It may be hard to believe, but the highest point on the coast of the United States between Texas and Maine is Mt. Mitchell, rising 248 feet above the town of Highlands, New Jersey, and a full 260 feet above sea level. This means that the first land sighted by immigrants coming to New York and Ellis Island was most often the hills of the Highlands.
The first European explorer to see this area was Giovanni da Verranzano of Florence who described it the geography of the Highlands in 1524, but it wasn’t until 1609 that Henry Hudson came to the area. Hudson climbed the hills, and traded with the Navesink Lenape native Americans in the area. Those familiar with the New York City region know that Verranzano had a bridge named after him, and Hudson’s name is on the river and the bay far to the north.
The history of the discovery and exploration of America in its early years, and of its development, is also the history of the Highlands and Sandy Hook. Battles were fought here, fortunes changed, the British went home and America was born. Following the battle of Monmouth the British army, under General Clinton, camped in and around the Highlands waiting to cross to safety and evacuation to New York from the loyalist stronghold in Sandy Hook.
In 1830 James Fennimore Cooper used the Highlands as the setting for his novel “The Water Witch,” and in 1862 the Twin Lights were built in the Highlands, Guglielmo Marconi demonstrated the practical use of radio here in 1899, and the first experiment with radar in America was conducted in the Highlands in 1922.
Today, Highlands, New Jersey is one of the most historic towns along the coastline of New Jersey, and the area attractions, restaurants and things to see and do are too numerous to mention here,
A list of notable Highlanders must include Gertrude Ederle. She learned to swim at the beach at Miller Street, and she swam from Sandy Hook to Highlands Bridge in two hours and forty minutes when she trained for her 1926 swim of the English Channel. The first woman to achieve the feat, she received a ticker-tape parade up Broadway. Today, Highland’s pools and public beaches are ready to serve both visitors and residents.
The Highlands’ Miller Street and Snug Harbor Avenue offer beautiful beaches along the bay and South Bay Avenue Beach on the Shrewsbury River for warm weather recreation, and Highlands is a haven for boats of every description, with fantastic seafood available everywhere.
Highlands Borough Hall
171 Bay Avenue
Highland, NJ 07732
732-872-1224
Beach Information: (732-872-1959) www.highlandsnj.com
There are no beach fees.
Snug Harbor is the largest beach area.
Restrooms and showers: Located in the community center in Snug Harbor beach.
Lifeguards: On duty at Snug Harbor Beach and Miller Street Beach from late June through Labor Day, 10 – 5 daily.
No lifeguards on duty at South Bay Avenue Beach.
The beach area is handicap accessible via a walkway, but not to the water’s edge. No handicap beach chairs are available.
Parking: Free parking: Snug Harbor Beach and Miller Street Beach. Municipal lot – walking distance of South Bay Avenue Beach.
Houses of Worship
New Life Christian Church
Reverend Martin D. McGrail, Jr., M. C., Pastor
125 Bay Avenue
Highlands, New Jersey 07732
Tel. (732) 872-7797 ~ Fax (732) 872-9064
E-Mail: newlifechurch@aol.com
www.cometonewlife.com
Sunday Worship 9:45 AM
Our Lady Of Perpetual Help Church
Rev. Daniel F. Gowen, Pastor
141 Navesink Ave., (732) 872-1290
E-Mail: parish@jewelbythesea.org
www.jewelbythesea.org
Weekend Mass: Saturday 5:00 PM
Sunday 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 5:30 PM
First United Methodist Church
Reverend Lou Strugala, Pastor
183 Bay Ave.
(732) 872-1048
Sunday Worship 9:30 AM
