A Brief History
From its inception, the Monmouth Boat Club has played a major role in the recreational and social life of Red Bank. The club encouraged the recreational use of the Navesink River for various water activities such as rowing, canoeing, motor boating and sailing. Events of the club - regattas, races, dinners - were attended by people throughout the town and region.
In the late 19th century, the citizens of the town of Red Bank and the surrounding area were relatively affluent and quite able to afford boats. The citizens were not lacking in their desire to take advantage of the recreational potential offered by the Navesink River. Their problem was one of convenient access as access to the river was limited to those who happened to own riverfront properties.
Thus, it came as no surprise to the residents of the town when The Red Bank Register, the town’s newspaper, announced that "On May 26th (1879), ten gentlemen much interested in forming a new boat club on the river, met at Dr. Edwin Field's boathouse to discuss the matter." They met again on the 29th at the office of Dr. Richard F. Borden on Broad Street, and constituted themselves the "Monmouth Boat Club". The ten founders were: Dr. Field, a respected physician and surgeon; Enoch Cowart, a bank clerk; Thomas H. Applegate, a hardware merchant; Archibald Antonides, a carpenter; Ephriam E. Ovens (occupation unknown); William Pintard, a lawyer (and subsequently the first President of M.B.C.); George V. Sneden, an employee of the railroad; William N. Worthley, a coal merchant; William L. Sneden, a civil engineer and Dr. Horace B. VanDorn, a dentist. All were residents of the town. In the Preamble to their Constitution, they wrote: "Whereas the intent and purposes of this Club are to promote physical culture and more especially the manly art and exercise of rowing, and believing that such objects can only be attained by active cooperation and enforcement of regular order, be it therefore resolved ---". The ten men represented many of the town's most prominent citizens.
In its first summer, the new Club conducted several rowing events on the river, including a race for boys under 16 years and a proposed Ladies Race, which apparently had no takers. It also held an elimination series for the Club Championship, won by Dr. Field. His trophy, "a pair of silver spoon oars about 2 ½ inches long, with gold lined blades, from which was pendant a silver shell boat," holds an honored place in the Club's trophy case.
1880 - The First Clubhouse
1895 - A Clubhouse Rebuild
Early Twentieth Century Life on the Navesink
Circa 1930 - The Expanded Clubhouse
1979 - Celebrating the 100th Birthday of M.B.C. In Period Costume
1990s - Historic Designation
In 1987 Commodore George Whitney appointed club member Bob Rickner chairman of a newly formed Historic Designation Committee. Rickner was assisted by members June Methot, Ralph Blasingame, Bob Kent, Paul Pezzutti, and Paul Forsman. The objective of the committee was to gain designation of the M.B.C clubhouse as a historic place in both the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.
The process began with the acquisition and preparation of the required forms to initiate the application. Following the fulfillment of a number of requests for additional information, the preliminary New Jersey filing took place in 1991, and the National filing in 1992. By late 1993 both filings were completed. On May 5, 1994 an M.B.C. delegation met in Trenton with the New Jersey Board for Historic Designation. The Board recommended that the State Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection and Energy approve the filing. The M.B.C clubhouse was entered into the State Historic Registry on May 20, 1994. The national filing was approved by the National Historic Review Board on August 16, 1994. The seven year process spanned the tenure of four commodores and was a demonstration of the dedication and perseverance of the Historic Designation Committee.
Monmouth Boat Club Today
In the long tenure of the Club, many changes have occurred around the Red Bank waterfront. Today, nearly seventeen acres of the waterfront is Marine Park, which provides many facilities for the public, including fishing, a bandstand, a children's enclosed playground, a mooring basin for about fifteen powerboats who rent their slips from the Town annually, and, of course, the beautiful and busy panorama of the river. What it does not provide is a place either to launch and haul, or to park or store small boats. It is bounded on the east side by a commercial marina and on the west side by the properties of the M.B.C. and the North Shrewsbury Iceboat and Yacht Club. West of the Iceboat Club is the second yard of the same commercial marina. The above facilities occupy the entire area of land lying at the base of the riverbank. Thus, the M.B.C. continues to provide, as it has down through the years, the only facility in the town where small boats can be readily launched, hauled, and stored, thus fulfilling its stated purpose of providing "enjoyment of the Navesink River through boating."