Morgan Memories – Kirby’s Restaurant

Alfred S. Landis Birds-Eye View Picture Post Card of Kirby’s Restaurant in Morgan, N.J., Circa Late 1920’s. Image Courtesy of Mr. Daniel Salvaggio.

A big thank you again to long time Morgan resident Mr. Daniel Salvaggio for his generosity in allowing us to use his extensive collection of Morgan memorabilia such as the above handdrawn Landis & Alsop picture post card of Kirby’s Restaurant in Morgan, N.J.  This picture post card (PPC) is drawn in the same style as Alfred S. Landis’ Birds-eye View style PPC of Cady’s House of Sea Food found on this other Morgan-NJ.org page.  Mr. Salvaggio’s PPC has a post office cancellation date of July 16, 1930.

Morgan-NJ.org reader Veronica (Vernie) Muth Jarocki asked me if I knew where Kirby’s Restaurant was located as she came across a reference to her father attending a Tiger Athletic Club dinner there on page 2 of the December 9, 1932 issue of The South Amboy Citizen newspaper.

If you know exactly where Kirby’s Restaurant was located in Morgan or any other information such as menus, etc., please leave a comment below.  Based on the drawing, it appears that it was located on the north side of present day Route 35 on the west side of the jetty.  You’ll note the jetty is shown on the right side of the image.  Since Cady’s/Robert E Lee Inn is not drawn in this image, I am interpreting this to mean that the restaurant’s location would be somewhere between Morgan Avenue and Midland Ave (i.e., my neighborhood!).

Interestingly enough, this article mentions that Dr. B. A. Robinson was to be the guest speaker that evening but was very ill and could not attend.  Dr. Robinson had a summer house in that neighborhood which was located at present day Tyler Street and Robinson Place – guess who this street was named for!  If anyone from the Sayreville Historical Society has access to photos of the Robinson house, later the Henderson Chicken Farm house, which were to be taken prior to it being demolished to make way for the present houses in that area, I would be enormously grateful to get a copy of them to share on this site.