seems like the kind of town I'd like to live in, the less people around the better!
The state took over the land and evacuated all the residents because the sea was taking over in the state wasn't willing to put up a Nother barrier.
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