Mrs. Brown Tourist Home
Known Name(s)
Mrs. Brown Tourist Home
Address
135 Ridge Ave. Asbury Park, NJ
Establishment Type(s)
Tourist Home
Physical Status
Extant
Description
Depicted as a two-story frame dwelling with one-story porches to the east, south, and west on the 1930 Sanborn insurance map, the large Craftsman house today appears to be stuccoed, with a later addition on the north side.
Source: Sanborn Map Co., Insurance Maps of New Jersey Coast, New Jersey, Vol. 2 (1930), sheet 248.
Detailed History
The Green Book listed numerous tourist homes in Neptune and the West Side of Asbury Park: an indication of the demand for lodging for African Americans in these neighboring coastal towns. 135 Ridge Avenue in Asbury was listed from 1938 to 1940 and from 1946 to 1951 under the name Mrs. Brown. While the 1924 Polk’s Asbury Park City Directory listed William J. Brown and Ella, his wife, at 135 Ridge, by 1940 only Mr. Brown was listed at the address. The 1920 census recorded Mrs. Brown as an African-American woman born in New Jersey, and the Browns as having a boarder, which may indicate the ongoing use for the address. Mr. Brown died in 1959.
Sources: Polk’s Asbury Park City Directory, 1924 and 1940; “Brown – William J.” Asbury Park Press. 19 June 1959.
J. Shaffer
