Cattus Island Park, also known as Cattus Island is a passive recreational park located in Toms River, New Jersey. Cattus Island is a park of the Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation. Cattus Island is home to the Cooper Environmental Center, an educational center which displays collections of local wildlife including snakes, reptiles and aquatic animals. The center also provides educational programs and presentations to the public and organized groups.HistoryThe first European explorer to set foot on what became Ocean County soil was Captain Cornelius Hendrickson, who in 1615 explored the New Jersey coast in the Onrust between the latitudes 38 and 40 degrees. He sailed down Barnegat Bay and located the 300 acres Cattus Island. William Dockwra, Secretary and Registrar for the Board of Proprietors in England, bought Cattus Island. The "island" has remained a single parcel since 1690 when the Board of Proprietors of the Province of East Jersey divided this coastal region.In 1758 Joseph Page purchased Cattus Island. On Page's Island farm, sheep, flax and corn crops were raised. The Page family first settled the island in 1763. Timothy Page, born on the island during that year, served in the local militia during the American Revolution. During the American Revolutionary War, local residents used the area to bring captured British vessels into the Toms River in order to offload their cargoes. Homesteaders also used the island for farming. Timothy Page was likely a privateer, essentially a pirate licensed by the Continental Congress. During the war, British ships were lured into Barnegat Bay through the Cranberry Inlet, only to be attacked and their cargo was sold for profit. Cranberry Inlet, an opening to the Atlantic near present-day Ortley Beach, existed between 1750 and 1812. It was opened and closed by strong storms.
