Families including the Sopers and Inmans settled here in 1690 to hunt whales, followed by the Cranmers, Rutters, Mullinses, and Stevenses. The area, known as Great Swamp, had a tall forest of white cedar and fresh water. In 1821, the Mansion of Health became the first major boarding hotel on the coast of New Jersey, but that same year a hurricane destroyed the trees and Great Swamp. The community was later called Buzby's Place after the hotel owner, then Old Mansion until the hotel burned down in 1874. Incorporated as Long Beach City in 1875, the town was often confused with Long Branch, and its name was officially changed to Surf City in 1894.