Ocean Grove, New Jersey
Ocean Grove is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) in Neptune Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. It is located on the Atlantic Ocean Jersey Shore, between Asbury Park to the north and Bradley Beach to the south. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Ocean Grove is noted for its abundant examples of Victorian architecture.Ocean Grove was founded in 1869 as an outgrowth of the camp meeting movement in the United States, when a group of Methodist clergymen, led by William B. Osborn and Ellwood H. Stokes, formed the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association to develop and operate a summer camp meeting site on the New Jersey seashore. By the early 20th century, the popular Christian meeting ground became known as the 'Queen of Religious Resorts.' The community's land is still owned by the camp meeting association and leased to individual homeowners and businesses. Ocean Grove remains the longest-active camp meeting site in the United States.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.0 km2 (0.4 mi2). 0.9 km2 (0.4 mi2) of it is land and 0.1 km2 (0.04 mi2) of it (10.00%) is water.Frequent rail passenger service to New York City is provided by New Jersey Transit from nearby Asbury Park station. The nearest airport having scheduled commercial airline service is Newark Liberty International Airport, 45 miles (72 km) north, although Monmouth Executive Airport for general aviation airplanes is just 6 miles (10 km) distant.Interstate 195 provides highway access to Ocean Grove from the New Jersey Turnpike, Philadelphia, and points west. The nearby Garden State Parkway connects Ocean Grove with points north and south, such as New York City and Atlantic City.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,256 people, 2,331 households, and 785 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 4,564.6/km2 (11,956.5/mi2). There were 3,156 housing units at an average density of 3,384.8/km2 (8,866.3/mi2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 93.14% White, 3.95% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.96% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.92% from other races, and 0.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.62% of the population.There were 2,331 households out of which 10.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 23.6% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 66.3% were non-families. 56.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.67 and the average family size was 2.59.In the CDP the population was spread out with 9.9% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 24.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 82.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.1 males.The median income for a household in the CDP was $31,935, and the median income for a family was $58,583. Males had a median income of $38,389 versus $31,886 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $26,232. About 5.1% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.0% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.However, because Ocean Grove is a summer resort community and many residences are thus unoccupied during the winter months, these statistics may not be representative of the actual population at all times of the year.
Governance
The desire to develop a Christian seaside community for summer worship and relaxation led William B. Osborn (1832–1902), a leader of the camp meeting movement in mid-19th century America, to select the site of present-day Ocean Grove for its wooded, mosquito-free location. Ellwood H. Stokes (October 10, 1815 – July 16, 1895), a Methodist minister from Philadelphia, and others joined together to purchase a square mile of land fronting on the Atlantic Ocean. A state charter was issued to the newly formed Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association on March 3, 1870, granting the 26 trustees (13 ministers and 13 lay persons) the authority to purchase and hold the one square mile of real estate comprising Ocean Grove, and to construct and maintain all necessary works to supply the town with utilities and other municipal services, including law enforcement.Later, efforts to establish a separate borough of Ocean Grove were attempted many times. Ocean Grove was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 5, 1920, from portions of Neptune Township, but the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals ruled the municipality unconstitutional on May 12, 1921, and the borough was dissolved as of June 16, 1921.Although Ocean Grove reverted back as part of Neptune Township with the court's decision of 1921, the Camp Meeting Association continued to exercise local ordinance enforcement powers until 1981, when a newspaper deliverer successfully sued to end the resort's blue law banning Sunday vehicular traffic and requiring it to disband its police force and 'municipal' court. The Camp Meeting still owns all the land in town and leases it to homeowners and businesses for 99-year renewable terms. The Camp Meeting Association currently keeps its beach closed on Sunday mornings between 8:30 am and 12:30 pm and Ocean Grove is still 'dry', that is, the sale of all alcoholic beverages is prohibited.
History
On July 31, 1869, Reverend Osborn, Reverend Stokes, and other Methodist ministers camped at a shaded, well-drained spot on New Jersey's seashore and decided to establish a permanent Christian camp meeting community called 'Ocean Grove.'Drawing from the major population centers of New York City and Philadelphia, Ocean Grove became a popular destination during the growth of the camp meeting movement in post-Civil War America. Tents and an open-air wooden shelter, or tabernacle, were erected in the 1870s, for the trainloads of visitors arriving by the New York and Long Branch Railroad after 1875. In 1877 alone, 710,000 railroad tickets were sold for the Ocean Grove-Asbury Park train station.A well was dug in the summer of 1870, near the site of the first tabernacle, to provide fresh water (the 'Beersheba' well, named from a well in Israel mentioned in scripture, is still in existence). A second, larger tabernacle was built in the 1880s and permanent structures began to be constructed. Streets were paved and some were given Biblical names, such as 'Pilgrim Pathway' and 'Mt. Tabor Way'.As Ocean Grove drew more and more visitors, the second tabernacle was also outgrown, and construction of the present Great Auditorium was completed in 1894. Originally designed to accommodate crowds of as many as 10,000 people, the subsequent installation of theater-style cushioned seating in many sections reduced seating capacity to about 6,000. Regardless, it remains Ocean Grove's most prominent structure and the centerpiece of its summer programs (see more about the Auditorium further down the page). By the early 20th century, said the New York Times in 1986, it was called the 'Queen of Religious Resorts ... Visitors would travel miles to bask in the Victorian seaside splendor and to attend engaging, extroverted religious ceremonies. Millions of people, tourists and pilgrims both, made the trip to Ocean Grove every summer.'Until Ocean Grove's municipal authority was folded into Neptune Township in 1981, it boasted a set of unique laws, including one that made it illegal on Sundays to have cars on the streets of Ocean Grove. This had a significant effect on the development of a close-knit community. People looking to get away for the weekend typically avoided the Grove (the beach was closed on Sunday, too). That meant the visitors were likely to be coming for a week-long visit or more. Most came to attend programs sponsored by the Camp Meeting.President Ulysses S. Grant visited Ocean Grove during his time in office and made his last public appearance in this town. Other presidents to speak on the grounds include James Garfield, William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Richard Nixon. Heavyweight boxing champions James J. Corbett and Max Baer and department store magnate F.W. Woolworth were among the celebrities of the day who vacationed in Ocean Grove.In 1975, Ocean Grove was designated a State and National Historic District as a 19th century planned urban community. It has the greatest extent of Victorian and early-20th century architecture in the United States.During the 1960s–1980s, the town declined along with much of the New Jersey seashore, and was pejoratively called 'Ocean Grave' due to the general air of decrepitude, and the elderly population. But beginning in the 1990s, and through 2006, Ocean Grove experienced a dramatic increase in property values and a considerable revival in fortune, particularly with the restoration of older hotel structures, many of which had deteriorated into single room occupancy ('SRO') quarters. Also – as part of this resurgence – a number of sidewalk cafés and shops along Main Avenue (the main business thoroughfare) now cater to visitors and seasonal residents.However, as David Willis of the Asbury Park Press reported in a February 15, 2008, article, “For the year, the median (home) sales price fell 1.5 percent in 2007...”. The article also quoted economist James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, who stated that, 'The market was virtually flat...It suggests that the market is far from rebounding, and it may signal that there is weakness ahead.'Plans were announced in 2006 for a major new hotel and condominium development on property which has been vacant since the 1970s, when the old 'North End Hotel' – once Ocean Grove's largest – was damaged by fire and subsequently demolished in 1980. These plans have become controversial though, and in January, 2008, the Planning Board of Neptune stated the North End Redevelopment Proposal was 'inconsistent with the town's Master Plan'.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association
Since its founding, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association's mission is to provide opportunities for spiritual birth, growth, and renewal in a Christian seaside setting. Its 2007 mission statement is:'...rooted in its Methodist heritage, to provide opportunities for spiritual birth, growth and renewal through worship, education, cultural and recreational programs for persons of all ages in a Christian seaside setting.'The Camp Meeting Association's president since 2008 is Scott Rasmussen. Its current slogan is 'God's Square Mile at the Jersey Shore'.
Programs
The Camp Meeting offers traditional and contemporary worship programs throughout the summer, for people of all ages. Sunday worship services are held at 10:30am and 7:30pm in the Great Auditorium. These services have featured such celebrated preachers as Billy Graham, Norman Vincent Peale, Robert H. Schuller, Billy Sunday, Ralph W. Sockman, David H. C. Read, Tony Campolo, James A. Forbes, D. James Kennedy, Charles Stanley, William Jennings Bryan, Booker T. Washington, and Rodney 'Gipsy' Smith. The music is led by a sizeable volunteer choir, accompanied by the world-renowned Hope-Jones organ (see section entitled 'Great Auditorium'). As of 2010, Jason C. Tramm is conductor/musical director and soloists are soprano Monica Ziglar, mezzo-soprano Martha Bartz, bass-baritone Richard Zuch, and tenor/artist-in-residence Ronald Naldi. Since 1955, the annual Choir Festival held in July has gathered thousands of church choir singers, predominantly from the northeastern U.S., to sing 'to the glory of God'. In 1986, New York television station WNET featured the Choir Festival on its Summerfare program.The Grove also offers a contemporary worship service, 'Pavilion Praise,' in the beach's Boardwalk Pavilion each Sunday morning at 9 am. The Bible Hour (scripture study, often led by the preacher at the previous Sunday's Auditorium worship service) is held each weekday morning at 9 am in the Bishop-Janes Tabernacle adjacent to the Auditorium.Youth programs include music and dramatics at the Youth Temple, along with the weekday 'Breakfast Club' for teens and 'Riptide' for younger children.'Bridgefest', an annual two-day event, brings contemporary Christian music to young people and their families, promoted by New York–area radio station 'Bridge FM' (WRDR-FM).Since 2005, the 'The Crosstown Acoustic Cafe' has operated in the Camp Meeting Association's Thornley Chapel west annex as a Saturday night community coffeehouse for conversation and listening to music by guest artists, in a living room-like setting. Said organizer Michael Boniello, 'I'll bake a few desserts, and put on some coffee. Then I'll invite my friends and neighbors to come, until the room is full, and we'll spend the evening together, sharing and listening.'
The Great Auditorium
The Great Auditorium is mostly unchanged after being constructed in 1894 on bridge-like iron trusses laid on stone foundations. Aside from the trusses, the structure is made entirely of wood. The building features numerous 'barn door' entrances with colored glass, dormers, and panels that open for ventilation. The present audience seating accommodates 6,217, though the original arrangement was closer to 10,000. The curving ceiling allowed a preacher to be heard throughout the vast space in the days prior to amplification. The building still features lighting systems quite advanced for their time, such as the parallel rows of incandescent bulbs that adorn the varnished wood ceiling paneling. Also novel is a large American flag (c. 1916) covered with light bulbs that flash in an undulating manner. Illuminated signs flanking the organ's pipework proclaim 'Holiness to the Lord' and 'So be ye holy,' a reflection of the emphasis at camp meetings. Another such reflection is the illuminated Memorial Cross, placed on the Auditorium's front facade at the end of World War II.Surrounding the building is another historical reminder: 114 tents, which are occupied from May to September, just as they have been since 1869. These rustic throwbacks adjoin to rear sheds containing a kitchen and bathroom. The tents are stored in the sheds during the winter. They are in such demand that there is a waiting list of some ten years for summer rentals.
Organ
The Auditorium's pipe organ is one of the 25 largest in the world. Installed in 1908 by the innovative organ builder Robert Hope-Jones, its components have been rebuilt and expanded several times, especially since resident organist Gordon Turk and curator John Shaw took their posts in 1974. Additions continue to be made — including a 14-rank echo division in 2008 — in an effort to broaden the resources necessary to play repertoire of many styles and periods, and to restore those stops unique to the instrument as Hope-Jones conceived it. The organ currently contains five manuals, 176 ranks, and 10,823 total pipes. Prominent organists to have played the Ocean Grove Auditorium organ include Edwin H. Lemare, Pietro Yon, and Frederick Swann. Celebrated organist Virgil Fox gave his last solo concert in the building in 1980. Turk and guest concert organists play free recitals on most Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons in July and August.
Performances and other events
The Great Auditorium has over the years featured famed hymn writer Fanny Crosby, band leader John Philip Sousa, and tenor Enrico Caruso. More recently, singers Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé, and Ray Charles have performed.The Auditorium continues to be the focus of cultural life in Ocean Grove. Among the concerts filling the summer schedule are the acclaimed Summer Stars chamber music programs, which bring some of the finest classical musicians from Philadelphia and New York each Thursday night in July and early August. Saturday nights feature popular entertainment, including appearances by Johnny Mathis, Ronan Tynan, Linda Eder, the Beach Boys, comedian Bill Cosby, and Christian rock stars such as Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Nichole Nordeman, Hillsong United and Sonic Flood.Since 1980, the Auditorium has hosted an annual memorial service for New Jersey law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. The service includes a full Honor Guard, bagpipe procession, and singing by state high school choirs (Princeton High School and the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South choirs have performed in the past). Police, soldiers, National Guardsmen, executive-level officials, and the governor typically attend.According To Greta(2006) was filmed here
Civil union controversy
A same-sex couple filed a civil rights complaint with the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights against the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association in early 2007, claiming the Association discriminated against them by denying their request to hold a civil union ceremony in the Boardwalk Pavilion, which the Association owns and uses for Sunday services, concerts, and weddings. The complaint is the first in New Jersey since same-sex civil unions were recognized there in 2007, said a Division of Civil Rights spokesman.Scott Hoffman, the Chief Administrative Officer of the Camp Meeting Association, was quoted as saying that the association considers the Pavilion to be as much of a religious structure as the Tabernacle or the Youth Temple and that it would not permit same-sex civil union ceremonies to be conducted there, arguing that this was the position of the United Methodist Church.A local advocacy group, 'Ocean Grove United', disputes this, contending that the issue involves public, not religious, property. They contend that the beach and Boardwalk Pavilion are open to the public and that the Camp Meeting Association has accepted public funds for their maintenance and repairs. They also cite the Association's application to the State of New Jersey for monies under the state's 'Green Acres Program', which encourages the use of private property for public recreation and provides a $500,000 annual property tax exemption. In their application for these funds, the Camp Meeting Association reportedly stated that the disputed areas were open to the public. U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (Democrat), in whose Congressional district Ocean Grove is located, stated 'they've taken state, federal and local funds by representing that they are open to the public.'In August, 2007, the Camp Meeting Association filed a federal suit to halt the state's investigation, on the grounds that the Methodist group's First Amendment rights were being infringed. New Jersey moved for dismissal, asking the federal government not to interfere in a state legal matter. On November 8, 2007, Judge Joel Pisano dismissed the motion by the Camp Meeting Association for an injunction that would have stopped the state's investigation.[citation needed] In 2009, the Association's federal lawsuit was remanded to the District Court by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.Brian Raum, counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian conservative legal organization representing the Camp Meeting Association, argued that 'disaster relief is available to anyone' in defending the use of public funds to repair the Great Auditorium when it was damaged in an hurricane. He said that the Methodist association had never represented itself as anything but a religious organization.[citation needed]Complicating matters further is that the boardwalk and beachfront were held in a 1908 ruling to be exempt from property tax because they 'had been dedicated years ago by the association as a public highway'.
Notable residents
Notable current and former residents of Ocean Grove include:Southside Johnny(1948–, as John Lyon), singer songwriter.
Scott Rasmussen, pollster
