This is an old article off the Daily Journal website.I knew there is an interest in Thompsons Beach here by a few so i posted it in total.
Local News: Tidal Wave Hits Cumberland County (1950)
There had been no warning. A perfect or imperfect combination of the elements combined to form what some insurance companies classified as a "tidal wave," which reduced waterside resorts almost to bare sand.
Thompsons Beach and Moores Beach were among the worst affected of Cumberland’s bayshore communities when a deadly tide hit with severe swiftness on the morning of Saturday, Nov. 25, 1950.
One couple, still in bed at the time, heard water crashing through their front door and struggled to get away.
Unable to start their flooded car, they tied ropes around themselves and climbed onto a garage roof, which floated away and later broke, dumping them into the frigid water.
Although the two survived, more than 30 others in New Jersey, including at least 14 dead or missing and presumed dead in Cumberland County, weren’t as lucky.
At Moores Beach, four children from one family alone were claimed by the storm, caused by unusually high tides, heavy downpours and 70-mph wind that drove the water before it.
In Fortescue, the Johnson Hotel and Sea Gull restaurant were destroyed. And an old boardwalk, on the beachfront at least as early as 1911, was smashed to bits.
In these and other bayside villages south of Millville, countless numbers of cars were left underwater. And hundreds of summer cottages were destroyed or simply floated away after being torn from their footings.
"I told ‘em so," said Edward H. Thompson, age 100 at the time.
Thompson once owned 350 acres of meadowland, including all of Thompsons Beach, before selling to a cousin who divided up the land into beachfront lots for development.
"I have said there was no telling when the tide would come in and do a lot of damage," he told the Millville Daily Republican shortly after storm waters engulfed the resort.
The newspaper also reported that, according to Bridgeton’s Edward Maier, county engineer in 1954, the Nov. 25 storm was the "coup de grace" of beach erosion that had been going on for some time.
But most property owners in the area didn’t need more convincing.
"We will never return to Thompsons Beach to live," declared one resident. "We have lost practically everything we owned and that’s enough for us."
In 1980, another storm took out much of the remaining Thompsons and Moores beach communities.
Eighteen years later, Maurice River Township secured the last property on Thompsons Beach, ending an ongoing conflict with holdout residents.
It was announced that the road to Thompsons Beach would soon be closed and the demolition of structures on Moores Beach was about to begin.
Once there were cottages, hotels and businesses lining the beach communities.
By the late 20th century, Thompsons Beach was part the PSE&G Estuary Enhancement Project, home only to king crabs and migrating birds, and Moores Beach was all but a memory.
Local News: Tidal Wave Hits Cumberland County (1950)
There had been no warning. A perfect or imperfect combination of the elements combined to form what some insurance companies classified as a "tidal wave," which reduced waterside resorts almost to bare sand.
Thompsons Beach and Moores Beach were among the worst affected of Cumberland’s bayshore communities when a deadly tide hit with severe swiftness on the morning of Saturday, Nov. 25, 1950.
One couple, still in bed at the time, heard water crashing through their front door and struggled to get away.
Unable to start their flooded car, they tied ropes around themselves and climbed onto a garage roof, which floated away and later broke, dumping them into the frigid water.
Although the two survived, more than 30 others in New Jersey, including at least 14 dead or missing and presumed dead in Cumberland County, weren’t as lucky.
At Moores Beach, four children from one family alone were claimed by the storm, caused by unusually high tides, heavy downpours and 70-mph wind that drove the water before it.
In Fortescue, the Johnson Hotel and Sea Gull restaurant were destroyed. And an old boardwalk, on the beachfront at least as early as 1911, was smashed to bits.
In these and other bayside villages south of Millville, countless numbers of cars were left underwater. And hundreds of summer cottages were destroyed or simply floated away after being torn from their footings.
"I told ‘em so," said Edward H. Thompson, age 100 at the time.
Thompson once owned 350 acres of meadowland, including all of Thompsons Beach, before selling to a cousin who divided up the land into beachfront lots for development.
"I have said there was no telling when the tide would come in and do a lot of damage," he told the Millville Daily Republican shortly after storm waters engulfed the resort.
The newspaper also reported that, according to Bridgeton’s Edward Maier, county engineer in 1954, the Nov. 25 storm was the "coup de grace" of beach erosion that had been going on for some time.
But most property owners in the area didn’t need more convincing.
"We will never return to Thompsons Beach to live," declared one resident. "We have lost practically everything we owned and that’s enough for us."
In 1980, another storm took out much of the remaining Thompsons and Moores beach communities.
Eighteen years later, Maurice River Township secured the last property on Thompsons Beach, ending an ongoing conflict with holdout residents.
It was announced that the road to Thompsons Beach would soon be closed and the demolition of structures on Moores Beach was about to begin.
Once there were cottages, hotels and businesses lining the beach communities.
By the late 20th century, Thompsons Beach was part the PSE&G Estuary Enhancement Project, home only to king crabs and migrating birds, and Moores Beach was all but a memory.
Good article. I never made it to Thompsons beach area, but after these references feel a need to explore! Thanks.
