Did Surfing Start In NJ? Uncovered 1888 Story Of 'Sandwich Island Girl' Gives New Clues

NEW JERSEY — While some historians have said that surfing on the East Coast began in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. in 1905, and others said it began in Virginia Beach in 1912, an unearthed newspaper story from 1888 suggests that Asbury Park may have been the spot.

A story that appeared in newspapers around the country on Aug. 4, 1888, tells of a dexterous "Sandwich Island Girl" from Hawaii who rode the waves in Asbury Park for three days in a row, astounding onlookers.

A picture of the supposed Island Girl appears on Aug. 18, 1888 in a different publication.

So, who was this girl with "skirts reaching scare to the knee" who brought surfing all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic?

The 1888 news story, which apparently originated in the Philadelphia Press Letter, doesn't give her name, but describes her as "A Gay Queen of the Waves."

The story describes a young woman visting Asbury Park who "was beyond the line of breakers and standing on a plank that rose and fell with the swelling waves."

Apparently her clothing was of interest: "Her bathing dress was of some dark material, fitting close to the figure, the skirts reaching scare to the knee."

She also wore stockings (!) but did not wear a hat or cap, the story notes.

Then: "As the wave reached its fullest volume, she suddenly, quick as a thought, and with a laugh that ran full into shore, drew herself together, sprang into the air and, her hands clasped together and clearing her a way, plunged into the rolling sea...the daring Triton was up on the plank in another moment and waiting for a second high roll. So she has been amusing herself and interesting the mob for three mornings."

The story says, "She is completely at ease in the sea as you or I on land, and the board plank obeys her slightest touch. When she has had enough she will bring the plank into shore, riding upon the further end and guiding it like a goddess over the crests and through the foam."

The story says she's from the Sandwich Islands, the former name of Hawaii, and is making a tour of the country. Her father is an "enormously rich planter" and she "arrived in the Park a week ago with a family of a wealthy importer."

The story says that she modestly learned how to swim in school "quite as much as girls of this country learn tennis and croquet."

The piece inspires many questions.

If her father's rich, why was she touring the country with some other wealthy family? And why the need to earn extra money?

Also, why does anyone care about this? Well, historians want to set the record straight.

An Asbury Park Press story in 2018 notes that in 1888, someone placed an ad days after the news story ran, trying to find the girl, giving some legitimacy to the tale.

Recently, News 12 said that more evidence emerged suggesting the young lady was a real person.

"People have researched who the girl was and now there's compelling evidence that she was a real person," says the newest story. "So, the theory now is that surfing on the East Coast began in New Jersey in 1888, not North Carolina 17 years later."

But others say the Sandwich Island Girl story may have been made up for the tabloid-style reporting of the day. Joseph "Skipper" Funderburg, a surf historian from North Carolina, told the Asbury Park Press he believes she's "just a legend."

As more newspapers come online, perhaps other stories will be revealed.

Those who know the identify of the girl should certainly email Patch.

Perhaps this controversy won't get as heated as the other one: Did baseball start in Cooperstown, or Hoboken?