The Beginning of Monmouth Junction

“The light at the end of the tunnel is just the light of an oncoming train.”--Robert Lowell.

A rail station that combined three lines together was the humble beginnings of Monmouth Junction. The junction included the Camden Amboy Railroad line from Kingston, the Pennsylvania Railroad New York to Philadelphia and the Jamesburg and Freehold Agricultural Railroad in 1850.

As this town was being created, only Longbridge Farm existed throughout the town stretching from Kingston into Monmouth Junction. Unlike Dayton and Deans, this was a railroad community giving it a different character from the rest of South Brunswick.

Trains rolled through in the 1870’s by burning wood stoves and using hand brakes. The center of town that you see today was more urbanized than the rest of South Brunswick, and it included many houses that were built closer together.

The railway brought trade and new residents to work in the area and raise their families.  As with the rest of South Brunswick, the English and Dutch dominated the area, but the railway brought Irish and Italians in as well.

The town was used as a transfer point for up to 500 people making the trip to Long Branch through Monmouth Junction.