Morgan Memories – The Robert E. Lee Inn
- Painting of the Robert E. Lee Inn by Snookie Weineger Which Used to Hang in the Robert E. Lee Inn. Photo Courtesy of Debbi Jackson.
Those of us who grew up in post Great Depression Morgan knew it as The Robert E. Lee Inn. It was located on the northwest side of the Cheesequake Creek channel where the creek emptied into Raritan Bay. Fewer of us knew it was previously called Cady’s House of Sea Food when it was built some time during or before the 1920’s by James H. Cady – including his grandchildren. My mother knew it however. I found out in an odd way which I’ll cover in a bit.
- Alfred S. Landis Picture Post Card of Cady’s House of Sea Food Circa 1920s/30s.
Morgan Beach in the Fall of 1938. L-R: Rita Casey, Marjorie Thalmann (My Mom), and Betty Cady, Youngest Daughter of James Cady. Source: Marjorie James Collection.
A fact I learned recently was that a co-worker of my mother’s at Rutgers University Bookstore, the lady I knew when I went there as Betty B., was more than just a co-worker to my mother. Betty was (and remains) a life long friend to my Mom. When my mom was a child, her parents would take my uncle and her to Morgan Beach in the summer starting sometime in the 1920’s. They were among the hordes of people from the northern NJ cities who would flock to the Jersey Shore in the summertime. Morgan Beach was essentially the first beach they would encounter while going southward and was conveniently located near a railroad station. The first thing my mother would do when she got to Morgan Beach was to cross over the drawbridge (shown on the postcard) and go see her friend Betty Cady. When I told my mom about the Cady’s post card, she nonchalantly said, “Oh yes, it was originally called Cady’s”. That is also when she told me that her close friend Betty’s maiden name was Betty Cady. Of course I was floored that all my life that information was known within my family yet I had no clue.
So the beloved Robert E. Lee Inn started out as Cady’s. Built sometime before or during the 1920’s by James H. Cady in the area known at the time as Morgan Station – due to its proximity to the railroad station in Morgan where what is now known as Old Spye Road crossed the New York & Long Branch Railroad – it sadly was lost by Mr. Cady during the Great Depression. Mr. Cady, per his grandson Peter, later opened up a small business further north on the side of the road off of Route 35 toward Perth Amboy called Cady’s Clam Bar. He had a smoke house out back where he smoked whiting, eels and other fish and lived in a small place near by. When the Cady family owned what later became the Robert E. Lee Inn, they lived on the upper floors. At this time, Morgan was rather remote and had very little in the way of a year round population. The bungalows at Morgan Beach were mostly seasonal. Most of the present day Morgan residential housing came later during the housing boom of post World War II but in the 1920s, near as I can tell with information I have found thus far, most residences were mainly on the streets nearest the bay or along present day South Pine Avenue. It is rather cool that the Cady family does still have and use some of the original tables, plates, dishes and chairs from the restaurant!
Thus far I don’t really have any information regarding the Inn portion of the building. I know the building contained a restaurant and a bar. Debbi J. is a long time Morgan resident who used to live in one of the World War II Army surplus barracks which were acquired then placed next to the Robert E. Lee Inn (REL) by then owner Don MacRae. The barracks were originally intended for summer rentals for people from New York City per Theodore Douglas, Mr. MacRae’s grandson. Later, people lived year round in them. Debbi and her mother worked at “The Lee”; Debbi eventually married one of their co-workers. Debbi provided us with the photo showing most of the painting of the Robert E. Lee Inn; there used to be post cards of this painting. The painting was created by the daughter (or daughter-in-law) of previous owners of the REL, Dick and Gladys Neubold (please let me know if I got the spelling correct on this) who went by the nickname “Snookie”. Let’s call her the original Snookie of the Jersey Shore! In the painting you will see two levels of windows along the channel. Debbie wrote me that she “was told the tavern was downstairs, the second floor was a banquet hall, the third floor was where the owners lived, and there was also an apartment on the fourth floor. One day supposedly a nor’easter flooded the bar and that is when it was moved to the second floor where the bar and restaurant existed until the day it burned down.” In my childhood time in Morgan, boaters from all over the area, including New York, would stop at The Robert E. Lee Inn for lunch or dinner. Local kids, including my brother, Doug, would work the small docks on the channel tying up the boats for tips. Doug also learned the fine art of “shucking” clams and oysters at the Robert E. Lee Inn. Shucking uses a roundish blunt knife to first cut open the mollusk then to separate the muscles and soft tissue of the creature from the shell. This was done just before being served to the dining patrons so they could have clams or oysters on the half shell.
- Front of Cady’s House of Sea Food with Staff, Circa 1920s, Perhaps Showing Opening Day. Mr. James H. Cady is on the Left. Source: Marjorie James Collection.
Our school bus stopped there to pick up kids who lived either in the REL or in the bungalows (i.e., the Army surplus barracks). I recall one named Joe from my Jesse Selover Elementary School days lived in the Inn and another named Dave from my Sayreville War Memorial High School days who lived in a bungalow. Since the opening of the current draw bridge across Cheesequake Creek during World War II and the corresponding reconfiguration of the roads in support of the bridge, access to the property can only be gained via Route 35 south. Sadly, as had happened to some of the buildings of nearby Henry Luhrs Sea Skiff, Inc. (see posting from January 10, 2010) and the Old Spye Inn previously located on the other side of the railroad tracks, the Robert E. Lee Inn burnt to the ground one fateful morning taking with it both Snookie’s Robert E. Lee Inn painting and a giant painting of a riverboat named the Robert E. Lee. According to my records, this fire occurred in the early morning hours of April 22, 1986 (though I see another reference which indicated the fire occurred in February). The News Tribune reported it was a “3:45 am fire” and that the structure was “79 years old” (The Star-Ledger indicated the building was a “70-year-old Sayreville restaurant and bar” at the time of the fire). Though at the time the owner, Charles Ludwig, hoped to rebuild the structure fate did not concur. Mr. Ludwig lost the property in 1991 and died two years later. During the mid to latter 2000’s, the Borough of Sayreville, through the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency (SERA), tried to redevelop the 4 acre property along with 8 “riparian” acres intended for a marina on the west side boardering the western jetty. Per the Suburban Newspaper from November 8, 2007, three companies submitted statements of interest to SERA. Hopefully this is still an active project. At the time, this was being lead by Mr. Raniero Renny Travisano whom I remember from local politics and the Morgan Hose and Chemical Company (see posting from October 3, 2009) before I moved to California.
How this possible redevelopment fits in with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s report of contaminated areas with extremely high levels of lead around the western jetty near Cheesequake Creek and at the small beach area north of the jetty in Sayreville (i.e., the Robert E. Lee Inn site), I don’t know (see posting from December 30, 2010). As a minimum, it will likely delay any redevelopment plans for a number of years.
- Cheesequake Creek Side of Cady’s House of Sea Food for Some Special Event Circa 1920’s. Source: Marjorie James Collection.
From what I have found so far, here is the list of owners. If you have any further info on the correctness of this list, please contact me!
- James Cady
- Don MacRae
- John Millroy
- Richard E. Millroy (John’s son)
- Dick and Gladys Neubold
- Charles Ludwig (Ramble Realty Co)
The September 23, 2003 issue of the Newark Star-Ledger indicates that “The Robert E. Lee was named for the property’s original owner, Robert E. Lee Morgan, who bought it in 1904 and constructed a marina and an inn.” I don’t know if that is true. I do know that Robert E. Lee Morgan descended from the original Morgan family.
- Cheesequake Creek Side of Cady’s House of Sea Food for Some Special Event Circa 1920’s. Source: Marjorie James Collection.
Note that Diane Norek Harrison, who writes the “Remembering the Past” columns for the Atom Tabloid & Citizen-Gazette website, indicated that Cady’s Dining Hall is listed as a 1922 Morgan business. I don’t know if Cady’s Dining Hall is the same business as Cady’s House of Sea Food but I am certain they both were James Cady enterprises.
Looking at Cady’s or Robert E. Lee Inn from Morgan Beach - 1939. L-R: Marjorie Thalmann (My Mom), Betty Adams, Dorothy Thalmann (Mom’s Cousin), and Rita Casey. Source: Marjorie James Collection.
There is an excellent photo of the Robert E. Lee Inn available for purchase which would look great in a frame in your house or office. This photo was taken by Joe Tanski shortly before the fire. Joe and his wife Gail have an excellent photography studio off South Pine Avenue in Morgan. Not only do they do weddings and portraits, they offer some phenomenal images of the Raritan Bay area. I especially like the one of the Great Beds Lighthouse (see posting from November 1, 2009). When you end up buying one of the Robert E. Lee, please let them know that you read about it on this web site (if enough people buy one, Joe said he’ll send me one!).
A full black and white image of Snookie’s painting of the Robert E. Lee Inn can be seen on this Suburban Newspaper link.
Certainly what is written here is only partial information about The Robert E. Lee Inn. If you have any additional information or corrections please don’t hesitate to let us know either via a comment below or the forums section at the top of the web site. The great thing about a web site it the ability to update it.
Robert E. Lee Inn from Cliff Avenue September 1978.
All That Remains of the Robert E. Lee Inn Circa 2008. Photo Courtesy of Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine and Navteq.
On a final note, Betty was the one who told my mother there was an opening at the RU Bookstore and that my mother should apply. This came in mighty handy when I went to RU since as a dependent of auniversity employee, there was no tuition – just some student fees. Thank you, Betty!
