History of the Bradley Beach Historical Society and the Historical Museum

The original Historical Society was formed in 1992 by Mayor Stephen G. Schueler who appointed resident Rae Tutela to be the Borough Historian and to organize the Historical Society.  The members of the Historical Society were tasked to present an event in Riley Park to celebrate the 100^th year of Bradley Beach’s incorporation in 1893.  Many events were held during the first part of the year 1993, ending with the Historical Society’s Day of History in the park.  It was a huge success. 

Rae Tutela stayed on as Historian, but after the centennial celebrations were over, membership dropped and very soon, no one was showing up for the meetings.

In 2000, Rae approached Mayor Schueler and asked him to appoint Librarian Shirley Ayres to be the Borough’s Historian and on July 1, 2000, he did as Rae wished.

Shirley and her friend, Graphic Designer Ron Carlucci worked hard on building up membership.  They took part in every public event in town and on the boardwalk.  Members were signing up and the Historical Society was in business.  Shirley and Projectionist Gary Crawford co-wrote an Arcadia Publishing book, “Images of America: Bradley Beach” which was published in July 2002.  In 2004, Shirley and co-writer Interior Designer Troy Bianchi wrote another Arcadia Publishing book, “Vintage Postcards: Bradley Beach” and a part of the profits of each book were donated to the Historical Society.  Currently, Shirley and Troy are working on another book to be titled, “Then and Now: Bradley Beach”. 

The Historical Society hosted two house tours, but it wasn’t enough to sustain membership and soon, we were without members again.  Rae and Shirley hosted a Historical Society Tea Party on May 19, 2010 and about 25 people showed up.  And, no one joined the Historical Society.

After pleading with the town council for several years, the Borough finally allowed Shirley to establish an Historical Museum in the Carmen A. Biase Center.  Opening Day celebrations were held on February 1, 2006.  Soon after the opening of the Museum, Shirley recruited volunteer Don Lewis to act as curator of the Museum and he has done a spectacular job. 

Along with historic artifacts and pictures, the Museum is the home of the Historian’s vertical file.  A vertical file is made up of clippings from newspapers and magazines, all of which relate to Bradley Beach.  There are several binders of clippings about the Borough, the Police Department, the School, the Library, and many other organizations and events. 

To make an appointment to visit our Museum, please email us and we will get back to you.  There are no public hours for the Museum, but we will be there when scheduled by you.  We are still working on establishing another round of Historical Society membership.  Stay tuned.