By Kathy Arlt, Contributing Writer @Blogfinger Re-posted from 2012 on Blogfinger.net
Last time I focused on the Camp Meeting Association tent sites along Wesley and Fletcher Lakes, but this final installment of tenting features some very old photos of tents that were probably outside the CMA campgrounds. They also show why the second noun in our town’s name is “Grove.”
Look at all those trees! There might be as many trees in these two photographs as there are in all of Ocean Grove today. Also notice the two styles of tents in the photos, and the rather large number of people staying in them.
But what you really want to see—and the reason I started writing this series—is a tent that became a house. So here it is: 67 Mt. Hermon Way, on the right in this photo, back when it was a tent.
And here it is today, still looking remarkably tent-like.
Are there other houses that were once tents? The answer is definitely yes, and maybe some Blogfinger readers can tell us where they are.
IRA D. SANKEY Recoded on wax tubes in the Great Auditorium between 1890 and 1900. From the recordings called “Wax the Gospels” It won a Grammy recently.
“The Homeland.”
People have commented that my “cottage” was once a tent, with how long it is, and the inside structure. it’s on Mt. Tabor way. I wonder where i can find this out, definitely.
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Hi, I’m the owner of 67 Mt. Hermon. I got permission to have the roof repairs done about 10-11 years ago (there were 7 different roofs with leaks everywhere they connected). During that process, we discovered that the 2 cottages (that comprise my property) were connected in 1938 (there were magazines and newspapers stuffed in between the walls as insulation). What I don’t know is when someone converted the tent in the photo to a second cottage — if anyone has any insight, let me know! A lady once stopped by who used to visit a friend who lived here in the 40’s, and showed me where an old “chimney to nowhere” was (converted to a cupboard by the time I moved in)… Supposedly the main. 2-room cottage was started in 1886 and added to during the years (hence the 7 different roofs), but I haven’t been able to trace when the property was transformed. From the foundations, the original cottage structure has an unusual west-east orientation — and the 2 structures were connected thru what was once an outside porch. And that’s all I know, but it would be interesting to learn more about the history!
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Would the Historical Society have any info on this stuff? I’m very interested…my “cottage” has the same type of layout, very, very odd but thats what gives it that OG charm.
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The Historical Society has several resources that might help homeowners learn more about the history of their homes. Directories dating back to the late 1800s can be consulted to determine names and addresses of homeowners (or tenters); early maps contain outlines of houses and porches. There are also many old photos of houses, and a collection of early ground leases and assignments.
Stop by the museum this summer and see what you can find out.
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The museum is down the block from me, so I have no excuse not to! Thanks! 🙂
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73 Mt Zion? Might even be mistaken for a tent.
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