GOD’S Square Mile “AKA” Ocean Grave N.J.

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I always loved being at the beach.  There was something so tranquil about sitting at the ocean’s edge, just watching the waves and listening to the sound of the crashing surf and squawking seagulls.  For whatever reason, the hours would just while away as my head would empty itself of problems, worries and troubles, and calmness would just take over. 

The ocean gets you away from the nonstop bombardment of technology and daily jam-packed schedules; a chance to slow down and live in harmony with just the sun, the sand, the sky, and the ocean as your four walls. 

I loved it so much that in 1984, I decided to rent out the lower “maid’s quarters” of a large, four-story early 1900’s rooming house for the summer.  It was located in a tiny town called Ocean Grove nestled between the two larger towns of Asbury Park and Bradley Beach on the New Jersey shore.

The owners were delighted to help me fix up the basement room, adding some privacy walls and laying carpet, etc.  The best part about this place was that it was on the corner of Olin and Fourth Streets, only seven short blocks to the beach.

Ocean Grove is a small beach community in Monmouth County, NJ and the town fathers dubbed it “God’s Square Mile”.   Methodist settlers founded this one-square-mile town in 1869.  They built a giant auditorium to provide worship services for over 7,000 people, and some 114 of their very loyal followers built permanent “tent” structures surrounding the auditorium to live in year-round.   These little tent houses only fit one or two people, but they are truly unique in that no two are identical, and each one is owned by a single family and passed down through the years to their heirs.  The Grove was such a closed, tightly knit religious community that, on Sundays, they did not allow driving on the streets, bathing in the ocean or opening of any retail stores.  There was only one road leading into the town from the highway, and the large iron gate stretching across that entrance was closed promptly at 12:00 midnight on Saturday night. No cars were allowed in or out until Monday morning. Because of New Jersey’s “Blue Laws”, that changed in late 1979.

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 that still resided there.  But beginning in the 1990s, and into the present, 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-family quarters.

The summer crowds to “the shore” began in late June and continued on through the last weekend in September. Most of the daily visitors to Ocean Grove were from New York City, and a lot of them were pretty wealthy folks who would rent out rooms and stay for weeks.  New Yorkers, or “bennies” as we Jerseyites called them, were loud and obnoxious people, who treated the beach like their own personal garbage cans.  They didn’t bother to pick up after themselves, leaving trash, broken beach chairs, busted coolers, and tons of cigarette butts on the sand after they would just get up and leave. 

After work on most days, I would arrive at my little apartment, have a bite to eat, and then wander down to the ocean’s edge to just vegetate.  Unfortunately, some days I wound up being a garbage collector to those uncaring city folk.

My mom and my sister Nora also loved the shore.  I would invite them to my place on the weekends, and we would spend many hours just sitting at the water’s edge relaxing in the serene setting.  They both had phlebitis in their legs, and they would walk out into the surf just up to their knees hoping the salt water would relieve some of their pain. Even if it didn’t, the ocean spray gently hitting their faces and the warm air flowing through their hair would make the pain just melt away.

Some summer days, the wind would be blowing in from the west, and the smells of grilled sausages, funnel cakes, and cotton candy from the nearby Asbury Park boardwalk would mix with the warm gentle ocean breeze and just mesmerize and taunt you. Ahh, those wonderful memories.

A month before my first lease was up, I got together with the owners of the boarding house and made them an offer.  I wanted to stay in the apartment through the winter, but there was no heating source down in the basement apartment, and even the windows were not equipped for occupants living there in freezing winter temperatures.  I agreed to go halves on getting heat installed and replacing the windows, putting down thicker carpeting and insulating the main walls.  We came to an agreement.  They reduced my monthly rent payment to accommodate the renovations, and the repairs were made and done by the middle of October.  I spent the next two years there in Ocean Grove, and my winter jaunts to the deserted beach were some of the best times of my life.

Another great thing about Ocean Grove is the small, hometown feel. Almost all the small shops in this tiny enclave are family owned, everything from a quaint, rustic little bakery to the handmade ice cream shop, and enough curio and antique shops to occupy most of your time on a rainy afternoon. Think Mayberry, just updated. There are no golden arches, Taco Bells, or liquor stores, but I think they finally snuck in a Starbucks recently.

My daily trips to the beach were even better in the fall months since the bennies were gone.  At times, even in mid-December, I would bundle myself up, drag a small lawn chair down to the beach and just sit there and enjoy the peacefulness of the moment.  I really enjoyed spending time there in “God’s Square Mile”… it was truly my happy place.