County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon Commemorates Ocean Township’s 170th Anniversary

OCEAN TOWNSHIP, NJ – During the Township of Ocean Council Meeting on Feb. 21, Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon made a special presentation to the Mayor and Council to commemorate the Township’s 170^th Anniversary. Clerk Hanlon gave the Mayor and Council a digital reproduction of the first recorded map of the Township which was filed in the Office of the Monmouth County Clerk, 170 years ago, on Feb. 21, 1849.

The Township of Ocean was created on Feb. 21, 1849 via an Act of the New Jersey State Legislature. The first, hand-drawn map depicts Ocean Township’s original footprint which encompassed all lands from Sea Bright south to the Shark River and west to encompass Eatontown and Neptune. The Township of Ocean was originally part of the Township of Shrewsbury, and the land was subdivided into two townships, which is why the map was filed with the County Clerk.

“One of the best parts of serving as Monmouth County Clerk is the opportunity to find and highlight special historical items housed within the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office,” said Clerk Hanlon.

(L to R) Councilmembers John P. Napolitani, Sr., Donna L. Schepiga, Mayor Christopher P. Siciliano, Deputy Mayor Richard H. Long, County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon, Councilmember Robert V. Acerra, Sr., and County Sheriff Shaun Golden

All subdivision maps in the County must be filed in the Office of the County Clerk. The Subdivision Map collection of the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office contains map that depict sections of Monmouth County towns and neighborhoods with property lines drawn to indicate new lots for sale, lots divided among surviving family members of an estate, and lots drawn up for auction by realty companies. There are 11,168 digitized Subdivision Maps on the County Clerk’s Open Public Records Search (OPRS) website for 62 towns and neighborhoods, such as Cliffwood, Oceanic, and West Asbury Park. The oldest map in the County Clerk’s Archives collection is from 1765, showing a portion of today’s Barnegat.

Several employees of the County and County Clerk’s Office assisted with the creation of the beautiful reproduction, including the County Clerk’s Office Map Room Supervisor Jane Colyer, Mary Hussey of the County Clerk’s Archives Division, and Aaron Townsend of the Monmouth County Public Information Department

For questions regarding the Clerk’s presentation to the Township of Ocean or the County Clerk’s Subdivision Map collection, please email [email protected].