East Water Street in Toms River, extending from Main Street to Dock Street, became known as Captains' Row because many sea captains built homes there in the 1800s to stay near their docked schooners, sloops, and brigs. Located in the village's oldest section, it includes architecturally and historically significant buildings dating from 1824 to 1916 and reflects Toms River's growth from a small maritime village into a flourishing county seat and Victorian summer resort. Many buildings still retain their architectural integrity despite rapid development in the last half of the 20th century. Among them are the Horner House, built about 1824 for Captain Stephen Gulick and later enlarged by Joseph Horner; the Crawford House, built about 1827 by sea captains Richard Crawford and Barzillar Grover and later expanded, used as a rooming house, and carefully restored; and the Giberson House, built between 1850 and 1853 by Captain George W. Giberson from Atlantic white cedar before he became a successful businessman, bank director, and Ocean County Freeholder. The street's maritime setting was shaped by Cranberry Inlet, a break through the barrier island formed shortly after 1750 by a violent storm across from the mouth of the Toms River, creating a valuable entrance from the Atlantic into Barnegat Bay. This inlet helped the tiny colonial village grow by giving cargo ships and privateers access to a protected harbor six miles inland, remained important during the Revolutionary War, and then closed after another fierce storm about sixty years later. Attempts to reopen it failed, forcing ships to use the more dangerous Barnegat Inlet and slowing but not ending the village's development after the British destroyed it in 1782 and after the inlet disappeared in 1812.