By Kathy Arlt, contributing writer @Blogfinger
School’s over; the beach is open every day. Visitors are arriving in Ocean Grove, and entrepreneurs are looking forward to a profitable season. One such gentleman, in 1875, was William Jimeson, who owned a hotel and a general store.
Mr. Jimeson was probably already exhausted when that summer began. He’d just finished renovating his hotel, the Osborn House, after moving the whole building to a new location (more about this next week).
Plus, he had to stock his general store, so that the more permanent seasonal visitors would have supplies. Check out the range of mattress materials: hair (probably horse), husk (probably corn) or excelsior (wood shavings).
So perhaps it’s no wonder that Mr. Jimeson found himself “prostrated from over-work” during the 1875 summer season. Happily though, by July 24th, the Ocean Grove Record reported he was feeling somewhat better.
We can only hope that Mr. Jimeson had a very profitable year.
Thank you to Deirdre. The web page was interesting.. Amazing what information comes out of these tidbits presented by Kathy Arlt.
A delightful historical snapshot of Ocean Grove. Kept them coming, Kathy!
Moving buildings was fairly common in the late 1800’s. The following website gives a good deal of information, including images, on the moving of the Brighton Beach Hotel in Coney Island, one of the more ambitious moving projects of the era:
http://arrts-arrchives.com/brbchmove.html.
It is always fascinating to read the musings from this period. They talked a different lingo. 1875 was early for a hotel as large as the Osborn House. I can’t imagine how they could have moved it in those days. I wonder if the Historical Society has a picture.
Love the articles from the HSOG Archives. Keep them coming!