Christmas, 1998. By Paul Goldfinger ©Click for full view.
MAUDE MAGGART sings Irving Berlin (1927):
The Manchester burned to the ground 2010.
Archive for the ‘Ocean Grove history’ Category
Modern OG history: Manchester Inn, Ocean Grove, New Jersey (1880-2010)
Posted in Ocean Grove history, Photographic Gallery, Black and White, tagged Manchester Inn Remembered on October 6, 2022| 2 Comments »
Blogfinger Historical Committee: Analysis of this 1873 map. Re-post from 2014. Send us your comments.
Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Ocean Grove history, Ocean Grove history by Blogfinger, tagged 1873 map of Ocean Grove area, Ocean Grove history, OCEAN GROVE HISTORY COMMITTEE on September 28, 2022|
F.W. Beers map dated 1873, 4 years after OG founding. From the Blogfinger.net archives. Click to enlarge. Scanned from the original map.
By Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor, Blogfinger.net
This F.W. Beer’s map segment is dated 1873. It is from an atlas of Monmouth County and it covers parts of Ocean and Shrewsbury Townships. The scale is 160 rods to the inch. How many of you are interested in the history and geography of this area? Let’s all send in comments based on your observations of this map or related bits of history that you know.. Please keep it brief, and we can form a sort of mosaic of information to go with the map.
Here is a useful tool: Click on the image, and the map gets a bit bigger. But then, run your cursor over the map and you will see a plus sign. Put that over an area of interest and click again. —P.G.
HISTORICAL COMMITTEE FINDINGS: (send your observations by commenting below or email to blogfinger@verizon.net and we will add your opinion to the list below.)
1. Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger: In 1873, Ocean Grove was part of Ocean Township. Note that there is no Avon, Bradley Beach, Spring Lake or Neptune. Deal Lake is called Boyleston Great Pond, and there is no Allenhurst. Instead, north of Boyleston Pond, there is the Allen House owned by A. Allen.
2. Lee Morgan: Paul, Just to the south of Greens Pond, around where Deal or Long Branch would be today, is a reference to US Grant. Did he live or vacation at that spot??Lee
3. BeZee: Well, look at Wesley Lake! Washed by the ocean, fed by a freshwater stream that ran all the way out to Whitesville, (later called Wesley Brook). People actually used to drink the water. Nice while it lasted. But the ocean outlet was plugged by the CMA early on to provide a reliable source of aquatic recreation. Then the area surrounding the brook became populated by a “careless population” that used it to dispose of all sorts of crap (literally). Which created a “disgusting” situation that the town fathers thought to address by means of a “catch basin” at the head of the Lake. Not sure that ever happened. But a constant source of complaints in the OG Annual Reports 1900-1910 or so. So when there are complaints about the condition of the Lake now, just know that it used to be worse…
4. Paul @Blogfinger: Lee. I know that a number of US Presidents did visit Long Branch. They have the 7 Presidents Park there today, and one of those 7 who visited there was Grant. Grant also visited Ocean Grove. He parked his horse outside the gates and walked over to drink tea at a woman’s house on Wesley Lake. She supposedly was his sister.
5. NJ Commenter: To Lee Morgan: US Grant owned a cottage at 995 Ocean Ave in the Elberon section of Long Branch. It was the summer White House from 1869 to 1876. The cottage was demolished in 1963; it stood on the property now adjacent to the Stella Maris Retreat House. There are several photos available online with President and Mrs. Grant relaxing on their porch with family and friends.
6. Focused: The only significant interesting thing about this map is the center of Ocean Grove where a huge pile of earth that has never been dealt with still divides a number of east and west running streets in the Grove. So those streets ended up having different names depending on which side of this pile of earth you lived on.
7. Paul @Blogfinger: Notice the unnamed north-south roadway to the immediate west of OG. Undoubtedly that became Rt. 71 later. The houses out there belonged to pre-existing families having nothing to do with the Camp Meeting, including names like White, Bennet, Youman. The Bennet name is all over that area. Some of those families probably sold land to the OGCMA as they bought up quite a few small properties in 1869 to stitch together the town of Ocean Grove.
Note the lumber yard and the toll house (maybe where the cookies were first baked.),
Also, at the north end of Asbury Park is a lake (probably Sunset Lake) with a road running west to Wegmans featuring Mallomars on sale every September—not shown on this map.
8 Wisher: It is interesting how Whitesville disappeared, when it was so prominent on the map. Every time I drive down Neptune Avenue and pass that forest area to the right next to Shop Rite, I wonder what artifacts might be there. I think the town may have stretched from The Shop Rite area to the circle/roundabout on 35.
Please keep the history comments coming in. The music will post below
BLOSSOM DEARIE:
The Pier: From the OG Annual Report of 1882
Posted in Ocean Grove history, tagged Ocean Grove Fishing Pier in 1881 on September 26, 2022| 3 Comments »
Photo: 1881 Fishing Pier in Ocean Grove. Submitted by Rich Amole, BF staff.
By Rich Amole— Blogfinger historian and reporter
The photo above shows the original pier built off Embury ave. in 1881.
Back then the sewer line went out to the shoreline and the pier was built to protect it. Next thing you know someone wants to fish out on it so a charge of 5 cents is collected. Strippers were far and few between and it turned out to be a bad year for fishing as they made only $650 in the July to September season. Of course those folks just wishing to take a stroll down the pier had a nice unobstructed view of the Atlantic and there is something to be said about this simple pleasure.
Editor’s note: Rich, you can be darned sure that “strippers were far and few between” in the 1881 religious community of Ocean Grove. But stripers are another story—— a fine kettle of fish. —-PG
ps. What’s going on?—just today we had “pubic pier” sent to BF and corrected by our man in Havana I.M. Radar.
PHIL OCHS:
Days 1880.
Posted in Ocean Grove history, tagged Day's ice cream on September 16, 2022| 1 Comment »
Source unknown. Days 1880. Submitted by Rosemary Salow. “Oh waiter, I ordered the mocha latte cappuccino chocolate crunch with whipped cream!”
BETTE MIDLER (my cousin) “Bei mir bist du schon”
North End Ross Pavilion: 1907. Blogfinger OG historic insights:
Posted in Ocean Grove history, Ocean Grove history by Rich Amole, tagged Old Dan Tucker, Ross Pavilion in Ocean Grove on August 9, 2022| 2 Comments »
Bookstore at the Ross Pavilion, North End, Boardwalk. Ocean Grove, New Jersey 1907. Submitted by Rich Amole, Blogfinger historian and reporter. Click to enlarge.
Hi Paul:
This wonderful image at the northern end of Ocean Grove is from a post card taken at the Ross Pavilion in 1907 showing a number of ladies gathered in front of the bookstore in their Victorian Dresses. Close inspection of the reading material shows a few shelves with hard back covers, and perhaps the shop owner, noticeable on the left side of the scene, peers out over pamphlets and other soft covered reading material with prices ranging from two indian head pennies to one Morgan Dollar and change.
In addition to a few shops there was a pavilion that would assist residents and visitors with their bathing needs and access to the beach. There also was an open air auditorium with a bandstand for live music.
Rich
Source: Ebay. 2014.
Back in 1907, here’s a Springsteen song , “Old Dan Tucker,” which they may have played over at the Ross Pavilion.
The Borough of Ocean Grove: A history as told on the 70th Anniversary of OG (1869-1939)
Posted in Ocean Grove Historical Society, Ocean Grove history, Ocean Grove history by Blogfinger, tagged The Borough of Ocean Grove on August 4, 2022| 3 Comments »
Thornley Chapel. Ocean Grove, NJ Paul Goldfinger photograph, undated ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger.net
When I first took an interest in the history of Ocean Grove, I went to the Camp Meeting Association to interview their historian. Much to my surprise, this historic institution had no such official who could be a spokesman regarding their history.
Instead I was informed that the Historical Society of Ocean Grove served in that capacity. To be honest, I found that to be strange and essentially untrue.
As a result, no one has assiduously taken on that responsibility. And as a result, there are failures in the re-telling, such as we saw recently in trying to find the correct name for “the fountain” in Founders Park.
Others have tried to step into the void such as authors Ted Bell, Ted David, and Paul Goldfinger who have written about it.
In 1939, at the time of the Grove’s 70th anniversary, a book was published called “History of Ocean Grove” compiled by the Ocean Grove Times “in cooperation with the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association.” The writing was credited to Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Gibbons.
At various times in the past, as recently as 1985, the subject of secession from Neptune Township by the town of Ocean Grove has come up.
And the records show that such an event actually happened for one year in 1920. Here (below) is the verbatim chapter from the 1939 Gibbons’ book called “The Borough of Ocean Grove.” It is likely that the authors were present in 1920 when this history was being made.
Part I:
Probably the greatest victory won by the proponents of a change in Ocean Grove came in 1920 when the Legislature approved the Borough Bill.
The Camp Meeting Association had gone along with the backers of the bill freely demonstrating the spirit of good will existing between the board and many of the town’s leading citizens.
The newly-organized Civic Betterment League established amicable relations with the Camp Meeting Association, and a joint conference was held at the Chalfonte Hotel, Atlantic City.
A joint committee was named to draft a bill for the Borough of Ocean Grove, the group consisting of Governor Stokes, Judge Harold B. Wells, and Counsellor W. Holt Apgar, for the Association, and Robert M. Watt, Stephen D. Wooley, and Counsellor Richard W. Stout for the Civic League. Mr. Stout, then Assemblyman from Monmouth County, agreed to sponsor the bill in the Legislature.
After several meetings of the Joint Committee, the bill was prepared, approved by both the Camp Meeting Association and the Civic Betterment League, and introduced by Assemblyman Stout.
The Ocean Grove Borough Bill passed the Assembly 38-2, and the State Senate, 15-0, and was duly signed by Governor Edward I. Edwards.
Immediately after the passage of the bill, an organization was formed, headed by Dr. Charles J Massinger, William S. Hopper, Andrew T. VanCleve, and William E. Bunn, which opposed the formation of a borough. Mass meetings were held by both sides, pamphlets and other literature were circulated among the citizens, and great enthusiasm and bitterness prevailed.
At the referendum, provided for in the bill, its adoption was overwhelmingly voted for. After the referendum a primary was held in the Association Hall with some five hundred present (Incidentally Woman’s Suffrage had not been ratified and only men voted,) at which candidates for the various borough offices were nominated.
Subsequently, at a special election, Robert M. Watt was elected Mayor, and T. Nelson Lillagore, George C. Pridham, Rev. Thomas J.J. Wright, Dr. William A. Robinson and William E. Carpenter were elected members of the Council; Harry G. Shreve, Assessor; and Joseph Rainear, Collector. These men were re-elected at the regular election, with the exception of William E. Carpenter, who declined to be a candidate , and Lot R. Ward, Sr, was elected in his stead.
NOTE On August 11, 1920, in a brief article in the New York Times (dateline August 10, 1920) the headline read: “Ocean Grove Elects First Mayor.” The dateline says Ocean Grove, NJ: “Robert M Watt is the first Mayor of Ocean Grove Borough. He was elected today with six Councilmen.”
The organization meeting of the Mayor and Council was held in the social parlors of the Eagle Hook and Ladder Company. Frederick A. Smith, President of the company and on behalf of the company, presented the Mayor with an engraved gavel and pedestal. At the meeting Stephen d. Wooley was elected President of the Council, John E. Quinn was appointed Clerk and Richard W. Stout, Counsel, and the various committees were appointed. An emergency note for $20,000 was authorized and later discounted at the Ocean Grove National Bank.
On January 14, 1921, the Mayor and Council adopted an annual budget totaling $60,390.00.
Over the next year, a great battle developed over the new Borough, and the “rise and fall of the Borough” ensued. Gibbons called it “The Famous Borough Fight.”
Followup the next year. (1921). The CMA retracted its support for the Borough of OG, and then, a few court battles later, the Borough of Ocean Grove Act was found to be unconstitutional, and governance was returned to the CMA.
In 1985 there was another battle looking to secede, but it was defeated. Frank Pallone (our congressman then and now) tried to help the Grovers who were in the fight.
FRANK SINATRA “My Kind of Town.”
Looking back in the Grove: A Cottage for sale
Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Ocean Grove history, Ocean Grove tent colony, tagged Ocean Grove cottages on June 20, 2022| 6 Comments »
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger.net Posted 2015. Re-post now.
The first cottage built in Ocean Grove was called “Pioneer Cottage.” A gentleman from Warsaw, New York built it on Asbury Avenue in 1870. You can still see it at 64 Asbury Avenue. It is quite large now. The size of early cottages was influenced by the standard small lot size of 30′ x 60.’ Also, many cottages were created at the site of prior tents.
Around 1900, Mrs. W.B. Osborn, an author and wife of the OG founder wrote a book called Pioneer Days of Ocean Grove. In it she relates how Pres. Stokes decided to present a “cottage” to Rev. W.B. Osborn “as a testimonial of esteem and in further consideration for labors rendered.” A “handsome cottage” was built for Osborn at a cost of over $3,000.00. The money was raised outside of CMA funds, and “the whole scheme was carried to completion by the perseverance of the wife of the Rev. John S. Inskip alone.”
The presentation was made at a gala event on July 15, 1873. Osborn was evidently a sort of snowbird, because they had to wait for him to return from Florida.
Of course many cottages were constructed after that, and over the years, a considerable number were changed and enlarged. Today, OG cottages can still be found all over town, and despite their size, they remain highly desirable to this day.
This sign is on the median of Broadway. June 10, 2015. Blogfinger photo ©
This wonderful, happy cottage was photographed on June 10, 2015 on Broadway. Definitely not for sale. By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net ©
DINAH WASHINGTON tells us that a house isn’t necessarily a home. Sometimes a derelict house has a story to tell, and we need to think about them that way.
Historic Victorian paint colors in Ocean Grove: the good, the bad, and the ugly…
Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Ocean Grove artists, Ocean Grove historic restorations, Ocean Grove history, Ocean Grove Victorian homes, tagged Victorian colors in Ocean Grove on May 30, 2022| 7 Comments »
Intricate use of multiple colors can be difficult. Click to enlarge.
Home on Pennsylvania Avenue in Ocean Grove , just painted, used new historic red and bright yellow from Benjamin Moore. Blogfinger photo ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @blogfinger
Major paint manufacturers offer color charts that are called “historic Victorian.” The HPC in Ocean Grove seems to pay heed mostly to the Benjamin Moore company. Choices from the historic charts of other companies might get rejected at the HPC. Perhaps you have wondered about the purple house as you enter the Grove. That was an approved color, but evidently the HPC later said that it was a mistake.
Those of you who have wrestled with color decisions for your OG home know that there are a wide array of choices, but perhaps you don’t know that the paint companies are always adding new colors.
A lot of the paint company decisions are based on archeological information. The chemical makeup of historic home colors used in the 19th century resulted in a limited choice, but now you can get many approved colors available in latex paints.
Some homeowners use 14 or more different colors. Of course that sort of paint job can be expensive.
Delicate painting of decorative trim requires a steady hand and a bucket loader. 113 Mt. Hermon Way. Blogfinger photo . Joan Corbo painter. Click to enlarge.
Some people think of the San Francisco “painted ladies” when they think of Victorian colors, but, as Ocean Grove designer J. Cortese has said, the “new look” are darker hues. And we have learned that the “painted ladies” pastels would not be approved in the Grove.
33 Main Avenue design by J. Cortese. Blogfinger photo ©
The quote below is from a 2015 Blogfinger post.
“This purple house (above) is at 33 Main Avenue. Some people love the colors while others hate them. We spoke to J. Cortese about this restoration project which he designed, color consulted and construction managed. J. uses historic colors, but he also enjoys the unexpected, changing over recently to darker “rich” colors in the Grove. He says that all his colors are approved and chosen from historic color charts. He thinks that darker colors are “more historic.”
Yellow seems to be more popular recently. Some of you are familial with the spectacular restoration at the Founders Park end of Seaview Avenue (26 Lake Avenue, a yellow Bersheeba Award winner). Link below:
BF post on spectacular yellow home
And then there are colors which most people in town don’t like, but either they were done that way without permission, or the HPC made a mistake. Do you think that the Mary’s’ Place blue color (see below) ought to be considered historic? Is a blue roof historic? Does the HPC practice favoritism?
And do you recall the orange house on Mt. Hermon Way? That owner went ahead with it even though that orange is not historic. The owner argued that 19th century homeowners were allowed to pick any colors they wanted —–the palette was very limited;—-all the colors then were dreary. So the orange house owner said that our modern choices should also be whatever we want. And, she argued, that the orange house would make her happy, so how about the “pursuit of happiness” promised in our Declaration of Independence–definitely some colorful patriotic reasoning.
Mary’s Place. 12/15. Main Avenue Ocean Grove. Blogfinger photo. Is the blue roof OK? The other blue on the siding looks darker now. Blogfinger photo 12/15. ©
KEITH URBAN with a song about the color blue—“Blue Ain’t Your Color” (This song was nominated for two 2017 Grammy awards.)
This blue law ended 34 years ago. Some Grovers would like it to return.
Posted in Ocean Grove history, tagged Blue laws ended in 1980 in Ocean Grove, Sunday closures in Ocean Grove on May 20, 2022| 19 Comments »
Postcard. Gates were opened permanently in 1980.
This sign hangs in the Historical Society museum on Pitman Ave. Blogfinger photo.
A ruling by the NJ Supreme Court in 1979 declared this and other blue laws to be unconstitutional as administered by the Camp Meeting Association. The official governance turnover to Neptune Township took place in 1980 after the US Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
As you can see, the “gates” were not actually gates. There was a chain. The police officer was an Ocean Grove policeman. Now you can even get a bus in OG on Sunday into New York City.
HARRY NILSSON:
Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger. (this post is from 2014, but history is always timely, and the comments with this post are very stimulating.) If you have any comments now, please send them by email or by using the comments button below.
September 1923. Ocean Grove.
Posted in Ocean Grove history, Photographic Gallery: Ocean Grove, tagged Ocean Grove historic photograph on May 10, 2022| 1 Comment »
Ocean Grove, NJ. 1923. Photographer unknown. Submitted by Eileen Goldfinger © 2015.
KATHY BRIER From vol 1 of the soundtrack from Boardwalk Empire. Orchestra by Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, Grammy winner for this amazing HBO series.
Don’t Know Much About History? Ocean Grove’s Remarkable Story Timeline is About Much More Than Religion.
Posted in Blogfinger News, Ocean Grove history, Ocean Grove history by Blogfinger, tagged Ocean Grove history, Ocean Grove history timeline, Timeline on April 11, 2022| 2 Comments »
This photograph (with permission) is the first in Ted Bell’s ” Images of America: Ocean Grove.” CLICK TO ENLARGE
BLOGFINGER RE-RUN FROM 2010. It’s important that more people other than tourists learn OG history. This timeline gives some perspective for new Grovers and others who ought to educate themselves to this sequence of events. Thus we periodically re-post this timeline.
By Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor @Blogfinger.net.
Ocean Grove’s history is a fascinating saga about how a Methodist summer community founded in 1869 eventually evolved into a historic and diverse year-round tourist town while preserving its religious and architectural characteristics.
Sure it’s about the Camp Meeting Association (CMA), the Great Auditorium, the tents, and the famous religious figures who took center stage since the founding, but there is so much more to tell, particularly about the town’s secular history including: its governance; the multiple attempts to secede from Neptune; the successful but temporary creation of an independent secular Borough of Ocean Grove in 1920; opening of the gates in 1979; loss of governance by the CMA in 1980; the decline of the “blue laws”; the extraordinary successes of the Ocean Grove Homeowner’s Association as they transform OG from shabbiness to renaissance by the 1990’s; the remarkable demographic changes of the 1990’s including the growth of the gay community, the amazing musical heritage, the fights over taxes, and there is so much more.
The Historical Society of Ocean Grove has offered wonderful exhibits about such topics as the women’s suffrage movement and the African-American “history trail” here, and we at Blogfinger have run two pieces about John Phillip Sousa in Ocean Grove as well as the account of Paul Robeson’s 1925 concert in the Great Auditorium.
We plan to continue our series of articles on some of the less well known accounts in Ocean Grove’s history, especially focusing on secular events. We will begin the process of digging into Ocean Grove’s fascinating past with a time-line. It’s important for Grovers to know this history. You may be surprised by some of the items below:
1869: Ocean Grove is founded by the Rev. William Osborne and his colleagues. They form the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church (CMA) and begin purchasing land. The town is part of Ocean Township. The CMA’s goal is to provide and maintain a Christian seaside resort.
1870: The New Jersey Legislature grants a charter to CMA which allows them to govern in Ocean Grove. They can make ordinances, establish a police department and a court of law, and administer all infrastructure and services including schools, sanitation and library.
The town is designed “from scratch,” becoming one of the first planned communities in the US. The first lots are “sold” (i.e. leased) from the CMA which retains ownership of all the land. The first cottage is built in 1870.
1872: Over 300 cottages have been built.
1875: Rev Adam Wallace founds the Ocean Grove Record, the town’s first newspaper. Rev. E. H. Stokes, the first CMA President says, regarding the gate closure on Sunday, that “there is no human probability that these rules will ever be revoked.” The first train from New York arrives in OG. People begin to stay year round.
1879: The NJ Legislature creates Neptune Township by carving it out of Ocean Township and incorporates Ocean Grove’s boundaries as part of Neptune. Ocean Grove CMA and lot/home owners pay taxes to Neptune. Leaseholders (“lessees”) must continue to pay “ground rent” to the CMA.
The CMA refuses all services from Neptune and continues to function as the “governing authority,” maintaining rigid control in OG. Physical isolation within its boundaries, “blue laws,” land ownership, and a homogeneous population of Methodists contribute to the sustained CMA rule. Ocean Grove is, in practice, a theocracy. But that will become a problem for them over 100 years later.
1897: The first mention of tax discontentment appears as CMA President Bishop Fitzgerald speaks publicly about Neptune’s tax bill and says, “Of the discrimination against us in the matter of taxation does not as yet seem to admit of remedy.”
1898: Ocean Grove’s “lessees,” who pay property taxes to Neptune Township, want the CMA to pay the land taxes to Neptune. A suit is brought by the homeowners, but in 1900 the NJ Supreme Court sides with the CMA.
1912: Ocean Grove’s citizens want to participate in the town’s governance, so they elect a Board of Representative Lessees to join with the CMA in managing the town’s affairs. There was unrest, with many citizens disliking this peculiar arrangement and wanting Ocean Grove to be a regular town with an elected secular government.
1915: the Ocean Grove Taxpayers and Protective League is formed.
1918: CMA has financial problems and asks Neptune to take over police, garbage and sanitation functions. Neptune refuses.
1920. The Lessee Board is dissolved, and the Civic Betterment League is formed. Its goal is the creation of an independent Ocean Grove Borough. The CMA supports the idea, and the NJ Legislature passes an Ocean Grove Borough bill which creates an incorporated borough, apart from Neptune. Governor Edwards signs it into law, a referendum in town receives wide support, and local elections are held.
The new Borough of Ocean Grove operates for one year, but they retain the CMA “blue laws”. Opponents in town want things the old way and they form the “Lessees Association” They sue in State Supreme Court.
1921: The NJ Court of Errors and Appeals finds the Borough bill to be unconstitutional, because the Borough has allowed religious ordinances to stand. The Borough bill might have been upheld if the “blue laws” were discarded, but the CMA and its supporters refuse. The Borough is dissolved, and governance goes back to Neptune and the CMA. This was not the first attempt to gain secular control of OG, but this one came the closest.
1923: A bill to make Ocean Grove a separate tax district with its own tax rates gets “lost in the legislature.”
1924: A big battle ensues as Neptune tries to substantially increase the CMA’s taxes, including high taxes on the beach, Auditorium, streets, sewers, etc. CMA wins in 1925 at the NJ Tax Board, and most of their holdings are not taxed.
1925-1960: The town is a popular summer resort and is known internationally. Huge crowds visit along with US Presidents and many celebrities. As for the ongoing arguments in Ocean Grove, the historian Gibbon says, in 1939, “Many times residents and land lessees of the town have voiced their objection to the local rules, to the tax situation or to the form of government, especially from 1900-1925, and there have been many court fights.”
For the most part, things stay the same.
1960-1980: Ocean Grove declines, along with much of the Jersey shore. (See below)
1975: A group of dedicated citizens led by Mr. Ted Bell and his colleagues obtain approval for OG’s designation as a State and National historic district. It is a complicated process. Formation of Board of Architectural Review (BAR) happens in 1984. (Later re-named the Historic Preservation Commission—HPC.)
1975: A newspaper service sues over Sunday’s gate closures, which had been permitted by town ordinance. The NJ Supreme Court strikes down the ordinance on grounds that it violates the first amendment to the Constitution (freedom of the press). The gates are opened for the news service only, but the CMA is allowed to continue its theocratic governance of Ocean Grove and the enforcement of other “blue laws”. Many people in Ocean Grove view the gates’ opening as an unhappy event.
1977: A lawsuit stemming from a drunk-driving conviction challenges the authority of Ocean Grove’s municipal court. The NJ Supreme Court widens the scope of the case and decides in June, 1979 that CMA governance in Ocean Grove is in violation of the Constitutional separation of church and state. Appeals are filed. This marks the beginning of the end for CMA governance in OG.
1980: The US Supreme Court would not hear the appeal, so governance of OG is transferred from the CMA to Neptune Township. Neptune eventually eliminates most of the blue laws. Only the Sunday morning beach closure and the ban on alcohol sales remain.
1980’s: By the 1980’s, the town is characterized by an overall “decrepitude,” including deterioration of buildings, declining tourism, crime, and a growing poor elderly population. (2) Deinstitutionalized mental patients are housed in empty old hotels and rooming houses in Ocean Grove. The town becomes a “psychiatric ghetto” (NY Times, October 1988), and, by the 1980’s, 10% of the town’s population are mental cases who are not receiving appropriate services and are sometimes abused by landlords. The prognosis for Ocean Grove is dire.
During this period, the Ocean Grove Homeowner’s Association (OGHOA) develops as a political and activist force that successfully begins the process of converting the town from decay to renaissance. (2f)
1990’s: OGHOA, led by Mr. Herb Herbst, Fran Paladino and others, fight for fair treatment in the allotment of the mentally ill around the state. The group’s political contacts and influence are considerable. The process is complex and difficult, but the numbers of “de-institutionalized” in OG drops considerably.
The group also saw to the closing of many substandard boarding and rooming houses. The HOA presents Neptune with a “master plan” to protect the historic nature of OG and to rezone for the promotion of single family houses. OGHOA promotes secular tourism while working with CMA to increase religious tourism. New people come into town to buy homes and invest in businesses.
1995:
The historic Neptune High School is saved from becoming low income housing by a group of Ocean Grove homeowners led by Mr. Herb Herbst and with the assistance of State Senator Joseph Palaia and others. (3, 4) The Jersey Shore Arts Center is owned and run today by a nonprofit tax exempt organization: The Ocean Grove Historic Preservation Society.
2000: Secular goals achieved as of 2000: increased property values, increased upgrading of houses, improved relations with Neptune, improved downtown with quaint shops, art galleries, cafes, etc., reduced crime, increased tourism, reduced de-institutionalized patients, demographic changes (increased gays, empty nesters, retirees, professionals, academics, young artists, and middle class families).
2005: House prices peak.
2007: New topics emerge: North End development, Ocean Pavilion dispute (gays vs. CMA), evolving demographics including more second home purchases, significant increases in property taxes, parking problems, Asbury Park development stalls, and home prices decline.
2009: Ocean Grove blog is founded (Blogfinger.net) by Paul Goldfinger, MD to help fill in the gap created when the OG newspaper closed. It offered a place to voice opinions about Ocean Grove’s many ongoing issues.
October 29, 2012. super-storm Sandy hits the Jersey Shore and destroys the Ocean Grove beachfront, part of the Great Auditorium roof, and floods the south side of town.
2009-2022: Blogfinger documents ongoing issues in town. Use the search engine on top right.
SAM AND DAVE:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
1. R. Gibbons, History of Ocean Grove: 1869-1939 (Ocean Grove Times, 1939)
2. K. Schmelzkopf, Landscape, ideology, and religion: a geography of Ocean Grove, New Jersey, Journal of Historical Geography, 28, 4 (2002) 589-608
3. Kevin Chambers, Herb Herbst, and Wayne T. Bell, personal communication,( 2008)
4. Archives, Asbury Park Press, (Feb 19, 1997.)
OG Historical Snapshots: When the Realtors Came to Town—1872.
Posted in Blogfinger News, Ocean Grove history, tagged Ocean Grove history--lesson one, Realtors in the Grove on April 3, 2022| 1 Comment »
Swimwear from “Victorians’ Secrets.” *
By Paul Goldfinger, history editor @Blogfinger
In 1869, the Founding Fathers founded Ocean Grove in Larry’s Park (later, the name was changed to Founders’ Park.) Soon thereafter, many visitors came to this popular resort. Some people wanted to live here, but sleeping in tents began to wear thin, so a building boom began, and along with that came realtors in 1872.
They opened an office on Main Avenue and called it Century 19. Many of the realtors were young ladies who wore billowing dresses with hoops and crinolines that made them extra wide. It was fun watching 2 or 3 of them squeeze inside a tent. They drove their clients around in shiny buggies that said “20% down” on the back.
The sales pitch for selling houses here must have been a challenge because of all the limitations: no horses in town on Sunday, no alcoholic drinks, no tossing pie pans on Sunday, no carousing on Saturday night, and no hanky panky.
Well, that last one was quickly tossed out due to overwhelming opposition by the folks in the choir, especially the basses and the sopranos. Besides, Grovers did need something else to do on Sunday.
Another reason why there was no “blue law” for sex was that a baby was conceived in the tent colony, and that is where the term “Founding Father” was born.
One of the problems was that Rev. Stokes had organized a lot sale. People came from New York City and Philadelphia to buy land in this unique town. Then, somehow, it turned out that they had purchased a lease. “What the heck avenue?” they complained.
But even today, no one knows why their house is sitting on somebody else’s land. Luckily, lawyers followed the realtors into town and they made it all official.
It should be noted that you couldn’t go to Asbury Park for fun back then, because it was a sedate place having just been founded in 1871. The Asburians tried to emulate the example of Ocean Grove, but good luck with that idea.
Watch for our next installment of “OG Historical Snapshots” when we will tell the story of Jewish Grovers and how they introduced bagels with cream cheese to God’s Square Mile.
*One of the girls in the picture is April Cornell. She eventually opened a beautiful shop on Main Avenue in the Grove, but she was forced out by some creepy developer from New York. After that she opened in Spring Lake where the locals appreciate her despite her baggy “cover your butt” fashions.
And now that Stokes is gone we hear that some new women’s fashions will debut this summer in the Grove. This photo reveals an example of a California style miniskirt. Who says that miniskirts cannot get any minier?
This photo from Santa Barbara is by SBCFireinfo/twitter. Their crowds are almost as big as ours in Ocean Grove, sponsored by the Chamber of Commercials and the OGCMA. Will the CMA object when she shows up in the Grove for Bridgefest ?
And here is Dinah Washington, who knows what to do on Sunday:
Ocean Grove’s Quaker Inn 1943. And a mystery in 2021.
Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Ocean Grove history, tagged The Quaker Inn at Ocean Grove on October 30, 2021| 2 Comments »
Current photo of the Quaker Inn. 2021. By Lee Morgan of OG. Note that there is a new owner.
Paul Goldfinger Editor. Blogfinger.net
It wasn’t long after the founding of Ocean Grove in 1869 that the town became famous as a tourist attraction, mostly because of its specialty—-religious tourism. Along with that fame came the railroad and the building of hotels and rooming houses.
It is said that the Quaker Inn, located at #39 Main Avenue at the corner with Central, was built in 1875.
In the History of Ocean Grove dated 1939, by Gibbons, there were 84 hotels listed. The Quaker Inn Hotel was still listed at #39 Main Avenue.
Rich Amole, Blogfinger staff, took an interest in the Inn after finding the 1943 postcard below. Rich is the author of a meticulously researched history of the Shawmont Hotel.
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Paul:
The attachment is a 1943 linen post card of the Quaker Inn. This wonderful card advertises 40 rooms with running water and private bath availability. Complete with a restaurant and soda fountain and two four digit phone numbers; back then the Quaker still maintains it’s 136 years of history pleasing all who come to stay at the corner of Main & Central in Ocean Grove.
Rich Amole. Source: Ebay
Editor’s Note: It’s remarkable how this image from over 70 years ago looks like today’s Quaker Inn.
The image shown above appears in black and white in Ted Bell and Chris Flynn’s book Ocean Grove in Vintage Postcards. They also have a photo (below—with permission) of the restaurant and soda fountain which was a bright and cheerful place seen in the picture above from the outside as the row of windows running along Central Avenue.
Ted and Chris report that the Quaker Inn ads said, “The Perfect Location for a Grove Vacation.”
The caption for the above photo says, “Shown is a partial view of the restaurant and soda fountain at the Quaker Inn. The Quaker style is reflected in the stagecoach wall hangings.”
History/mystery 2021: Recently Ocean Grover Lee Morgan found a page from the Ocean Grove Times dated August 27, 1915. It contains an interesting ad for the Ocean Grove Hotel. That hotel was not mentioned in the 1939 hotel list, but you can see that the address is #39 Main Avenue.
Photo courtesy of Lee Morgan. The Ocean Grove Hotel c 1915
Courtesy of Lee Morgan of Ocean Grove. A later photo. compare to above.
So, as Lee points out, The Quaker Inn is not the historic name for this hotel–It appears to have been the Ocean Grove Hotel. Thanks to Lee Morgan for pointing out this fact.
JULIE LONDON: