Asbury Park Historical Society

What Asbury Park Historical Society does

The Asbury Park Historical Society (APHS) is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the understanding, appreciation, preservation, and restoration of historically significant artifacts, sites, and stories in Asbury Park, New Jersey. It operates from the Stephen Crane House at 508 Fourth Avenue, which functions simultaneously as headquarters, archive, and a public museum open for guided tours on Sundays from noon to 2 PM or by appointment. The society's programming spans monthly public meetings (third Thursday at 7:00 PM), oral history collection, preservation projects (e.g., Library Square fountain restoration, Morro Castle monument maintenance, Turf Club neon sign restoration), educational events, and an annual Art on the Boardwalk craft fair.

APHS sustains itself through four revenue streams: membership dues on a recurring basis, ad-hoc donations (including major in-kind artifact donations from the Asbury Park Press/Gannett and Allied Environmental Signage pro-bono work), sales of commemorative merchandise — primarily a recurring line of $25 brass holiday ornaments themed around Asbury Park landmarks and music venues (Carousel House, Convention Hall, Stone Pony, Wonder Bar, Asbury Lanes) and SS Morro Castle Coasters — and modest event-related fees such as $100 vendor booth fees at Art on the Boardwalk. Distribution combines an in-house e-commerce storefront (PayPal-powered) with five regional retail partners across Asbury Park and Ocean Grove.

The organization is governed by a Board of Trustees led by President Kay Harris (appointed February 2020), and is deeply embedded in the local cultural ecosystem through partnerships with the Asbury Park Museum project (planned 2027 opening at 1200 Springwood Avenue), Madison Marquette (boardwalk redeveloper), the Asbury Park Press, Gannett Corporation, Allied Environmental Signage, and Fortune Web Marketing (website developer). Its customer base is broadly distributed across local residents, Jersey Shore tourists, academic researchers, and local artists, with no enterprise accounts and no single dominant revenue contributor.

Name

Asbury Park Historical Society

Legal name

Asbury Park Historical Society

Website

https://aphistoricalsociety.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1871

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Asbury Park Historical Society is an all-volunteer nonprofit that preserves and promotes Asbury Park, NJ history from the Stephen Crane House museum, funded through memberships, donations, and sales of commemorative ornaments and merchandise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Historical Preservation Services

NAICS

Historical Sites (71212), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Parades, Carnivals & Street Fairs (MPAGAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family, Kids & Education Fairs (MPAGAFAH)

Keywords

• Historical preservation services
• Local history education
• Commemorative merchandise
• Community heritage programs
• Guided historical tours

Headquarters

HQ city

Asbury Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Merchandise Sales: Sale of commemorative merchandise including holiday ornaments, coasters, and other collectibles through e-commerce and retail partners. Products include branded ornaments featuring Asbury Park landmarks.
2. Membership Dues: Annual membership program offering various benefits to supporters of historical preservation.
3. Donations: Direct donations from individuals and organizations supporting preservation efforts.
4. Event Fees: Vendor fees for events such as Art on the Boardwalk ($100 entry fee for craft vendors).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Asbury Park Historical Society (APHS) is a nonprofit organization that preserves and promotes the history of Asbury Park, New Jersey. It operates the Stephen Crane House as its headquarters and primary tour destination, hosts monthly public meetings, conducts community events such as Art on the Boardwalk, runs educational programs and oral history projects, and sells collectible commemorative merchandise (holiday ornaments and coasters) through an e-commerce shop and retail partners.

Product overview

The Asbury Park Historical Society operates an e-commerce shop selling collectible memorabilia, specifically a series of holiday ornaments featuring iconic Asbury Park landmarks and venues, plus commemorative items. The product line includes six collectible brass ornaments representing historic buildings (Carousel House, Convention Hall) and music venues (Stone Pony, Wonder Bar, Asbury Lanes), priced at $25 each, as well as SS Morro Castle Coasters. The society also offers venue tours of the Stephen Crane House headquarters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• APHS Stone Pony Holiday Ornament A collectible brass holiday ornament featuring the Stone Pony, Asbury Park's most popular music venue where Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny and Steve Van Zandt performed. The Club opened in 1974. Targeted at music history enthusiasts, Springsteen fans, and collectors of Asbury Park memorabilia.
• APHS Wonder Bar Holiday Ornament A collectible holiday ornament featuring the Wonder Bar, a popular nightclub and grill associated with famous local legends including Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Clarence Clemons, and Lance Larson. Targeted at music history enthusiasts and Asbury Park memorabilia collectors.
• APHS Asbury Lanes Holiday Ornament A collectible holiday ornament featuring Asbury Lanes, a music venue, diner and bowling alley that serves as a gathering place for bands, locals, and visitors in Asbury Park. Targeted at music history enthusiasts and visitors.
• APHS Carousel House Holiday Ornament A collectible holiday ornament custom-designed in 2021 to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the founding of Asbury Park, featuring the historic Carousel House attraction. Targeted at history enthusiasts and commemorative collectors.
• APHS Convention Hall Holiday Ornament A collectible brass ornament featuring Convention Hall Complex's Paramount Theatre built in 1929, with 'Greetings From Asbury Park' messaging. Targeted at history enthusiasts and visitors.
• SS Morro Castle Coasters (4 Pack) A set of four coasters commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the S.S. Morro Castle Disaster, a maritime tragedy where the luxury cruise ship caught fire and beached near Convention Hall in Asbury Park in 1934. Targeted at maritime history enthusiasts and commemorative collectors.
• Stephen Crane House Tours In-person guided tours of the Stephen Crane House, the headquarters and historic landmark of the Asbury Park Historical Society, offered Sundays noon-2 PM or by appointment. Targeted at history enthusiasts, local residents, and visitors.
• Annual Membership Program Annual membership program offering supporters benefits tied to historical preservation, community events, and educational programming. Targeted at local residents, history enthusiasts, and recurring donors.
• Art on the Boardwalk Event Annual outdoor event on the Asbury Park boardwalk featuring local artists and craft vendors. Vendors pay a $100 entry fee for a 10'x12' space and supply their own tent. Targeted at local artists, craft vendors, and community visitors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Operates Stephen Crane House for weekly public tours
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Asbury Park Press (APP)coreOthers · 1 July 2024The Asbury Park Press donated a historic Teletype machine to APHS in July 2024. This donation coincided with APP's move from Route 66 in Neptune to the Bell Works complex in Holmdel. The Teletype machine, a relic of 20th-century journalism, is now displayed at the Stephen Crane House headquarters.
• Asbury Park MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2020APHS collaborates closely with the Asbury Park Museum on preservation projects. Society President Kay Harris also chairs the Asbury Park Museum project. Nicky Addeo's career will be celebrated in the forthcoming Asbury Park Museum opening in 2027 at 1200 Springwood Avenue.
• Allied Environmental SignageminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2015Allied Environmental Signage, based in Farmingdale, offered to restore the iconic Turf Club neon sign for free. The company president saw an article in the Asbury Park Press about the society's restoration attempt and volunteered their facilities.
• Gannett CorporationcoreOthers · 1 December 2013Gannett Corporation, publisher of The Asbury Park Press, donated a historic horse-drawn carriage dating to 1879 that was used to deliver the Shore Press. The donation included presentation to Asbury Park City Council for placement in the Transportation Center.
• Madison MarquetteminorOthersMadison Marquette is the boardwalk redeveloper that currently owns Convention Hall. They were involved in discussions about copper panels that were stolen from Convention Hall's facade. The society had interest in the restoration of Convention Hall historical elements.
• Fortune Web MarketingminorOthersFortune Web Marketing is credited as the website developer for the Asbury Park Historical Society website, which was revamped in 2019.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Preservation New Jersey: Preservation New Jersey is a statewide nonprofit supporting historic preservation advocacy and the New Jersey Register of Historic Places — an enabling organization that APHS likely engages with on landmark designations and preservation grants.

Broad incumbents

• New Jersey Historical Society: New Jersey Historical Society is a large statewide historical institution operating a museum and library in Newark, NJ, providing the broader regional umbrella within which APHS operates and to which it funnels state-level support and grants.

Direct peers

• Brooklyn Historical Society: Brooklyn Historical Society is an urban historical society operating multiple sites, tours, public programming, and e-commerce at a comparable volunteer/staff hybrid scale to APHS, with similar reliance on donations, memberships, and merchandise.
• Asbury Park Museum: The Asbury Park Museum (scheduled to open in 2027 at 1200 Springwood Avenue) is the city's other primary historical institution; APHS president Kay Harris chairs the project and the two organizations collaborate closely on preservation activities, oral histories, and exhibitions.
• Ocean Grove Historical Society: Ocean Grove Historical Society serves the neighboring Jersey Shore community with similar methods: house museum tours, archives, and preservation of a 19th-century planned seaside community — directly comparable in scale and operating model.
• Monmouth County Historical Association: Monmouth County Historical Association is a county-level historical society based in Freehold, NJ, operating house museums, archives, and programs — a directly comparable model to APHS at the next geographic tier, serving residents of the same county.

Regional players

• Red Bank Historical Society: Red Bank Historical Society is a nearby Monmouth County historical organization with comparable small-scale, volunteer-driven preservation programming and public events within the same regional tourism economy.
• Morristown Historical Society: Morristown Historical Society operates a house museum, archive, and tour programming in northern New Jersey — comparable in scale, governance structure, and operating model to APHS, with similar donor and membership base dynamics.
• Madison Historical Society: Madison Historical Society in Morris County, NJ operates the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts and similar community preservation programs, providing a comparable small-scale New Jersey historical society model anchored in a historic house.
• Long Branch Historical Society: Long Branch Historical Society preserves heritage of the adjacent Jersey Shore community (also founded in the 1860s-70s boom era) and offers programming for residents and tourists — directly comparable in scale and audience model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/APHistSociety
• Facebookfacebook.com/AsburyParkHistoricalSociety
• Instagraminstagram.com/aphistoricalsociety
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-asbury-historical-society-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Asbury Park Historical Society