by Mary-Ellen Mess
When I moved here more than 30 years ago, Red Bank was a small town that had fallen victim to the exodus of stores and customers to highway shopping malls. Many storefronts on Broad Street were empty. Most of the remaining downtown merchants had been here for decades: Clayton & Magee clothiers, Miller Shoes, Carroll’s Stationary, and Steinbach’s drew patrons from throughout the county in Red Bank’s heyday. My in-laws, who grew up in Scranton, PA, were thrilled to find Woolworth’s and Fannie Farmer Candies here and my mom was amazed there were no parking meters on Broad Street!
Fast forward to 2020 and Red Bank is trendy and “hip.” Many of the old buildings, businesses, and families are long gone along with the “Dead” Bank moniker. But you can still catch a glimpse of old-time Red Bank by perusing issues of the Red Bank Register on our library website. There you will find ads for local businesses, notices of social events and tidbits about the most mundane happenings in Monmouth County.
The good old days also had a fair share of conflict, crime, and skullduggery as chronicled in the pages of the Register. The cost of real estate was astounding. An egg-throwing contest won by a young Gertrude Ederle, a local performance by Count Basie and His Orchestra featuring Billie Holiday, and rabbits wandering on Hudson Avenue are all found to be of note in the Red Bank Register, published from 1878 until 1991.
Also on the RBPL website is the Historic Red Bank Walking Tour which includes a map and legend of notable sites around town. You may let your fingers do the walking online or use the interactive map to guide an actual walk around town.
I may never find out the story behind the enigmatic Root Beer & Checkers Club above Mickey’s Donuts at the end of Broad Street. But it’s nice to know that the “good old days” are never more than a few clicks away if you know where to look.
Working at the RBPL is a second career for Mary-Ellen, who spent 30 years managing youth programs in Newark, NJ. In anticipation of her retirement from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ, Mary-Ellen returned to school and earned a MLIS in 2013. A part-time Reference Librarian at RBPL, she resides in Red Bank with her husband. Mary-Ellen considers herself fortunate to have raised two sons in Red Bank, a diverse community with great public schools.