Four generations on the same corner
The Thomas family has owned and operated Charlie's Bar in Somers Point since 1944 — first across the street, and since 1953 in a building that has been a general store, a post office, an ice cream parlour and a trolley stop.
- 1896The building goes up on Shore Road
- 1944Charlie Thomas opens the tap room
- 1953Charlie's moves to 800 Shore Rd
- TodayThe fourth generation behind the bar
The Thomas family has owned and operated Charlie's Bar in Somers Point since 1944. Originally located across the street on New Jersey Avenue, the business moved to its current location in 1953.
Built in 1896, the building was a store in the early 1900s. Throughout the years, parts of it served as the post office, an ice cream parlour, and the A&P General Store. During the 1940s, while Charlie's operated a tap room in the front, the back section — where the dining room is today — was Gerety's Market, Burger Hut and Mother's Kitchen at various times.
At the turn of the century the Suburban Trolley Line turned onto New Jersey Avenue and ran right alongside the building. An ice house and barn out back housed the horses for an ice truck.
The building has changed a great deal since. As the early photographs show, a veranda-style porch was enclosed to become part of the dining room and tavern. The façade and interior have been updated many times over.
Charlie's has been part of Somers Point's landscape and community roots since 1944. Today it is both a restaurant and a tavern — an evolution from those early tavern roots across the street. Ownership has passed through four generations of the Thomas family, and we hope to carry the legacy on a good while yet.
Cheers.
