Waverley Motel
Known Name(s)
Waverley Motel
Address
138 DeWitt Ave. Asbury Park, NJ
Establishment Type(s)
Motel, Resort
Physical Status
Demolished
Description
The Waverly was located north of Springwood Avenue on DeWitt, in a residential area of Asbury Park’s predominantly African-American West Wide. Set on multiple lots, the hotel, according to the 1930 Sanborn insurance map, was a large, square structure built of concrete block, with a half-submerged basement, a first-floor wooden porch, and a long frame structure alongside to the south. The former hotel, which had been shut down for violations in 1967, was gutted by fire in 1975, which perhaps led to its demolition. A church now stands on the site.
Sources: Sanborn Map Co., Insurance Maps of New Jersey Coast, New Jersey, Vol. 2 (1930), sheet 201; “Former Waverly Hotel Gutted by Fire,” Asbury Park Press, 30 December 1975.
Detailed History
According to the 1955 Polk’s Asbury Park City Directory, the Waverly Hotel was operated by William Griffin, Jr. The business was listed in The Green Book as a motel from 1954 through 1956, perhaps because there was parking available on the multiple lots, and also as a vacation resort from 1956 through 1962. When the building was shut down for violations in 1967, it was operated by Frank H. Martin and owned by 138 DeWitt Avenue, Inc.
Sources: Polk’s Asbury Park City Directory, 1955; “Court Finds City Hotelman Guilty,” Asbury Park Press, 10 August 1967.
J. Shaffer
