Bradevelt is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located within the Morganville section of Marlboro Township, in Monmouth County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. County Route 520 travels through Bradevelt, while Route 79 is located west of the community. The area consists of a mix of businesses along the two main roads, farmland, and the remains of the

Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital was a public hospital in Marlboro Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, which was operated by the State of New Jersey. Construction of the hospital began in 1929. It first opened in early 1931, with ...

which is being converted to Big Brook Park. The former

Monmouth County Agricultural Railroad Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. ...

(a portion of which is now part of the

Henry Hudson Trail The Henry Hudson Trail is a rail trail in western and northern Monmouth County, New Jersey. The trail is named for Henry Hudson, who explored the harbor at Atlantic Highlands and the Raritan Bayshore coastline in the early 1600s. The trail is no ...

) runs north and south through Bradevelt. Early to mid 1800s the area was called Hulsetown.

Agriculture

Produce was shipped to many locations nationally. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' describes a harvest time observation that at one point, as many as 100 wagons and horses were in line waiting to unload at the train station. However, the area was also known for Rome, Paragon and Stark apples, which won awards as well as peaches, corn and amber wheat. In 1908, "the largest ear of corn ever grown in New Jersey... was picked"—it contained twenty-six rows of large corn on it. In addition to farming produce, the area also hosted most other livestock commonly found on a farm. At various times, the area was known for turkey production and other poultry, boar,

Berkshire pig The Berkshire is an English breed of pig. It originated in the county of Berkshire, for which it is named. It is normally black, with some white on the snout, on the lower legs, and on the tip of the tail. It is a rare breed in the United Kin ...

s, calves, cows, Khedive Bulls, horses and ads to sell them were common in local livestock magazines. Some years were bad for the farmers, Army worm were heavily infesting the farms in the area in 1924 and then in 1925, the area was heavily infested with

Japanese beetle The Japanese beetle (''Popillia japonica'') is a species of scarab beetle. The adult measures in length and in width, has iridescent copper-colored elytra and a green thorax and head. It is not very destructive in Japan (where it is control ...

. The

infestation Infestation is the state of being invaded or overrun by pests or parasites. It can also refer to the actual organisms living on or within a host. Terminology In general, the term "infestation" refers to parasitic diseases caused by animals s ...

was so bad that the township of Marlboro, and specifically Bradevelt was placed under a

Quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

. All produce sold had to be certified by the state lab in Riverton where it had to be inspected free of Japanese Beetles. This had a dramatic negative effect on selling produce that year.

Structures

School

There was a two-story red school house on Route 520 in Bradevelt re-purposed from a house in 1810, which was torn down in 1913 and replaced for 1914 school year. In this school, future U.S. Vice President

Garret Hobart Garret Augustus Hobart (June 3, 1844 – November 21, 1899) was the 24th Vice President of the United States, serving from 1897 until his death in 1899. He was the sixth American vice president to die in office. Prior to serving as vice pre ...

as well as his father Addison Hobart and future Assemblyman John D. Honce were teachers. Frank Dugan came from this school and later became important to the educational system in Marlboro; a school is named after him.

Psychiatric hospital

In 1928, construction of a

was begun. The main entrance to the hospital was on route 520 in Bradevelt. The hospital transferred 500 patients from Graystone Hospital in 1931 when it opened. The 509 acres purchased by the state for the hospital grounds were purchased for $76,000. It was reported that the houses and farms which were obtained in 1928 were considered "very old". Some of the structured destroyed were built before the Revolutionary War.

Post office

Bradevelt had a post office. In 1865, the mail was handled by Patrick Carton who lost an arm in the Civil War. Mail delivery started as twice a day. In 1929, it was changed to once daily in the evening; then changed to morning delivery. However, the population did not support a separate dispatch and the Post Office was closed in February 1932. Mail for the area was sent to the main Marlboro office.

Historic churches

Two historic churches serve Bradevelt. Both Located on Route 520, the first is St. Gabriel's Chappel. Built by Fr. Frederick Kivelitz in 1878, the church served the community until a larger church was built in Marlboro. St. Gabriel's Church is known for an annual carnival. In 1949, the carnival featured the Yankees baseball team featuring

Phil Rizzuto Philip Francis Rizzuto (September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to th ...

and

Snuffy Stirnweiss George Henry "Snuffy" Stirnweiss (October 26, 1918 – September 15, 1958) was an American professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1943 and 1952, spending most of his MLB career with the New York Ya ...

. The second church was started in 1709, as the "First Reformed Church of Freehold", but in 1931 changed its name to "Old Brick Reformed Church". In 1826, the church reconstructed the building and erected the present edifice.

Train station

One of seven railroad station stops along the twelve mile railroad line from Matawan to

Freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple * Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England * Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice ...

was located by Route 520 in Bradevelt. Potatoes & Marl were a main crop and product for the area. In 1914, 225,000 barrels of potatoes were shipped from the Bradevelt station. The depot burned down in May 1926. Following the fire, a rail car was used for the station agent and ticket sales.

Other features

Illegal alcohol stills were very common in the Bradevelt area during the prohibition. In some cases, the stills would explode causing barn and house fires. Found in a Marl pit in Bradevelt was evidence that New Jersey had chestnuts growing 60 million years ago. This was after a well preserved specimen was found and identified by the Yale Forest School. The area was known for good fishing on the Hop Brook.

Trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

Pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

, pickerel and

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

were known to be caught on this stream."Some Good Fishing Spots", Asbury Park Press, March 9, 1914, Page 10

References

{{Monmouth County, New Jersey Marlboro Township, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in Monmouth County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in New Jersey