Manasquan Inlet, NJ – 1980 A 1980 aerial view of the Manasquan Inlet, located between the New Jersey shore towns of Manasquan and Point Pleasant Beach. When the Point Pleasant Canal opened in 1926, water from the Manasquan River flowed through the canal and into Barnegat Bay instead of through the inlet and into the ocean – oops! This caused sand to build up for several hundred yards at the end of the inlet and completely close it from 1926 through 1929. In early 1930, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started construction of two jetties (the rocks came from excavation for the Second Avenue subway in New York City) and began dredging the inlet. The dredging lasted until mid-1931 and the inlet was officially reopened on August 29, 1931. They tossed quite a party at the opening celebration highlighted by a large water parade attended by thousands of residents, NJ Governor Morgan F. Larson and scores of politicians.