The brothers Risley – David, Reese and Howard – will forever be entwined with the early history of Stone Harbor.

The South Jersey bar scene might have peaked in the mid- to late-1970s, a peak that probably can never be duplicated. The drinking age in New Jersey was 18 at the time and the Jersey Shore from Margate to Diamond Beach was home to some of the biggest and hottest nightclubs in the Delaware Valley. There were lines every night of the week on the Seven Mile Beach at the Rock Room, Fred’s, and Jack’s Place.

Since this month marks the 50th anniversary of Avalon’s only pharmacy moving from its original location on 21st Street to the corner of 28th Street and Dune Drive – the site today of Hassis’ Men’s Shop – we thought it might be fun to look back at some of the Keens behind Keen’s Pharmacy.

The Fourth of July was always a special day on the Seven Mile Beach. Over the years it has meant lots of things: fireworks at 80th Street in Stone Harbor, and if you go way back, it was fireworks at the 8th Street baseball field in Avalon; pool races at the Windrift; and motorboat races in Avalon’s Princeton Harbor in the 1930s.

Here are a couple of Stone Harbor Beach Patrol lifeguards in front of their lifeboat and the Stone Harbor boardwalk. Yes, that’s a boardwalk! And can you see that fancy lifeguard stand in the background? This is probably around 1930.