Auditorium - Ocean Grove, NJ
Posted by: 
94RedRover
N 40° 12.850 W 074° 00.380
18T E 584554 N 4452001
In 1976, Ocean Grove was designated as a State and National Historic District as an example of a 19th century planned urban community.
Waymark Code: WM5K9H
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 01/17/2009
Views: 7
"OCEAN GROVE, 26.8 m. (20 alt., 182 pop.), belongs to the Reconstruction Era and Queen Victoria. The resort was developed in the period of Eastlake architecture, with odd half-houses to which tent fronts are added, with fretwork villas, and with neo-Swiss chalets of the Centennial Exposition type, ornamented with tiers of narrow porches and turrets.
Founded in 1869 for Methodist camp meetings, Ocean Grove has always strictly observed the religious ideals of the founders...
At the head of Pilgrim's Pathway is the AUDITORIUM, wich, like Solomn's Temle, was built without the use of nails.Here are held concerts by well-known singers and musicians.
--- New Jersey: A Guide to its Present and Past, 1939"
Inspired by a week long, outdoor holiness camp in Vineland, New Jersey in 1867, Reverend William B. Osborn, a Methodist preacher, founded a new camp meeting site in a secluded Jersey Shore town. This community was based as a place where spiritual and physical health could be renewed.
On July 31, 1869, a group of ministers met at what is now called "Founders Park" and dedicated themselves to the creation of a permanent Christian "camp" called "Ocean Grove". A state charter was issued to the Association on March 3, 1870, with 26 trustees to oversee the improvements and operations of the new community.
The most prominent building of this community is the auditorium, proudly standing by Founder Park, which was the centerpiece for the spiritual and social venues of the community. The Auditorium still holds venues to this day.