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.

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