Belmar, New Jersey, United States

🇺🇸 Belmar is a borough situated on the Jersey Shore, within Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

What is now Belmar was originally incorporated as Ocean Beach borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 9, 1885, from portions of Wall Township, based on the results of a referendum held two days earlier. On April 16, 1889, it became the City of Elcho borough, which lasted for a few weeks until the name was changed to the City of Belmar Borough on May 14, 1889. The city acquired its current name, Borough of Belmar, on November 20, 1890. The borough's name means "beautiful sea" in Italian.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 1.62 square miles (4.18 km²), including 1.05 square miles (2.71 km²) of land and 0.57 square miles (1.48 km²) of water (35.19%).

Belmar borders the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Monmouth County municipalities of Avon-by-the-Sea to the north, Neptune Township to the north-west, Wall Township to the west, and Lake Como and Spring Lake to the south.

Parks and recreation Belmar is a popular vacation destination because of its natural and recreational resources and close proximity to New York and Philadelphia. It features wide beaches for sunbathing, surfing, swimming, and fishing. The boardwalk and town offer shops, restaurants, an active arts scene, sporting events, festivals, and a variety of family-oriented activities (see "Annual Events" below). Belmar sits on the south side of the Shark River and boasts a large municipal marina in the bay and on the inlet itself, including the only private marina in town, Seaport Inlet Marina.

Belmar beach (as well as those of municipalities to the south, such as Manasquan and Point Pleasant) is among the most popular surf spots on the East Coast. Belmar frequently hosts surfing events and competitions. Along with surfing, Belmar also has an active skate community and skatepark constructed by American Ramp Company. The Jersey Shore Basketball League, a competitive summer basketball league, takes place at St. Rose High School every summer.

The Belmar Arts Council (BAC) sponsors regular art shows, workshops, concerts, and performances year around. BAC's gallery and workshop, the Boatworks, is located at 608 River Road, Belmar, around the corner from Klein's Seafood Restaurant near the Shark River Inlet.

Education The Belmar School District serves students in public school for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at Belmar Elementary School. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 448 students and 52.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.5:1. The district also serves students from Lake Como who attend as part of a sending/receiving relationship. The school was constructed in 1909 and has had additions built in 1929, 1949, 1969 and 1993. There are 61 certified staff members, including the district's administrators, teachers, nurses and child study team personnel, with an additional 12 paraprofessionals. The single school facility is two schools in one, a primary school for Pre-K–5 and a middle school structure for 6–8.

Students attending public high school for ninth through twelfth grades are assigned to either Manasquan High School or Asbury Park High School based on sending/receiving relationships with the Manasquan Public Schools and Asbury Park Public Schools, respectively. Manasquan High School also serves students from Avon-by-the-Sea, Brielle, Lake Como, Sea Girt, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights who attend as part of sending/receiving relationships with their respective districts. As of the 2020–21 school year, Manasquan High School had an enrollment of 1,006 students and 76.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.1:1, while Asbury Park High School had an enrollment of 682 students and 54.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.5:1.

Students may also attend Red Bank Regional High School, Marine Academy of Science and Technology, Academy of Allied Health & Science, Academy Charter School, High Technology High School, Communications High School or Biotechnology High School.

Students also have the option to attend Academy Charter High School in Lake Como, which accepts students on a lottery basis from the communities of Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Avon-by-the-Sea, Belmar, Bradley Beach, Deal, Interlaken and Lake Como.

Belmar is home of St. Rose High School, which was established in 1923 by the local parish and the Sisters of St. Joseph, and operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton.

Mesivta Keser Torah of Central Jersey, a yeshiva and high school for men that serves Haredi students mainly from Lakewood Township, Deal and Brooklyn, has been in the borough since the 1920s.

The Belmar Public Library is one of New Jersey's original 36 Carnegie libraries.

Transport: Road As of May 2010, the borough had a total of 26.12 miles (42.04 km) of roadways, of which 20.85 miles (33.55 km) were maintained by the municipality, 3.40 miles (5.47 km) by Monmouth County and 1.87 miles (3.01 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Route 35 and Route 71 are the two main roads that pass through Belmar. The closest limited access roads are all in neighboring Wall Township: Route 18, the Garden State Parkway and Interstate 195.

Public transportation NJ Transit provides rail transportation at the Belmar station to and from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan, Newark Penn Station and Hoboken Terminal on the North Jersey Coast Line. New Jersey Transit also provides bus transportation between Belmar and Philadelphia on the 317 route and service on the 830 route.

Transport: Air Monmouth Executive Airport is a public-use airport located west of Belmar.

Annual events • Belmar 5 Mile Johnny Cobb Memorial Run • New Jersey Seafood Festival celebrated its 30th year in 2016. The festival, which attracted an estimated 200,000 visitors in 2015, had to be modified in scope to allow the borough to cope with the volumes of traffic. • New Jersey Sand Castle Contest, which featured 200 participants at the 27th annual event in 2013 • St. Patrick's Day Parade • Belmar Pro Surf Contest • Belmar Fall Festival • Belmar Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony • Belmar Spring Kite Festival • Howard Rowland Memorial Lifeguard Tournament – an annual tournament of lifeguard teams from the Jersey Shore • Belmar Mile Swim • Belmar Sprint Triathlon • The Jersey Shore Relay Run, which has a leg that goes through Belmar • Surfer's Healing