Two Rivers, New Jersey, USA

The collection of small communities lining the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers of central New Jersey comprise some of the country’s most affluent zip codes. The towns are in Monmouth County, generally considered the Gateway to the Jersey Shore.

Boaters, kayakers and anglers regularly take to the waters of the Navesink, which runs approximately eight miles before connecting with the Shrewsbury River in the borough of Rumson.

Rumson is situated at the end of a peninsula. It is a highly sought-after suburb with blue ribbon schools where commuters can commute into Manhattan in a flash by way of rapid ferry service. Wealthy New Yorkers once escaped to Rumson for the summer and built resort-inspired estates along the waterfront. In addition to a country club, Rumson is home to the Seabright Lawn Tennis & Cricket Club, which is a national historic landmark founded in 1877.

The desirable towns of Fair Haven, Little Silver and Red Bank share the peninsula, all just a stone’s throw from the Atlantic Ocean.

Red Bank has a reputation as a trendy walking town with a lively cultural scene that boasts the Two Rivers Theater Company and the Count Basie Theater. The latter was originally built as a vaudeville theater and later named for Basie who was born here. Residential properties are surprisingly varied for a locale of its size. Red Bank offers gentleman’s farms, riverfront estates and even boutique vineyards.

Just adjacent is Shrewsbury with a historic district that includes buildings that predate the Revolutionary War. Like other communities in the Twin Rivers region, Shrewsbury is small, fewer than 4,000 residents, but civic-minded with an active historical society, garden club and community alliance. Century-old Oceanport, along the banks of the Shrewsbury River, is home to Monmouth Park Racetrack, dubbed the “resort of racing.” But it’s not all about racing in Oceanport. New Jersey Magazine praised the town for its “vibrant sense of community.”