The Crane House

Dedicated to the memory of Stephen Crane  

508 4th Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ 07712  

Phone: 732-775-5682

Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage and other works, lived with his family in this house on Fourth Avenue for nine of his most formative years. The home, now a museum and performance /entertainment space, is an active part of the community, hosting readings, plays, and even classic movies. (Please scroll down for latest feature and history, below.)

..About The Crane House - Historical Background  (Photo below: Frank D'Alessandro, current owner and loving caretaker of the Crane House, at St. John's Cathedral, NYC)

Saved from demolition in 1995 through the efforts of Tom and Regina Hayes and scores of dedicated volunteers (dubbed the "Crane Crew"), the Stephen Crane House is Asbury Park's link to great American literature. This modest house was built about 1877 and was then known as "Arbutus Cottage". It was bought by widow Mary Helen Peck Crane in 1883. Stephen Crane (1871-1900), born in Newark, was the youngest of Mrs. Crane's fourteen children. He was enrolled in the Asbury Park Public School system, and it was there that he wrote his first fully-developed short story. Later he worked as a journalist, filing stories from Asbury Park for a New York newspaper. After spending his last summer at the Jersey shore in 1892, he left to begin in earnest his writing career in New York City. Three years later his second novel, his masterwork, The Red Badge of Courage, was published to great acclaim in America and Europe.
Despite his short life, Stephen Crane was a prolific essayist, poet, short story writer, novelist, and war correspondent. He died in Germany at the age of 28 and is buried in Hillside, New Jersey. Unfortunately, his birthplace in Newark was torn down many decades ago, and the Stephen Crane House in Asbury Park is the only remaining residence of the great author.

The House Today

The entire first floor and four public rooms on the second floor serve as a museum dedicated to Stephen Crane. The building was purchased in 2001 by local resident Frank D'Alessandro in order to be maintained as a museum. That year the trustees had the aging building completely re-roofed in a style consistent with the original slate roof. The entire exterior has been expertly repainted by a prodigious local house painter extraordinaire, Kathleen Magee. The Asbury Park City Historian, Werner Baumgartner, serves as curator, keeping a watchful eye on rehabilitation efforts. Rehabilitation to the lecture room on the first floor is ongoing, thanks to the contributions of local residents. The generous donation given by Mr. Bruce Springsteen and friends has been of enormous help in making it possible for recitals, lectures, and poetry readings to take place there. An upcoming project is to make the first floor fully handicap accessible.
There were several literary events in early 2002 in cooperation with the Black Box Theater of downtown Asbury. The Stephen Crane House presented, on Edgar Allan Poe's birthday, January 19, an evening of works by or about the great short story writer and poet. A Vietnamese language movie, "The Scent of Green Papaya" was shown. Participants also sampled Vietnamese taste treats that evening. An acclaimed one-woman show on "Jane Eyre" was presented to an overflow audience. And a panel discussion about the history of "Gay Asbury Park" was conceived and produced by Maire Martello moderated by Michael Liberatore.

Contributions for the maintenance of the house are always greatly appreciated and acknowledged. Checks can be made out to:

The Stephen Crane House, Inc.
508 4th Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ 07712   Phone: 732-775-5682

You are cordially invited

to Contribute to

The Crane House Documentary Project

The Crane House

508 Fourth Avenue

Asbury Park, New Jersey

The Crane House Documentary Project

Your generous donation is greatly appreciated.

All contributions are tax deductible. Contributors will be acknowledged in the credits of the film.

___ $1000 Gold Contributor

___ $500 Silver Contributor

                 ___  Bronze Contributor

The Stephen Crane House, Inc.

 Write us!              
     
  Reservations are preferred.
    Call 732.775.5682

Frank D'Alessandro, owner of The Crane House, hosted "An Afternoon of Song", featuring soprano JoAnn Baiano-Roy, her accompanist on the piano Liliya Khobotkova and actor/singer Howard Dean. JoAnn is in the red dress. The late Madame Era Tognoli, director of the Metro Lyric Opera of NJ, attended.