Avon-by-The-Sea History
In 1878, Edward Batchelor, a successful tobacco manufacturer from Philadelphia, purchased 300 acres of land called “New Branch” on the north shore of the Shark River. He paid T.W. Finn $45,000. He hired a surveyor named Robert Love and an engineer named F.G. Harrison to help him develop the land as the new center for his tobacco firm, but the two persuaded Mr. Batchelor to look instead to its real estate potential. Taking their advice, he renamed the land “Key East”, and set about creating a beautiful seaside resort community in an area growing in popularity with wealthy visitors from New York and Pennsylvania.
Mr. Batchelor invested in the development of the necessary infrastructure to support a resort community, surveying the area and dividing it into lots. A sewer system and roadways were constructed. The Pavilion on Norwood and Ocean Avenue was built, and the Avon Inn was opened in 1883. Properties were sold to private home owners, and a town was born.
The name “Avon-by-the-Sea” was adopted when the town was incorporated on March 23, 1900. Sadly, the Avon Inn, for which the town was believed to have been named, was destroyed by fire in 1978.
A number of early structures remain in town. Saint Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church, at Lincoln and Fifth Avenues, was built in 1908 on property donated by Mr. Batchelor. Although it was heavily damaged by a fire in 1986, it was rebuilt and remains in use today.
Originally The Berwick Hotel, The Columns Restaurant was built by Mr. Batchelor in 1883 and remains a popular dining and entertainment venue, offering stunning views and sea breezes from its home on Ocean Avenue across from the Pavilion.
The Avon Baptist Church, on Sylvania and Fifth Avenues, was also an original part of the new town when it was called Taylor Memorial Baptist Church.
