Interlaken

History

The area that is now Interlaken was purchased in 1667 by Gavin Drummond from the Lenape Native Americans. It was later part of Ocean Township, which had seceded from Shrewsbury Township in 1849 and included at the time present-day Eatontown, Neptune Township, Neptune City, Avon-by-the-Sea, Bradley Beach, Asbury Park, Allenhurst, Deal, Long Branch, West Long Branch, Loch Arbour, Monmouth Beach, Sea Bright, and Oceanport, along with Interlaken itself. Dr. Francis Weld, a Boston physician, bought a tract and named it Interlaken Farm, after Interlaken, a peninsula in Switzerland situated between two lakes, that they had just visited, which was similar to the borough's location between two sections of Deal Lake. Weld established the Interlaken Land Company in 1890 to turn his farm into a residential community with avenues named after English lakes and cross streets named after the islands in the Hebrides in the Irish Sea. While the initial effort did not succeed, the Stormfelz-Lovely-Neville Company was hired in 1905 to continue the building project, and the community began its growth.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 0.39 square miles (1.01 km2), including 0.33 square miles (0.86 km2) of land and 0.06 square miles (0.15 km2) of water (14.62%). Deal Lake covers and is overseen by the Deal Lake Commission, which was established in 1974. Seven municipalities border the lake, accounting for of shoreline, also including Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Deal, Loch Arbour, Neptune Township and Ocean Township.

Race & ethnicity