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Where Religion Rules
Step into the world of writers and photographers as they tell you about the best, worst, and quirkiest places and adventures they encountered in the field.
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Ocean Grove, NJ
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By
Angus Phillips
Photographs by
Amy Toensing
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Hymns and crashing waves serenade this surprisingly diverse Bible-wielding beach town.
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Read or print the full story.
People have been sleeping in tents at Ocean Grove, New Jersey, for more than 130 years. The little shore town is just 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of New York City, so the neighborhood has changed, but the spirit of a rustic summer worship camp endures.
“It’s a place where God and country come together, like it used to be in days gone by,” said Jeanne Dimmit, who drives from Arizona each summer with her husband, Howard, to relax and pray by the sea. “At night I hook the latch on the screen and say, ‘Okay, we’re secure.’ It’s the ultimate act of faith.”
Then they sleep, perchance to snore. “One night I woke up and nudged Howard to get him to stop,” said Jeanne. “When he rolled over, I realized it wasn’t him snoring. It was someone in the tent next door.”
If pilgrims are tightly packed in the heart of God’s Square Mile, as Ocean Grove is called, they can take comfort in a civil lifestyle that nowadays lures as many tourists as true believers. The modest little Methodist town has become a destination for urban Easterners weary of bright lights, thick smoke, and loud music. They come for weekends where the sea breeze and purr of surf lulls them, where strangers smile and say hello, and where you can walk wherever you need to go.
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NOMINATE your own wonderful, weird, or wacky choice for this magazine series.
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Get close to nature with this month’s wallpaper.
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| In More to Explore the National Geographic magazine team shares some of its best sources and other information. Special thanks to the Research Division. |
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Half a world away from Ocean Grove, New Jersey, is … Ocean Grove, Australia. This seaside town about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Melbourne shares more than a name with its New Jersey counterpart: It owes its start to the same man, the Reverend William B. Osborn.
After setting up a permanent religious retreat on the New Jersey shore and serving as its first chief of police, general manager, and pastor, Osborn left Ocean Grove in 1873 and embarked on a global evangelism tour that took him to India and Australia. The tent mission he set up on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula in 1887 is now a resort community of more than 8,000 people.
—Kathy B. Maher
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Ocean Grove Chamber of Commerce
www.oceangrovenj.com
Named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, Ocean Grove claims the largest assemblage of authentic Victorian architecture in the United States. Take a visual tour—and learn more about what the town has to offer—at this website.
Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association
www.oceangrove.org
Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, and Norman Vincent Peale are among the religious personalities who have been drawn to Ocean Grove since its founding in 1869. A wealth of information about the rich history and traditions of this camp-meeting community is available online, including a schedule of events at the Great Auditorium.
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Bell, Wayne T. Ocean Grove. Arcadia Publishing, 2000.
Messenger, Troy. Holy Leisure: Recreation and Religion in God’s Square Mile. Temple University Press, 2000.
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Jones, Ann. National Geographic Guide To America’s Outdoors: Middle Atlantic. National Geographic Books, 2001.
Conniff, Richard. “Swamps of New Jersey: The Meadowlands,” National Geographic (February 2001), 62-81.
Ackerman, Jennifer. “Islands at the Edge,” National Geographic (August 1997), 2-31.
Kostyal, K.M. “New Jersey Jewel,” National Geographic Traveler (July/August 1990), 107.
Jaffe, Harry S. “Seaside Charm: New Jersey’s Cape May,” National Geographic Traveler (Summer 1986), 104-115.
Hartz, Jim. “New Jersey: A State of Surprise,” National Geographic (November 1981), 568-599.
Levathes, Louise E. “Gateway — Elbowroom for the Millions,” National Geographic (July 1979), 86-97.
Cunningham, John T. “I’m From New Jersey,” National Geographic (January 1960), 1-45.
Long, John E. “New Jersey Now!” National Geographic (May 1933), 519-584.
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