The Galleon was built in 1926 as a real estate office to attract buyers to the Neptune’s Gardens development in Absecon. It was built as a replica of Christopher Columbus’ Santa Maria. It was also known as the Ship house.
The ship was originally built on wetlands and accessed by a wooden plank walkway at the Absecon Beach Camp. At that time, there was a seafood restaurant in the building and a miniature version of the Absecon lighthouse nearby. When the real estate market bottomed out, the building was moved three miles away. It was used as an Atlantic gas station and various shops, restaurants, and offices over the years.
Towards the end, it housed a seldom-open antiques shop. In the late 1980s or early 1990s, the building was painted white with light blue trim. This was the last of three ship real estate offices built. One of these was for the Pirate Ship Realty Co. in Cliffwood Beach, NJ which was destroyed by fire in 1993. The ship in Absecon was demolished in 2009.
