Homesteads and mansions, museums and memorials, lighthouses, a battlefield, historic districts and theatres, these are some of the sites that have shaped Monmouth County. These varied places are preserved for future generations through painstaking efforts and afford visitors a glimpse of what life was like in bygone eras. Two magnificent lighthouses guard the northern Monmouth coast, Sandy Hook, the nation’s oldest, and Twin Lights, an architectural masterpiece. Imagine the pounding of cannons at Monmouth Battlefield State Park; Red Bank’s most famous son is honored at the Count Basie Theatre and history lives at the Historic Village at Allaire. Prominent local historian Randall Gabrielan tells the history behind these and many more historic sites and landmarks in Monmouth County, New Jersey.