At the tail end of the Great Depression in 1938, local aviation enthusiast Ed Brown acquired 700 acres of farmland from the widow of newspaper columnist and real estate investor Arthur Brisbane.  Mr. Brown cleared the land which would become his airstrip.  After serving as a US Navy pilot in WWII, Ed returned home to grow his vision of an airport.  Businesses both aviation related and not took up residence at the airfield. The property was at one time a drive-in/fly-in movie theater and a child’s amusement park with a train ride, and also housed skydiving companies and the infamous banner towing fleet that flew their ads up and down the Jersey Shore.

Monmouth Airport Circa 1956 (Allaire Airport)

Over its history, Monmouth Airport has seen its share of VIP activity.  It has served as a stopping point for presidents, vice presidents, movie stars, and famous bands, artists, and musicians. Jersey native Bruce Springsteen actually used one of the hangars for secret rehearsals with the E-Street Band and regularly flies in and out of the airport as it is only 15 minutes from his home in nearby Colts Neck.