Tucker’s Island

In 1927, a horrific storm swept across the rapidly depleting beaches of the Jersey Shore and began the end of New Jersey’s first shore resort, Tucker’s Island.  Located at the southern tip of Long Beach Island all that remains of Tucker’s Island is a shoal and a legend about an old pirate cutlass.

During the prime of Tucker’s Island the town was bustling with year round residents, summer tourism and according to local legends, at least one buried treasure!  Yes!  I said it, buried treasure!  Now while most pirate lore comes with no real ground to stand on, in this case we have a piece of physical evidence that I have seen myself and I would recommend the trip to anyone who has a love for history, pirates, adventure, or a little bit of each.

One night two men came ashore Tucker’s Island and approached the Life Saving Station.  They asked the guards there where they could find a local landmark, two old cedar trees, and because they could think of no reason to object the locals pointed the men in the direction of the trees and then watched as the two disappeared back into their boat.  Hours later, under the cover of darkness, the men came back ashore and headed in the direction of the trees.  Not long after they disappeared, the men at the Life Saving Station saw them reemerge from the darkness carrying a very large bundle.  They were uncertain as to the nature of the bundle and they raised the alarm in fear that it would be stolen goods or, worse yet, a dead body.  They men hurried to their boat while being pursued by the locals and just as they thought there was no hope, they loaded their bundle into the boat and pushed off leaving those who chased them standing on the beach.

The locals gathered together and headed back toward the cedars in search of clues to what the two men had been doing and what they found shocked them.  There by the trees was a hole in the ground and next to the hole a large trunk that had been opened and emptied of its contents.  All that was left behind was a scattering of old Spanish coins, a beaten and faded map, and an old rusted cutlass from a past forgotten.  Now all that remains is the cutlass which can be seen at the Long Beach Island Historical Association in Beach Haven, New Jersey.

I recommend a trip to the Historical Association to anyone with a little curiosity about LBI’s past.  It was different and interesting and it gave me hope that I may still find some buried treasure somewhere.