Now Main Street's whitewashed windows
and vacant stores...
Now Main Street's whitewashed windows
and vacant stores...
My Hometown, Born in the USA, (1984)
Main Street doesn't have any whitewashed windows any more. Actually, it's looking pretty good. This is my hometown--Freehold, New Jersey. It also happens to be Bruce Springsteen's hometown. I used to live two doors down from him, but I don't really remember it--I was 1 and he was 17. Main Street may have changed since Bruce's glory days, but a lot of other things around here have remained virtually the same. Scroll through this page for a virtual tour of some of the places in Monmouth County, NJ that shaped Bruce's life. Click on the text next to any of the pictures for a full-sized, unedited photo.
quoted in Dave Marsh's Born to Run (1979)
This South Street home is the last of three Freehold houses Bruce lived in. The Springsteens lived in the right-hand side of the house--mostly hidden in this picture. The gas station, now a convenience store, is barely visible through the tree. The first house I lived in is two doors further down South Street--to the left of the blue house partly in the picture.
quoted in Dave Marsh's Born to Run (1979)
Just one block down South Street, St. Rose of Lima was the site where Bruce's early education took place. As you can see from the quote, it wasn't always a positive experience. Bruce also attended St. Rose Catholic Church, and has occasionally donates items for church fundraisers. (One of my sisters won an autographed copy of the live box set in a church raffle.) The entrance pictured above leads to the gymnasium -- the site of the November 1997 benefit concert. (My seat -- Row KK, Seat 8.)
I broke all the rules, strafed my old high school, never once gave
thought to landing...
Growing Up, Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ (1973)
After his experience in a parochial elementary school, going to a public high school must have been a bit of a relief. It didn't improve his grades, though, since by that time Bruce was more interested in learning a new guitar lick than whatever was being taught in Freehold Boro High School. He managed to earn his diploma in 1967. He was a freshman in 1965 when racial tensions exploded, as recounted in "My Hometown." When I graduated in 1982, Bruce was as big a local legend as you could imagine.
Sparks fly on E Street as the boy prophets walk it handsome and
hot...
The E Street Shuffle, The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle (1973)
After high school, Bruce's life shifted to Asbury Park. His parents had moved to California, but Bruce wanted to stay at the Shore and pursue his music. After a short stint at community college, he gave up school to play full-time in what was then a raging band scene centered in the bars of Asbury Park. Southside Johnny, Miami Steve, and the rest of the E streeters hung out and jammed in the late-night clubs that dotted the shore. Today, the bar scene at the shore isn't what it was. The Stone Pony, the most famous Asbury Park rock bar, is no more. The building still stands, but it's now a dance club.
D'ja hear the cops finally busted Madame Marie for telling fortunes
better than they do...
4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy), The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle (1973)
While their nights were spent in the bars, the E Streeters' days were passed on the boardwalk. It was never as extensive as the ones in Atlantic City, Seaside Heights, or Wildwood, but Asbury Park's boardwalk once had enough attractions to bring in out-of-town tourists. Now, Madame Marie is about all that's left from the world described in Sandy. The building at the end of the boardwalk is Convention Hall, which hosted Bruce's December 1997 Asbury Park shows.
Well, that's all we have for now. Check back later & we'll have some more sites to visit. Until then, KEEP ROCKIN'!
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Mail comments, questions, etc. to the author: Jim Sweetman, Arlington VA. Conceptual, design, and all-around assistance by Sheryl Stein.
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Copyright 1996 Jim Sweetman. All Rights Reserved.---Last Updated October 26, 1998.
I grew up in this dumpy, two story ,two family house next door to
this gas station...Ducky Slattery's Sinclair station. 
In
the third grade, a nun stuffed me in a garbage can under her desk because,
she said, that's where I belonged. 