Ted Bell conducts his annual Sunday historical walking tour. Here he demonstrates the size of a finial. Paul Goldfinger photo. 2013 in Ocean Grove, NJ.
By Paul Goldfinger, guided tour editor @Blogfinger. Re-posted from 2013 and 2015, but it never gets old.
You can always learn something about Ocean Grove history when you join the late historian Ted Bell on his annual HSOG tour of Beersheba award winners. But Ted didn’t exactly stick to the script, so the group got to hear some unusual factoids. Here is a sampling of Ted Bellisms:
1. Ocean Grove is 350 square acres. 640 square acres equals a square mile. But if you take into consideration that Ocean Grove extends 1,000 feet into the ocean, you come up with “God’s Square Mile.”
2. Neptune Township controls the streets from curb to curb, whereas the Camp Meeting controls the edge of the roads beyond the curbs. Thus, Neptune Twp. could not have parking meters without the cooperation of the CMA.
3. There are about 200 Sears and Roebuck prefabricated houses in the Grove. You ordered your house from a catalogue, and it came in pieces on a big truck, with instructions included.
4. 5 tents have bathtubs.
5. Each OG lot is 30 feet wide x 60 feet deep. Some houses are built on two lots, while others are build on half lots.
6. The “perfect” Victorian cottage can be found at 29 Bath avenue. The light in front is from the original bridge that connected OG to Asbury Park.
The “perfect Victorian cottage” 29 Bath Avenue . Note that there are no railings around the ground floor porch. Paul Goldfinger photograph
24 1/2 Atlantic Ave. Beersheba award winner for new construction. Replaced an identical home destroyed by a recent fire. On half lot. PG photo
I miss Ted Bell. He was a wonderful Grover and American, and he laughed at my jokes and helped us get the historic Grove story told correctly . PG
FRANKIE RANDALL
The post light illustrated is actually from one of the present concrete bridges over Wesley Lake the opened in 1932. There are several of these around town. AP and OG contributed equal amounts to the project, but AP ran out of money before the Pilgrim Pathway span was completed. The OGCMA loaned AP money to allow the opening in May 1932.
Having transcribed the 22,000 entries of the lot transfer books, I can assure you that there are a number of cases where a few feet or even half the lot were purchased from the adjoining property. This has led to lots of different sizes.
FYI. 24.5 Atlantic was not destroyed by the Surf fire and replaced. The fire damage was contained to rear of the second floor. There was water damage throughout and the owners used it as an opportunity to replace the kitchen and exterior siding, plus rebuild the font porch, which was in danger of collapsing prior to the fire. If it had been replaced, they would have needed to come in 3′ on both sides. It’s not even a true half lot, it’s only 13′ wide.
Reblogged this on Blogfinger and commented:
Rich Amole asked me whether Ocean Grove is actually one square mile. So that question inspired me to repost a piece from 2013. In that article, Ted Bell will answer the question.—–Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
We have a lot that breaks the mold, probably because we are on the extreme west end of town. It’s narrower – about 25 ft – but also 92 ft deep…yes, we have a (relatively) sizable backyard. Learned from a neighbor that the backyard used to house a cottage. The house two doors down – identical in style and lot size – still had a small, and very cute – cottage where our backyard is located.
The ‘Craftsman’ kit homes also included a box of very basic tools and could be ‘upgraded’ with a full line of ‘Quality Sears Tools’. Great marketing by Sears. Craftsman Tools to this day.
I was able to tag along and listen to Ted on this tour — he’s so knowledgeable about Ocean Grove’s architecture. Thanks, Ted!!