Brick Life

Centuries of Brick History Are Nestled In the Middle of Modern Neighborhoods

by
Daniel Nee
August 24, 2023

Near the end of a tree-lined street off Adamston Road is a large, brown home almost unrecognizable from the road. Some have compared it to a log cabin, while others have wondered if someone decided to build a custom home in a classic style.

Neither is correct – it’s the real thing: a Georgian-style home constructed by a Civil War soldier who returned to Brick with his wife after fighting for the Union Army and establishing a life in his leafy corner of the world.

The home, located at 520 Old Adamston Road (yes, there is an “old” Adamston Road off the modern road we traverse regularly), was one of two honored by the township this week for their current owners’ efforts to preserve the properties in recognition of Brick Township’s history.

While the Old Adamston Road home has changed owners over the years, the second to be recognized has remained with the same family for almost two centuries. Ironically, located directly next door to brand new construction currently underway, the home at 610 Herbertsville Road began as a farmhouse, constructed in 1850 in a post-and-beam style, with a Gothic-style addition added in 1895.

The historic home at 520 Old Adamston Road, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)

The historic home at 610 Herbertsville Road, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)

History Before Our Eyes

Gene Donatiello, the Brick Township Historian, was kind enough to provide Shorebeat with some extra information about these two pieces of history that many of us pass every day without realizing as much.

Margaret Osborn, a descendant of the original owner of two historic homes on Herbertsville Road, remains on the deed of 610 Herbertsville to this day, Donatiello said. The road itself was known back then as a key route between the prosperous fishing port of Point Pleasant and the small-but-bustling city of Freehold, the junction of rails, roads and other paths to larger cities.

The historic home at 610 Herbertsville Road, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)

“Visible in the photograph are the post and beam barn and the original water well,” said Donatiello, sharing the photo embedded below.

The historic home at 610 Herbertsville Road, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Gene Donatiello)

The home on Old Adamston, Donatiello said, is known as the “William Hall House.”

“Born January 26, 1835, William Hall served with F Company, 14th Regiment, New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, during the War Between the States,” he wrote to us in an e-mail. “Hall and the 14th took part in the Battle of Monocacy, Maryland, slowing down Confederate General Jubal Anderson Early’s advance on Washington, D.C.”

The historic home at 520 Old Adamston Road, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)

After the war, Hall returned home and had the house build for himself and his wife, Rebecca. The house now stands at the fork of Adamston and Old Adamston Roads.