Photo credits

Real photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under the licences listed. Some are cropped to keep signs, plates and maker marks out of the frame. Where a picture on a story or town page was taken outside Ocean County, its caption says so; the small pictures on section pages repeat those story pictures without captions, and the list below gives the place.

Photographs

• Barnegat Lighthouse at the north end of Long Beach Island, October 2021. Photo: LoloMullen. CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Barnegat Inlet from Island Beach State Park, looking across to Long Beach Island. Photo: Famartin. CC BY-SA 3.0.
• Boats on Barnegat Bay, 2007. Photo: Ted Kerwin. CC BY 2.0.
• Barnegat Bay from above Forked River, August 2019. Photo: James Loesch. CC BY 2.0.
• A bayfront pier in Seaside Park on Barnegat Bay, December 2024. Photo: Mr. Matté. CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Salt marsh along Barnegat Bay in Island Beach State Park, September 2017. Photo: Famartin. CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Barnegat Bay from the Mantoloking Bridge, on the Brick Township line, April 2025. Photo: Famartin. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
• Dunes and salt air at Island Beach State Park, 2016. Photo: AntiCompositeNumber. CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Beach Haven West's houses from the Route 72 bridge in Stafford Township, November 2025. Photo: Mr. Matté. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
• A water tower over Long Beach Boulevard in Ship Bottom, December 2024. Photo: Mr. Matté. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
• Bay Avenue in Mantoloking, December 2024. The house at left sits up on piers. Photo: Mr. Matté. CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Main Street at Water Street in downtown Toms River, 2015. Photo: Mr. Matté. CC BY 3.0. Cropped.
• Docks and bulkhead on the Toms River at Huddy Park, March 2022. Photo: Lindsey40186. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
• Ranch houses in Waretown, Ocean Township, December 2024. Photo: Mr. Matté. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
• Pitch pines from the Forked River Mountains overlook in Lacey Township, April 2018. The aquifer lies under land like this. Photo: MNTNMAN. CC BY-SA 4.0.
• A dark Pine Barrens stream at Whitesbog, 2010. Whitesbog is outside Ocean County, in the same Pinelands. Photo: Peter Massas. CC BY-SA 2.0.
• Sand and pitch pine in Wharton State Forest, Burlington County, next door to Ocean County, July 2025. Photo: RollerFanatic000. CC BY-SA 4.0.
• A house jacked up on steel beams and timber in a Cranford flood zone, Union County, 2015. Work at this scale goes through permits. Photo: Tomwsulcer. CC0.
• A house raised on timber cribbing in Cape May, New Jersey, 2014. Photo: Smallbones. CC0.
• New construction on pilings in Beach Haven, February 2013. FEMA photo by Liz Roll. Photo: Liz Roll, FEMA. Public domain.
• Mystic Island townhouses, February 2013. FEMA says repairs after Sandy included elevating their utilities. Photo by Liz Roll. Photo: Liz Roll, FEMA. Public domain.
• Tuckerton from a Coast Guard helicopter on Oct. 30, 2012, the day after Sandy came ashore. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard (via DVIDS). Public domain. Cropped.
• New Jersey shore damage from the air on Oct. 31, 2012, filed as Long Beach Island. National Guard photo. Photo: The National Guard. Public domain.
• Crews replacing utility poles in Ship Bottom, February 2013. FEMA photo by Liz Roll. Photo: Liz Roll, FEMA. Public domain. Cropped.
• A town water tower in Cape May, New Jersey, 2020. Ocean County's suppliers run towers of their own. Photo: WhisperToMe. CC0.
• A small town water plant in Essex Fells, North Jersey, December 2024. Shown as a kind of building, not one that serves Ocean County. Photo: Mr. Matté. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
• A treatment plant in North Bergen, New Jersey, 2010, outside Ocean County. Photo: Jim.henderson. CC0. Cropped.
• The Passaic Valley sewage plant in Newark, flooded by Sandy, Oct. 30, 2012. It is outside Ocean County. Army Corps of Engineers photo. Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Public domain.
• A temporary well pump and pressure tank setup in Massachusetts, 2010. Yours is likely tidier, with the same parts. Photo: Dwight Sipler. CC BY 2.0.
• A new concrete septic tank set in the ground, 2019, photographed outside New Jersey. Photo: Nonztp. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
• A septic tank lid in a lawn, 2024; the place is not given. A lid like this stays shut unless a licensed pumper is there. Photo: Wikideas1. CC0.
• Salt brine on a New Jersey road in winter, February 2014. Photo: Z22. CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped.

AI-generated pictures

These pictures are not photographs of real houses. We used them where we could not find a real photo that fits. Each is labelled under the picture on its story page; the small versions on section pages link to those stories.

• Sample bottles and a lab form on a kitchen table.
• A septic disposal field being laid in sand.
• Insulated water lines under a raised floor on a cold morning.
• Raised houses, bulkheads and docks on a saltwater lagoon.
• A pinhole leak on a copper water line. Pinholes can have more than one cause, so have a plumber look before settling on one.
• A valve being fitted to a copper line in a basement.
• A reverse osmosis unit under a kitchen sink.
• A water sample being drawn at a kitchen tap. The state rule leaves the sampling to a certified lab or its representative.
• Standing water over a septic field after a storm.
• A tall treatment tank plumbed into a utility room.
• The underside of a raised house, with water and drain lines running along the floor framing.
• A louvered flood opening low in a foundation wall.
• A capped well casing in a sandy yard.