By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net
Ted David’s new book “Forgotten Ocean Grove” is available on Amazon. The whole title is: “Forgotten Ocean Grove”
“God’s Square Mile”
“New Jersey’s Most Interesting Beach-side Town”
It is a 161 page paperback edition which is a combination history and guide book. It has an unusual design in that it consists of 147 segments which he calls “mini-stories.”
Ted David is an optimistic cheerleader for the small village of Ocean Grove, New Jersey. You will see his enthusiasm for this very special town throughout his book and summarized in his last chapter (147): “Living in the Grove Today.”
Ted finds nothing controversial to discuss in this volume. It is a cheerful book. He says little about current lifestyles, land use issues, culture clashes, single minded groups, demographics, economics,or politics….ie the sorts of topics which we gravitate to on Blogfinger. But nevertheless he manages to offer 147 anecdotes which are quite engaging.
However, I suspect we will see more revealed about Ted’s keen insights into people and Grovarian culture when his new book comes out soon: “More From the Other Side of Ocean Grove.”
His research is impressive on the historical side. He says that he is saving the readers the trouble of doing that themselves, and he dedicates this informative book to OG historians, past and present.
Ted sums up his overall theme by saying that he has “carefully assembled the long since forgotten pieces of the historical puzzle that create the modern day Ocean Grove.” For those such as Blogfinger, who like to analyze the undercurrents in town, he gives us the tools to gain perspective.
Ted David leaves no stone unturned, including the marvelous anecdote called “The Rebecca Stone” about a Grover who was redoing an old sidewalk when he flipped over a paver and found that it was actually a tomb stone from 1869.
Many of the stories in David’s book are intriguing, and many are delightful as well as informative. For those of you who love OG history, this concise book makes for pleasurable reading as well as for new historical insights into our town.
For example, here are a few of the titles: “The Sunday Closing Laws; Camp Meeting Charter; Mosquitoes; Ferries on the Lakes; Fairy Island; Pound Boats; The Barbara Heck; U.S. Grant’s Visit; OG Jail; Life Guards and Bathing Masters; The Wisdom Bench; The Girls of Ocean Grove 1870′; OG Locals; and Condos in the Grove.”
In one section of the book, where the subject of naming the streets is discussed, David points out that the “Mounts” such as Mt. Tabor, are taken from real mountains “mentioned in the Bible” such as Mt. Tabor and Mt. Hermon. He also discusses street names, and it is curious that no streets are named for Stokes or Osborne. Yet a woman who is largely unknown in town, Barbara Heck, has her own street.
So, maybe it’s time to rename some streets, getting away from all those Camp Meeting preachers and references to the Bible. After all, the Supreme Court of NJ had no problem in getting rid of those religious based blue laws in 1980, so in the spirit of separating church from state…….
Ted David is a great supporter of the Camp Meeting Association and the role of religion in our town. He is optimistic about the future. At the end of his book he says, “Since 1869 there have been times, frankly, when the Grove faltered. Besieged by problems from within and without, some thought ‘God’s Square Mile’ would not survive. But the reality is much to the contrary, as is everywhere visible. Revitalization and renewal are the order of the day.”
He concludes by saying, “The Reverends Osborn, Stokes, and Thornley must smile down with satisfaction to see their handiwork march confidently into the 21st Century.”
Here is a link to the July, 2018 Blogfinger article about Ted David and his books.
“By the Sea” from Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Oh dear, the subtitle is misspelled — “towm” instead of “town” on the cover. And on Amazon, (which has a corrected subtitle), they mention “God’s Squire Mile”.
Editor’s note: Thanks. We are aware of that, and we assume the author is also. You will find an earlier comment about that squire and that towm in OG.
Mr. Bredin is right. Regarding the OGCMA, as an institution with trustees, it would be nice if all the trustees would act as a whole to protect the community, but in fact their duty is to the OGCMA and not the tax payers of Neptune Township.
It is the Township of Neptune that is responsible to protect the tax payers of OG by enforcing local, county, state and federal laws.
The Township not only is in violation of many laws created by all four, but they aggressively and with clear intent, violate the laws of all four—– not to protect residents, but to rape the community for greater taxes.
The problems that we all suffer from are directly caused by Neptune’s politicians who knowingly encourage the violation of law.
I personally feel that the street names in Ocean Grove should stay the same.
Mt. Tabor, Mt.Hermon, and Mt.Pisgah are historical and have meaning, as well as all the other names.
Visitors come to Ocean Grove to enjoy the history of this unique town, and the names add to the experience.
Doubting Thomas,
It’s true, there is a lot of blame to go around for all the problems in OG.
But, it is the members of the Governing body that placed their hand on a Bible and swear to God they will enforce the laws that protect the residents.
In OG, our problems begin when the members of the Township Committee violate their oath of office.
And it doesn’t help when local Historians create a fairy tale that the CMA still owns all the land in OG, and therefore they are responsible for all the problems.
It’s my opinion, that a property owner should not be criticized for what the Township permits, and in the case of the North End, requires them to do, and the street names should remain the same.
You don’t dishonor someone because of the actions of people 100 years later.
All who are honored for the most part are for the good deeds they have done for society. To say that they should no longer be honored because of the bad deeds of others 100 years later makes no sense.
That very same reason then could be used to dishonor all our hero’s from all wars because of the bad actions of present politicians on both sides in government.
Again, there is absolutely no rational reason to change the historical names of the streets in OG.
For the last ten years the CMA has been engaged, with the Neptune Township Committee and developers, in a scam regarding the North End, designed to exploit the town of Ocean Grove.
They have ignored the best interests of the town’s residents while engaged in unethical land use practices.
Do you recall when they threatened all of us with a suit if we dared to explore a parking solution for those who live here? We have seen their secrecy and opacity and have read their gobbledygook.
So why should the residents of this town respect them, and secondarily, their heroes whose names grace the streets of the Grove?
Rev. Osborne was honored by the OGCMA, while he was alive, with a gift of a house that at one time stood on the corner of Pilgrim Pathway and Lake Avenue, looking over Founders Park.
If OG had streets with the name of oak or south or first street, then a name change would be of little matter. To dishonor those that played an important roll in the founding of the community by removing their names would be troubling in the least.
Phil: The idea of changing street names in the Grove has nothing to do with being “offended,” and thus is not comparable to someone wanting to take down Confederate statues at Gettysburg.
This discussion is about how Ocean Grove is changing.
Plus, no one has suggested that we actually change any street name at this time.
However, the Ocean Grove of today is a much different place from when the CMA ran the town. So, as the OG of the 21st century begins to redefine itself, and as our historical identity gets more and more compromised, and as the CMA gets more and more indifferent to the residents of the Grove, changes such as street names, might be considered.
At this time we are just engaging in a conversation. —-Paul
As for Barbara Heck, where is there a street name precedent for naming an OG street after a religious figure from out of town? And where is the precedent for naming a street for a family that has lived here for generations? Historic Ocean Grove is being threatened, so let’s name a street for “the Boss.”
Good grief! In the south we are throwing out our nations remembrances of our historical growing pains. Now in OG we raise the question of throwing out historical names of our towns founding. It’s a statue. It’s a street name. Can we possibly look for more significant issues? Is it possible for us all to be a bit less offended? Just my opinion as well.
Thanks Kevin. You say that OG “doesn’t need to change street names,” but that is merely your opinion. Towns change street names, towns change town names, and countries change country names, so that is not an argument. Circumstances often trump historic names.
South Belmar became Lake Como. Burma became Myanmar. Washington Township in Morris County almost became Long Valley except for a vote. Long Pond in the Grove became Wesley Lake. The Bangs Avenue School in Asbury was renamed after Barack Obama.
So why not change some religious based street names? And this is especially true as we see the modern day CMA permitting congestion. broken land use laws, ignoring of Master Plan historic preservation goals, zoning abuses, and commercialization of the North End for financial reasons.
And if the Wesley Lake name could be changed to its new idiotic name —-“Wesley retention -detention basin” —then why not make other changes to precious names in town?
The Wesley name is huge in Methodist history, but who cares about the lake named for him? His name is now attached to a liquid dump for dirty street water, and the CMA said and did nothing about it. So how much could they really care about those ancient street names?
Kevin-Thanks for the explanation as to why the Reverands Stokes and Osborne are avenue-less. I was always curious as to why these two founding fathers did not have streets or rather avenues named after them. Reverand Stokes is honored by a beautiful statue on Ocean Pathway. Is there any such recognition for Reverand Osborne in Ocean Grove? The number of ministers passing away during the early years, before the streets were named, strikes me as quite large.
To Methodists, Barabra Heck is not largely unknown but is understood to be one of the instigators of the first Methodist meetings of what would become the John Street church in NY. She played a very important role in the early founding of Methodism in the US.
The Heck family for many years had a cottage on Heck Ave.
Many, if not all, of the street names, excluding the mountains, are of ministers who were involved in the very beginning of OGCMA. These ministers had passed away while the community was growing and the OGCMA honored them by naming streets after them. Stokes and Osborne were still alive by the time all the existing streets were created and named..
OG really doesn’t need to change the names of our streets but instead, we should learn why these people were deserving of being honored.