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Lavallette Municipal Building

 

Lavallette Municipal Building

The Lavallette Police Department, Lavallette Municipal Offices, Building Department, Municipal Court and Beach Badge Office(Off Season) are located in the Municipal Building.

The Police Department is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

The Lavallette Post Office with hours Monday - Friday 8:30am-12pm and 12:30pm to 4pm and Saturday 9am-12pm. With 24 hour access to post office boxes.

Municipal Offices
Administration, Monday - Friday 8am-4pm
Building Department Monday - Friday 9am-3pm
Municipal Court, Monday - Friday 1pm-4pm.

Lavallette Municipal Offices are closed on the following holidays:

New Year’s Day	Martin Luther King Day	Lincoln’s Day	Presidents' Day
Good Friday	Memorial Day	Fourth of July	Labor Day
Columbus Day	Election Day	Veteran’s Day	Thanksgiving Day
	Day after Thanksgiving	Christmas Day
Holidays that fall on a Saturday will be observed on Friday. Holidays that fall on a Sunday will be observed on Monday.

Directory

First Floor

Police Department
Administration, Finance, Taxes and Utility Payments
Beach Badge Office - Off season
Lavallette Post Office

Second Floor

Construction, Zoning / Code Enforcement, Planning Board
Municipal Court
Council Chambers
Rest Rooms - Available from 8am-4pm.

 

Municipal Drop Box

Payment Drop Box

Located in the lobby of the Municipal Building underneath the building directory.

Related Pages: Municipal Court, Clerks Office/ Registrar of Vital Statistics, Tax Office, Electric Billing, Water & Sewer Department, Building, Zoning, & Planning Board

 

Historical displays in the Municipal Building

The new municipal building is host to borough historical displays in various stages of completion with more projects still in the works. With the with the help of the memorabilia committee, the municipal building is being decorated with historical items and displays depicting the history of the town. Some of the displays are pictured below. Check back, as more projects are completed information on this page will be updated.

 

Town Quilt

The quilt was designed by Mrs. Carolyn Ham depicting notable Lavallette landmarks. The quilt measures 72” x 108” with 24 different appliquéd squares. The reverse side of the quilt was designed and created by: Alfreda Yochum, Gertrude Jorgensen, Ruth Thomas, Marie Thomas and Trudy Turiello. The quilt is now on display in the Lavallette Municipal Building.


Quilt Squares and Quilter (top left to bottom right)
Brackman Brothers Lumber Co. – Carolyn Ham
Bay Sunset – Carolyn Ham
Ocean Sand Dunes – Carolyn Ham
Lavallette Borough Hall – Carolyn Ham
Ocean Boardwalk – Margie Meyers
Lavallette Yacht Club – Verena Kusma
Lavallette Water Tower – Ann Johnson
First Church of St Bonaventure – Kathy Henry
Lavallette Train Station – Adele Arnesen
Lavallette Police Station – Elsie Pecci
Stevens’ House – Nancy Hoffman
Lavallette Post Office – Pamela Turiello
Lavallette Union Church – Helen Hoffman
First School House – Annette Lupshevicz
Charles Hankins Boat Builders – Anna O. Hankins
Memorial Park; Honor Roll – Jane Bieniek
West Point Island Bridge – Carolyn Ham
Lavallette Hotel – Marion Woodring
Bay Dock and Pavilion – Lorraine Storck
Faith Lutheran Church – Edith Kunzelman
Lavallette First Aid Building – Alice Plosica
Ocean Pound Boats – Carolyn Ham
Lavallette Elementary School – Carolyn Ham
Lavallette Fire Co. – Joan Brice

On display in the foyer on the second floor of the municipal building.

 

Admiral LaVallette and the USS LaVallette DD-448

Flag flown on the USS-LaVallette - Portrait of Admiral Elie A. F. LaVallette - Model ship of the USS Lavallette DD-448

The Borough of Lavallette was formally incorporated in late December of 1887, but Lavallette, as a place name is almost ten years older. In February of 1878, the directors of the Barnegat Land Improvement Company filed a plot plan with Ocean County, designating the tract they purchased from Michael W. Ortley as "Lavallette City by the Sea." The name honored U. S. Navy Admiral Elie A. F. LaVallette, who distinguished himself as a young lieutenant aboard Commodore Thomas McDonough's flagship in the battle of Lake Champlain and later commanded the U.S.S. Constitution. Of French descent, the Admiral legally anglicized his name to Lavallette in 1830. His son, A. T. Lavallette, was secretary of the Land Improvement Company. Latter a US Navy Destroyer was named after the admiral. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_A._F._La_Vallette

 

USS La Vallette (DD-448) was a World War II-era Fletcher-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship named after Rear Admiral Elie A. F. La Vallette.

After training and escort duty in the Caribbean and Atlantic, La Vallette departed New York 16 December 1942 for the Panama Canal and Pacific duty. First contact with the enemy came 29 January 1943 as she screened Task Force 18 (TF18) off Guadalcanal, when La Vallette’s guns splashed three of a wave of attacking planes.

Attacked again 30 January while guarding Chicago (CA-29), she shot down six Japanese Mitsubishi G4M “Bettys”, but was struck by a torpedo. With 22 dead, she was towed to drydock at Espiritu Santo for temporary repairs, then sailed to Mare Island Navy Yard, arriving 1 April.

Completely repaired, La Vallette left 6 August for Pearl Harbor, where she joined a carrier force for a strike on Marcus Island 31 August before returning to patrol duty in the Solomon Islands. On the nights of 1 and 2 October, she contacted Japanese troop barges off Kolombangara, of which she sank four and damaged two. La Vallette carried out escort and screening assignments during the Gilbert landings, and in strikes against Kwajalein and Wotje, during which she splashed another enemy aircraft. Brief repairs at San Francisco followed, after which she returned to the South Pacific.

Assigned to escort convoys during the first assaults on the Philippines, La Vallette had already left Leyte Gulf with a convoy bound to reload at Hollandia before the vast and decisive Battle of Leyte Gulf erupted; but she returned to the Philippines by 5 December, when she splashed a kamikaze in Surigao Strait. She covered five more landings. in the Philippines during December and January 1945, then joined the screen for minesweepers clearing Manila Bay. On 14 February in Mariveles Harbor, La Vallette was extensively damaged by a mine. With six dead and 23 wounded, she was towed to drydock at Subic Bay, then sailed for Hunters Point Navy Yard where she was completely repaired. On 7 August she sailed for San Diego, California, where she decommissioned 16 April 1946, and entered the Reserve Fleet, where she remained at least into 1969. In 1974 she was sold to Peru for parts. (Src; Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_La_Vallette_(DD-448)

 

USS LaVallette DD-448 Ship Bell

Located in a bell housing in the front of the municipal building is a bell from the USS LaVallette. The bell was given to the Borough by members of the crew dedicated May 25, 1998. This bell was housed in front of the old borough hall and was moved to its new location when the new Municipal Building was built.

 

Pound Fishing Sculpture

Sculpture depicting the early days of pound fishing off the surf. - Brian Hanlon sculptor

There were three pounds in the Lavallette area, one north of the town, one at President Avenue and one in the southern end of the borough. Pound fishing was a major industry in the early days of Lavallette supplying fresh fish to the markets in New York and Philadelphia by train. The pound fishing industry also supported another prominent local business when Charles Hankins opened his boat building business in 1912. Hankins Boat Works supplied most of the boats to the local fish pounds.  
More about the artist.

 

Lavallette Municipal Building Construction