Oceanport, NJ: Community Guide

Local Knowledge. Shore Results. Updated October 2026

A summer evening in Oceanport might mean a few races at Monmouth Park. The thoroughbred track has been on its current site since 1946, it hosts the Haskell Invitational every July, and it's still the borough's largest employer and largest taxpayer.

First, a correction about the name. Oceanport is a river town. It sits on the South Shrewsbury River, and it isn't on the Atlantic at all. Even some of the borough's roughly 6,000 residents don't always know that.

The name has a long history behind it. The town started as Peggy's Point, then became Eaton Town Dock, the shipping port for Eatontown Township. After that it was Ocean Port, and finally Oceanport when the borough formally separated from Eatontown Township in April 1920. Industrialist James P. Allaire built a wharf here in the 1830s to ship goods from his ironworks, though the dock was already here before he arrived. The land's first owner was a woman. Sarah Reape inherited her husband William's share of the 1665 Monmouth Patent after he died in 1670, and she went on to become one of the largest landowners in Monmouth County.

I'm Matt Quinn. I was born and raised in Ocean County, and I went to Monmouth University, living in Long Branch and Elberon during college. Before real estate I worked construction, served as a police officer, worked as a health inspector, and spent more than ten years as Manchester Township's Chief Code Enforcement Officer. I also hold a zoning officer certification. I've seen what's behind the walls of a lot of shore houses. I'll tell you what a town is really like, and I'll tell you if it's the wrong fit for you.

On This Page

• Oceanport at a Glance
• What Makes Oceanport Different
• Is Oceanport the Right Fit for You?
• What It's Really Like to Live in Oceanport
• Schools & Everyday Life
• What to Know Before Making the Move
• Common Questions About Living in Oceanport
• A Local Perspective on Living Here
• Thinking About Moving to Oceanport?
• Homes, Market Report & Nearby Towns

Oceanport at a Glance

Oceanport covers about 3 square miles of land along the South Shrewsbury River. It borders Eatontown, Long Branch, Little Silver and West Long Branch, and it shares water borders with Monmouth Beach and Rumson. The borough holds roughly 400 of the former Fort Monmouth Army base's 1,126 acres, more than a third of the total. Eatontown and Tinton Falls split the rest. Monmouth Park Racetrack sits on the western edge. So the town has two sides: a historic horse-racing track, and a big piece of former military land that's being redeveloped.

The fact buyers should know first: Monmouth Park is Oceanport's largest taxpayer and largest employer. Sports betting is now part of the track's business, and locally its success is treated as a civic priority. It matters to the town's finances as much as it matters as an attraction.

What Makes Oceanport Different

Is Oceanport the Right Fit for You?

Oceanport works if you want a small, historic river town with a couple of big anchors: Monmouth Park, with its racing and sports betting, and the changing former Fort Monmouth site. You're also close to Long Branch, Red Bank and the rest of eastern Monmouth County for work and a social life. It's a good match if the Fort Monmouth redevelopment interests you. Neighboring Eatontown is going through a similar change.

It's a harder fit if you want oceanfront property. Oceanport sits on the Shrewsbury River, so make sure that matches what you're picturing before the name gives you the wrong idea. Living near Monmouth Park also means seasonal traffic and crowds on race days and during big events like the Haskell Invitational.

What It's Really Like to Live in Oceanport

Daily life here is small-town. You've got local dining like Blu Grotto, family outings at Bluegrass Mini Golf, and a community that cares about its history. Residents and the local historical society have worked to document it, and they planned events for the borough's 2020 centennial even with the pandemic getting in the way.

The Fort Monmouth redevelopment is changing daily life for people who live near it. New mixed-use development is slowly reshaping a section of town that was federal military property, closed to the public, for decades.

Schools & Everyday Life

Younger students attend Wolf Hill Elementary School for pre-kindergarten through 4th grade, then move to Maple Place Middle School for 5th through 8th. High schoolers go to Shore Regional High School in West Long Branch. Shore Regional also serves Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach and West Long Branch, so Oceanport students get a bigger high school than the borough's small district could support on its own.

What to Know Before Making the Move

Common Questions About Living in Oceanport

A Local Perspective on Living Here

Longtime residents and local historians describe Oceanport by how often it has adapted. Over three centuries the town has shifted its economic base several times, from farming and shipping to horse racing to a military installation, and now to redevelopment. People here point to that habit of adjusting to changing times as the town's defining character more than any one identity.

Homes, Market Report & Nearby Towns