Sea Breeze

Overview

A resort at the end of the marsh

Sea Breeze sits on the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay in Fairfield Township, at the end of a road that crosses miles of salt marsh south of Bridgeton. In the steamboat era it was a resort. By the account of a township committeeman, two men from Gloucester bought 120 acres here in 1877 and built a pavilion and a landing, and a rebuilt Civil War boat, the John A. Warner, ran summer excursions from Philadelphia. The 40-room Warner House was completed in 1887, with bathing, fishing, bowling and a merry-go-round. Later accounts put the start of the steamboat service in 1887 too.

Fire took the Warner House in 1890 and its successor, the Seabreeze Hotel, in the 1940s. Harry Griffith arrived in 1929 to rent boats, and the tavern he opened after Prohibition stayed in the family until Hurricane Gloria destroyed it in 1985. After that Sea Breeze was a string of modest seasonal homes along Beach Avenue, with a few people living there all year.

The bay kept eating the shore. A state seawall built in 2006 or 2007 was failing within about a year, and in November 2008 six of the 19 homeowners asked the state to buy them out. Buyouts through the state's Blue Acres program followed, and houses on the bought lots were removed. In 2021 a sign said the remaining houses were still occupied, while a Bridgeton man who fished nearby said no one really lived there anymore. A row of houses still stood on the shore in April 2025. A 2017 NJ.com history said Sea Breeze wasn't a ghost town, though a visitor could be forgiven for thinking so; newer articles call it one.

Timeline

Steamboats, fires and a seawall

1. 1877Two men from Gloucester buy 120 acres on the bay and build an amusement pavilion and a steamboat landing, by the account of Patrick Conahey, a Fairfield Township committeeman. A rebuilt Civil War boat, the John A. Warner, runs daily summer excursions from Philadelphia.
2. 1887The 40-room Warner House hotel is completed, with a bar. Visitors come for bathing, fishing, crabbing, bowling and dancing, and there is a merry-go-round. Later accounts, Wikipedia's among them, date the start of the steamboat service to this year instead.
3. 1890Fire destroys the Warner House.
4. Early 1900sJesse Smith builds the Seabreeze Hotel. About this time the name becomes one word.
5. 1929Late in the year Harry Griffith moves in and rents boats to fishermen. After Prohibition ends he gets a liquor license and opens the Seabreeze Tavern, first on a barge.
6. 1940sThe Seabreeze Hotel burns. Griffith's daughter Mae adds food to the tavern.
7. 1985Hurricane Gloria destroys the tavern. Sea Breeze becomes a small enclave of seasonal homes along Beach Avenue.
8. 2006–2007The state builds a seawall along Beach Avenue; Conahey gives 2007, South Jersey Climate News 2006. A nor'easter breaks part of it before it is finished, and within about a year it is collapsing.
9. Nov 2008Six of the community's 19 homeowners ask the state Department of Environmental Protection to buy them out.
10. Oct 2009By the state's account, its first coastal Blue Acres buyout takes place in Fairfield Township, on the Delaware Bayshore.
11. After 2009Sea Breeze buyouts go ahead under the Blue Acres program, and houses on the bought lots are removed. The Division of Fish and Wildlife offers to keep the land as open space for fishing and habitat.
12. 2021South Jersey Climate News sees 12 houses from the entrance of Seabreeze Road, a sign saying the houses are still occupied and another reading "Private Drive No Thru Traffic."
13. Apr 2025A photo posted to Wikimedia Commons shows a row of raised houses still standing at the water's edge.
14. Jul 2025New Jersey Digest, in a general article, describes broken docks, exposed foundations and a few empty house shells.

What's left

The shore today

A photo taken in April 2025 and shared on Wikimedia Commons shows a row of raised houses on pilings at the water's edge, a wooden bulkhead, power lines still up and sand drifted across the road in front. The photographer called them abandoned; we don't know who owns them or whether anyone lives there. South Jersey Climate News counted 12 houses visible from the entrance of Seabreeze Road in December 2021 and said visitors could go no further. It placed Sea Breeze next to the Delaware Bay Shore Preserve and the Dix and New Sweden wildlife management areas, with signs reading "Visitors Welcome. Wildlife Preserves." New Jersey Digest's July 2025 article, which doesn't say its writer visited, describes broken docks, roads that end at the water, exposed foundations and a few empty house shells, and no businesses.

The old maps show the rise and fall. On the 1890 sheet Sea Breeze is a name at the end of a single road across the marsh. The 1949 sheet shows about twenty buildings along the shore road, and the 1993 sheet a longer row down Beach Avenue. On today's aerial only a few roofs remain on the strip between the bay and the marsh.

Historic maps

Sea Breeze on USGS maps, 1890–1993

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

18901:62,50019491:24,00019561:24,00019931:24,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Bridgeton is the closest city, about 30 minutes away through Fairton and across the marsh on Seabreeze Road. From Philadelphia the route takes I-76 and NJ 55 south, then county roads into Bridgeton and the same road out.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Sea Breeze in photos

Raised houses on pilings along the Delaware Bay shore at Sea Breeze, April 2025Sea Breeze on the 1956 USGS Ben Davis Point sheet, with a row of buildings along the shore road

Visitor reports

Been to Sea Breeze?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Sea Breeze

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our New Jersey index.

• Weymouth31.9 mi NE · Atlantic
• South Cape May33.6 mi SE · Cape May
• Pleasant Mills41.5 mi NE · Atlantic
• Batsto Village42.2 mi NE · Burlington
• Atsion43.0 mi NE · Burlington
• Hampton Furnace46.1 mi NE · Burlington
• Washington46.9 mi NE · Burlington
• High Crossing47.5 mi NE · Burlington

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Patrick W. Conahey Sr., "Fairfield Township History: Seabreeze," NJ.com (October 6, 2009; read from the Internet Archive copy of July 12, 2024): the 1877 purchase, the John A. Warner, the 1887 Warner House and its 1890 fire, the Seabreeze Hotel, the Griffith tavern, Hurricane Gloria, the 2007 seawall and the buyout offers.
2. Associated Press, "Town's property owners want state to buy them out" (November 28, 2008; Internet Archive copy of December 4, 2008): six of 19 homeowners, the amusement pier, the damaged seawall.
3. Chris Friend, "Seabreeze, NJ: A history of rising tides," South Jersey Climate News (December 22, 2021): the 2006 seawall, Blue Acres buyouts, Fish and Wildlife, neighboring preserves, the houses and signs seen in 2021, tidal flooding of Seabreeze Road, and the 2017 NJ.com line about a ghost town.
4. NJ Department of Environmental Protection, "Blue Acres Celebrates 30 Years!" (November 25, 2025): the first state-led coastal Blue Acres buyout, in Fairfield Township in October 2009.
5. RollerFanatic000, "Abandoned Houses on the Delaware Bay," Wikimedia Commons (film photo taken April 13, 2025, camera location on the Sea Breeze shore): the houses standing in 2025.
6. Wikipedia, "Sea Breeze, New Jersey", retrieved October 2026: location in Fairfield Township, its 1887 date for the start of steamboat service, coordinates.
7. USGS Geographic Names Information System, "Sea Breeze" (feature 880444), read October 2026: populated place in Cumberland County on the Ben Davis Point sheet.
8. Daniel Stella, "The Forgotten Beach Town of NJ," New Jersey Digest (July 4, 2025): the 1887 steamboat date, the 1890 and 1940s fires, and its description of what remains.
9. WPST, "There's an abandoned beach town off the Delaware Bay in NJ" (March 7, 2023): the warning about No Trespassing signs.
10. Historic maps: USGS topographic sheets, Bay Side 1890 and Ben Davis Point 1949, 1956 and 1993.
11. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits

• Raised houses on pilings along the Delaware Bay shore at Sea Breeze, April 2025: RollerFanatic000, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Sea Breeze on the 1956 USGS Ben Davis Point sheet, with a row of buildings along the shore road: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
• Sea Breeze at the end of the Back Neck road on the 1890 USGS sheet: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Bay Side 1890, 1:62,500; Ben Davis Point 1949, 1:24,000; Ben Davis Point 1956, 1:24,000; Ben Davis Point 1993, 1:24,000.