Everything you need to know about Springsteen is in Monmouth, NJ

Anything you need to know about Bruce Springsteen is available right here in Monmouth County.

A few years ago I had the absolute pleasure of filming a piece I was hosting at the Bruce Springsteen Museum which was in Freehold, NJ.

My friend and director of the museum, Eileen Chapman, gave me a tour of the facility, then she drove around Freehold with me in a convertible on a chilly October day and pointed out the points of interest in Freehold, like Bruce Springsteen’s house where he grew up. It was a very cool experience.

I was impressed by the amount of memorabilia Eileen and the museum had collected. Rare handwritten lyrics, special album covers, never released photos, At the filming that day was Vini Lopez, the original E-Street drummer and now a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Vini is a good friend and he added so much to the stories and background of the earlier band items at the museum.

Fast forward to today. There is an addition being built to the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music which is now at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ.

(Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

The Freehold Museum closed, and the big Springsteen Archives at Monmouth University is open and expanding with a new grand opening expected in 2026.

The new Springsteen Archives did it right, under the Executive Director leadership of Bob Santelli who is a Grammy award winner, author of many American music books, historian and was one of the original curators of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland his leadership will make the facility and Archives one of the best in the country.

Eileen Chapman is the director and knows the Springsteen memorabilia, music, and history inside out. Her resume and background read like a Who’s Who.

The Springsteen Archives will have a 230-seat theater and be comprised of over 47,000 items loaned from 47 countries.

(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for SUFH)

Bruce was impressed with his family tree that was on display and his tree traced all the way back to the Civil War. The Archives boast of a guitar from the Civil War that was claimed to be owned and played by a Springsteen relative.

There are numerous bits of information that are interesting to the Springsteen fan and a music fan. This is really a place that you want to experience.

In a brilliant move the Springsteen Archives put together an outpost in the Asbury Park Convention Center. It boasts Springsteen memorabilia that you can take in while cruising around Asbury Park.

Do not forget you can go two blocks down from the Convention Center in Asbury Park and take a tour of Danny Clinch’s Photography at the Transparent Clinch Gallery. Danny was the only photographer allowed all access by Bruce Springsteen. His photos are amazing. Danny also photographed the best-known bands in the history of Rock and Roll.

A good stop next time you are in Asbury Park.