Ocean Grove
National Historic Landmark · Ocean Grove, New Jersey
A square mile of Victorian seaside town founded in 1869 by Methodist ministers as a camp meeting ground, and IT STILL HAS ABOUT A HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN CANVAS TENTS PITCHED ON WOODEN PLATFORMS THAT FAMILIES RENT EVERY SUMMER — the same plots, often the same families, with waiting lists running to decades. It is the largest surviving Methodist camp meeting tent community in America and there is nothing else like it. Behind them stands the GREAT AUDITORIUM of 1894, a 6,500-seat timber hall with a 1908 Hope-Jones organ. The whole town is a National Historic Landmark district, and it is a ten-minute walk from Asbury Park.
54 Pitman Avenue, Ocean Grove, New Jersey, 07756, United States
A public town, free to walk at all hours. THE TENT COLONY IS OCCUPIED ROUGHLY MID-MAY TO MID-SEPTEMBER — outside that window the wooden platforms stand bare and the town's most remarkable feature is simply not there, so time the visit if the tents are the reason you are coming. It is a residential community, not an exhibit. THE GREAT AUDITORIUM opens for programmed events and limited daytime viewing in season; check the calendar. Beach badges are required in season and THE BEACH CLOSES TO SWIMMING ON SUNDAY MORNINGS by long tradition. Ocean Grove was dry for most of its history and ALCOHOL SERVICE REMAINS LIMITED, with several restaurants BYOB or dry. Free but very tight street parking in season.