Are you in Monmouth New Jersey and wonder where to spend some quality time? The National Guard Militia Museum is one of the best museums around. We, at Proficient Plumbing & Heating, are a member of this community and we are glad to be your guide.
About the Museum
Operating under the auspices of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veteran Affairs is the National Guard Militia Museum. The museum headquarters is located in Sea Girt borough, Monmouth County New Jersey.
The museum operates as a non-profit organization, the intention behind it is to preserve and explain New Jersey’s Military heritage. It does this by collecting, preserving, and displaying these artifacts. These artifacts hold special relevance to the history of the New Jersey Army National Guard, the New Jersey Air National Guard, and the New Jersey Naval Militia. The museum is a part and parcel of the Army museum system.
Since its establishment, the museum has focused on keeping history alive. It centers on the history and role of the New Jersey Militia and National Guard from as far back as the colonial era to the present day.
What to see at the museum
The artifacts at the museum are originals while few among them have been reproduced. By the year 1999, the museum could boast of a catalog record of 4000 artifacts. The artifacts include the Mc Clellan saddle that was designed by George B Mc Clellan. Also, the photographs, vehicles, and aircraft from World War II are on display at the museum.
Another artifact worthy of mention is the “Intelligent Whale”, the whale is an experimental hand-cranked submarine that is based on an 1863 design is also on display at the National Guard Militia Museum. The submarine could accommodate four crew members that will operate the hand-cranked propeller while traveling at four knots underwater.
The Intelligent Whale had been at the Washington Naval yard since the year 1968 before it was moved to the museum in Sea Girt in 1999 and has been there ever since.
Also, the museum is known as the center for U.S veterans’ oral history projects. The project interviews and records war veterans as they speak about their military experience. These interviews are recorded, documented, and are available on videotapes and DVD plates for the purpose of being reviewed by researchers and possibly scholars.
In the year 2019, the center could account for at least six hundred interviews with war veterans that served in World War II and other conflicts through operation “Iraqi freedom”.
Visitors to the museum get to view the outdoor military vehicles and aircraft collections, they also get to see a civil war cannon that is mounted on a carriage.
Points of interest next to the museum
- Sea Girt Lighthouse
- Sea Girt Beach
- The Parker House
- Army National Guard Recruiter
- Sea Girt Library
- Sea Girt Public Schools
Here’s the map for the National Guard Militia Museum:
As you can see, the National Guard Militia Museum is about 20 minutes from our head office in Brick, New Jersey!
