West Long Branch

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In the past, our community has been known by various names; Hoppersville, from the Hopper family; Mechanicsville, 1851 map; Branchburg, 1873 map, likely due to its proximity to the long branch of the Shrewsbury River. An 1889 map shows it as West Long Branch P.O. and West Long Branch School district.  In 1908, the people of the West Long Branch section of Eatontown became unhappy with paying taxes to Eatontown and not getting what they thought was a fair return.

 A request was made that the West Long Branch section be separated from Eatontown.  The Township of Eatontown strongly resisted since there were several large estates in the West Long Branch section that were a source of considerable taxes. The Freeholders authorized an election and on May 5, 1908 the election was held in West Long Branch. The results as recorded in the Advertiser, an Eatontown newspaper, were: 163 for and 73 against separation. On Tuesday, June 16, 1908, the West Long Branch section of Eatontown Township became the independent Borough of West Long Branch. The following Monday, Monroe V. Poole, Edward M. Beach, Frank S. Brand, Thomas W. Cooper, Charles A. Poole, Thaddeus Schenk, and John H. Sutphen met for the first council meeting. Thomas W. Cooper was elected Council president

West Long Branch has a population of 8,258. Monmouth University is a private undergraduate and graduate school located within its borders. Within Monmouth University are two national historic sites: Woodrow Wilson Hall and the Guggenheim Library.