BRIELLE 
The Borough of Brielle is located in southern Monmouth County, New Jersey along the Manasquan River. It was formed as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 10, 1919 from portions of Wall Township.
Geography
Brielle is bordered to the north and east by the borough of Manasquan, to the west by Wall Township and to the south by the borough of Point Pleasant Beach across the Manasquan River. Route 35 runs through the middle of the town and Route 70 runs along Brielle's western border.
The town is primarily a residential community of single homes, with a few condominiums. There are several businesses located along Union Avenue and Higgins Avenue and some marinas along the Manasquan River.
Brielle features approximately 4 miles of waterfrontage along the Manasquan River, Glimmerglass, and Debbie's Creek all of which are salt water and tidal. Brielle's borders extend to an 8-acre island in the Manasquan River. It's rumored that Robert Louis Stevenson, who vacationed here, may have been inspired by the island; hence, the island takes its name from the novel "Treasure Island."
Government
Brielle is governed under the borough form of New Jersey municipal government by a mayor and a six-member Borough Council. The mayor is elected to a four-year term of office and only votes can break a tie. The members of the Borough Council are elected to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year. Brielle is in the Fourth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 11th Legislative District.
Education
Brielle Elementary School is a public school that serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
For grades 9-12, public school students attend Manasquan High School in Manasquan, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Manasquan Public School.
History
Archaeological excavations along what is now Birch Drive reveal temporary Lanape Native American settlements. The Lenape practiced farming in other parts of Monmouth County much of the year, and they visited this wooded area for hunting and fishing.
The area was originally part of Shrewsbury Township and the first settlers were primarily farmers, and the area became know as Union Landing. In colonial times, salt was an important preservative, and before the American Revolutionary War, most of it was imported from Great Britain. The Union Salt Works opened around the outbreak of the war, and on April 5, 1778, several British Loyalists attacked and burned the salt works and other buildings. A year later, the salt works reopened and continued to operate through the duration of the war.
Early in the 19th century, Shrewsbury Township was divided, and the area became part of Howell Township which was further divided in 1851, when the area became part of Wall Township. On July 7, 1881, a group of businessmen purchased several acres of land and formed the Brielle Land Association with the intention of building vacation homes. The quaint riverside charm of the area reminded one of the developers of another pastoral town on a river which he had visited, Brielle, in the Netherlands, near Rotterdam.
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