The Ocean County Courthouse on Washington Street is one of the more handsome civic buildings on the Jersey Shore. The current structure dates from 1850 and has been expanded and restored several times since, but it retains its mid-19th-century character. The building sits at the heart of the original downtown, with the Toms River flowing a few blocks to the south.
The courthouse grounds make a natural starting point for a walk through the historic district. The streets around it — Washington, Main, and Water — contain several surviving 18th- and 19th-century buildings that give a sense of what the town looked like before it became a suburban hub.