Wharf Rat Tales: Grown Morgan Kids Reflect on Family’s Marina in Avalon in 1960s & ’70s
Street-side view of the Wharf, with the legendary rope sign.
This story started by chance, based on a memory. Late one evening, I was reading through some Facebook posts when I noticed that a person by the name of Morgan who probably lives almost 2,000 miles from Avalon mentioned “The Wharf” in one of her posts.
I had a rush of memories. I kept my first boat when I was very young on Princeton Harbor, several houses down from a place called Morgan’s Wharf in Avalon. I’d always buy my gas and bait there. Keep in mind, this was almost 50 years ago. There was a name change after it was Morgan’s, and both the business and the building have been gone for at least 35 years. I cannot remember the last time that I even thought about Morgan’s Wharf. Still, I could not help but wonder, might this person be connected to the Morgan’s Wharf of my memory? It was a long shot.
Since I’m always looking for a new opportunity to take readers down Memory Lane of either Avalon or Stone Harbor, despite the odds I couldn’t help myself. I messaged the person and asked, “By chance, are you related to the Morgan’s Wharf that used to be in Avalon, NJ?” Not overly optimistic of my chances, I waited patiently for a response. Imagine my surprise when it arrived, “Yes, my family owned Morgan’s Wharf.”
Fast-forward two weeks and I’m on a conference call with the Wharf Rats (their name, not mine, of the Morgan kids – Joanne, Susan, Diane and Jack). Geographically, the call participants’ locations were all diverse – Wyoming, Florida, North Carolina, and Cape May County. And at least one of the Morgans had been back to the Seven Mile Beach only once in the past 20 years. Despite all of that, it did not take long to connect on our memories of Avalon and the Seven Mile Beach in the 1960s and ’70s.
Before it was Morgan’s Wharf, there was a marina known as Fletcher’s. And in a much different time it was one of a handful of full-service neighborhood marinas located in and around Avalon. Fletcher’s is first mentioned in an Avalon Beach Patrol Yearbook in the 1950s. Unfortunately, not much is known about Mr. Fletcher.
Located across the 25th Street Bridge, Fletcher’s was located in the 500 block of 24th Street on Princeton Harbor. It was nestled right in among residential bayfront homes. That wasn’t unusual for the time. Fletcher’s was much like the Avalon Anchorage, Harvey’s Harbor, Tommy’s Marina, The Driftwood Marina and Marine International/Turtle Cove. They were all neighborhood marinas and, in most cases, offered a host of services that could include fuel, bait/tackle, lift/hoist services, marine supplies, snack bars, and some even had rental fishing boats. According to brother and sister “summer” neighbors on 24th Street, John Quay and Susan Brown (nee Quay),
“Mr. Fletcher rented out old wooden fishing boats with small outboard engines.” The Quays still remember running down the bulkhead to fill the gas tank for their small outboard.
The Morgan family hailed from Devon, Pa., and first vacationed at their grandmother’s house in Ocean City. It was then that their father, Dick, began to look for a summer place of their own, hoping for a family-friendly spot where they could enjoy vacations with their kids. At first, they rented a house “down the road” in Avalon in the summer of 1956. This was at a time when there was nothing but open space and lots of room for kids to run and play. The next step for Dick and family was to purchase a house on 12th Street. This would be their retreat until everyone learned how to swim. Their next move took them to 24th Street and finally, in 1963, they purchased Fletcher’s Marina.
“Dad was pretty successful investing in real estate,” remembers daughter Diane Tomlin, the one Morgan child still anchored in Cape May County.
The purchase was a bold move in 1963. Bayfront property had yet to achieve the coveted status it holds today in the real estate world. 1963 was also just a year after the great Storm of 1962 that brought the bay over bulkheads for days, flooding most bayfront properties.
Imagine today, a marina in the middle of a residential area, occupying two or three full lots, with residential neighbors on both sides. Sounds crazy, but that is exactly how it was in the 1960s and ’70s. And most neighbors were happy to have the convenience of a neighborhood marina so close for their boats and marine needs. The Morgans added bigger living quarters in 1966 and the family lived in Avalon year-round for several years.
Morgan’s Wharf was more than just a traditional marina. According to memories of neighbors, the Morgans increased boat launch capabilities, added floating docks and boat slips, and changed from the old wooden rental boats to a newer fiberglass fleet. But Morgan’s was also the island’s sailing center. As such, it sold and rented Sunfish sailboats, offered sailing lessons, and stocked parts for sailboats. It also rented surfboards and crab traps – no doubt helping to create great memories for summer visitors. “And we also sold chum – oh, the bunker.”
The family also remembered needing a Boston Whaler as a “chaser” to bring back rentals that for whatever reason didn’t make it back to the Wharf. And oh, those calls from the Avalon Police about boats on the beach. “Despite the fact that we warned everyone to stay away from the inlet, there always was an occasional boat washing up on the beach,” they remembered.
Inside the marina, Morgan’s Wharf also had a gift shop and a snack bar. But one has to wonder if the Wharf Rats maybe spent a little too much time in the snack bar. Joanne Morgan Prahl remembers her mother telling her that despite all the business over the summer, the snack bar lost $50.
Although the Morgans had no previous marina experience, Dick’s marketing expertise was limited only by his imagination as evidenced by advertisements for the Wharf printed on sails and displayed on Avalon Boulevard and the foot of 24th Street. The timing of the Wharf also coincided almost perfectly with the popularity of using printed T-shirts for advertising.
“Our T-shirts were all over town, too,” the Morgan kids remembered, “because we were all over town.”
To create an even greater demand for their sailboats and lessons Dick also conducted sailboat races in Princeton Harbor. “I’m not sure that anyone ever asked permission,” son Jack wondered after all these years.
The Morgans held an end of summer sale for all their rental sailboats each summer – much like Sullivan’s used to sell their rental bikes. The sailboat sale was just as popular as the bike sale. And the used sailboat sale also created an even greater demand the next season for their boat parts in their ship’s store. Dick also found a length of rope that he used to create the lettering “Morgan’s Wharf” on the building. The idea worked so well that the sun-imprinted name remained on the building long after the sale to the Weatherbys in 1976.
After all these years, what do the Wharf Rats remember most of their days in Avalon? The voices were mixed, but the answers were consistent: “Hanging out on the boardwalk” … “The dances on the Pier” … “Going to the movie” … “Riding our bikes around town” … “The fact that we had tons of friends and we had the best neighbors.”
Jack added that he had “the best-paying job that any 12-year old could have.” He charged $4 a half-hour for sailing lessons. One of his sisters reminded him the going rate was higher than that, “and all the money was supposed to go to Dad.” “Oh,” was his response some 40 years later.
Jack also had memories of the Avalon Gems baseball team, the Fire Lions football team, and the New Dawn surf team. Speaking of Jack, when Avalon Borough Council President John McCorristin was asked about Morgan’s Wharf because he grew up on the street, he immediately smiled and said, “Of course I remember Morgan’s Wharf. That is where I would fill the gas tank for my boat. And Jack Morgan, Jack was a good friend.”
Dick Morgan sold The Wharf in 1976. The Weatherby family inherited the sun-drenched sign for Morgan’s that would never fully wash away, but the Weatherbys’ claim to fame was that they introduced the first Jet Skis to the Seven Mile Beach in the summer of 1977. Demand for rentals was so great that kids had to reserve them days in advance – and these were the original stand-up models that took some time to learn how to ride.
Dick Morgan sailed off into the sunset, literally after the Morgans sold The Wharf. Pat Trumbower, a long-time fixture around Avalon and Dennisville remembers running into and meeting Dick on his way to the Bahamas in 1977. According to Morgan’s daughter Joanne Morgan Prahl, “Dad sailed the Intracoastal waterway in 1977 in a 14’ sloop named Toot-toot all the way to Key West. Mom and Dad met up at several spots along the way. In Key West he bought a single mast Catboat and sailed that to Green Turtle Cay in the Bahamas, which is how Trumbower caught up with him in the midst of his own voyage. “We met at several anchorages along the way and by coincidence shared our connection to Avalon. I remember that he had a real nice Cat boat and he was a very nice man.”
As for as the Wharf Rats … They went on with their lives, high school, college, and now are spread out from Wyoming to Florida to North Carolina and right here in Cape May County. And although it’s been a lot of years, there are still many people in Avalon with fond memories of the Morgan family and their Wharf. And they, too, have great memories of living, playing and working on the Seven Mile Beach.