LONGPORT – Inside the walls of the white clapboard-sided building is enough history to fill eight rooms, all bursting at the seams and each highlighting a certain aspect of the history of the Borough of Longport.
Artifacts collected by the dedicated members of the Longport Historical Society are on display 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays from May to September. Vice-president Ellen Cohen, the wife of the society’s founder, former Mayor Michael Cohen who passed away in 2016, provided tours for visitors during the museum’s annual open house on July 5.
“For such a little community, there’s a lot of history here,” visitor Michael DeVlieger said as he passed through several rooms.
Ellen Cohen said when Atlantic County was celebrating its Sesquicentennial, her husband put a call out to the older folks in town asking for artifacts. The town elders and the descendants of town fathers donated items, which were put on display at the Church of the Redeemer, where they stayed until the historic building with green shutters became available.
With that treasure trove of artifacts, Michael Cohen founded the historical society in 1987, served as its historian for many years, and published a history book, “Longport, The Way We Were,” which depicts the founding of Longport in 1898 through 1998.
The building was originally a Coast Guard Station, but later served as borough hall, and held the borough jail.
When asked about his book in 2014, Michael Cohen said he was “very fortunate to have had the opportunity to have had first-hand interviews with many of Longport’s founders.” His only wish was to keep the memory of Longport’s history alive for future generations.
Cohen also composed a documentary video, “The Way We Were,” which can be viewed at the museum.
He was also instrumental in getting the Church of the Redeemer placed on the federal and state list of historic buildings.
Today, the artifacts fill eight rooms, each with its own theme. The 1882 Room holds artifacts and photos of the borough’s first families, along with the history of the Church of the Redeemer, where services are held during the summer months. The church burned down during the freak derecho storm of June 30, 2012, but has since been painstakingly restored.
The Police Room holds fingerprinting equipment and cameras, police reports from the 1920s, and a collection depicting the DePamphilis family, including Richard DePamphilis, who served as police chief for many years.
The Storm Room includes pictures of past nor’easters and hurricanes, including the Hurricane of 1944, the March 1962 Storm and Superstorm Sandy.
The Betty Bacharach Room tells the history of the stately brick rehabilitation hospital, which was located next door in what is now Borough Hall. It includes photographs of famous people and movie stars who visited the hospital in which hundreds of children with polio and other infirmities convalesced.
“Mayor Leopardi would always bring celebrities appearing in Atlantic City to parties in Longport,” Ellen Cohen said. “Even President Roosevelt’s mother was a visitor. For a little town not nearly as populated as it is now, it had a large impact on the community.”
A visitor could spend hours pouring over old maps that show the first 14 blocks at the southernmost tip of Absecon Island that were washed away in a series of storms. There’s also a room for the volunteer firefighters who have served the community for more than 100 years. The Ocean Room pays tribute to Longport’s lifeguards, has a photo of young Amelia Earhart on the beach, and includes a history of transportation to the wealthy hamlet aboard ferries, trains, trolleys and finally, buses.
DeVlieger, who visited the open house from Ocean City, where he lives with his family, called the museum a treasure.
“It’s so funny not to know what’s in your own backyard,” he said.
The Longport Historical Society will host a Mummers Concert, 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, and Art on the Lawn 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 1.
For more information, see http://www.longportpubliclibrary.org/historicalsociety/historical-society-museum
