| |
|
History
& Folklore |
The strong genealogical and historical research
collection of the Ocean County Library is housed
in the Bishop Building next door to Headquarters
in Toms River. The building was constructed
in 1941 as a public library for Toms River,
using the accrued assets of Nathaniel Holmes
Bishop III, a local author and cranberry-grower.
Mr. Bishop moved to Ocean County from Massachusetts
after the Civil War and as an author and sportsman,
became known for his books about the Barnegat
Bay sneak box and his travels in a "paper
canoe". Both Bishop and his wife, Mary
Ball, advocated the founding of a public library
for Toms River and provided in their wills for
the purchase of land and subsequent design of
a spacious brick Georgian building. Since the
library opened, it has served both the local
citizens and those of the county when Dover
Township joined the Ocean County Library system
in the 1970s. Since 1997, the building also
includes a computer laboratory to provide instruction
in the use of the newest of information retrieval
systems, the computer.
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
