Ocean Park is a village in the town of Old Orchard Beach in York County, Maine, United States. A historic family style summer community affiliated with the Free Will Baptists, the community is located in southern Old Orchard Beach on Saco Bay. Rooted in the Chautauqua tradition, it is occasionally referred to as "Chautauqua-by-the-Sea." [1] The ZIP Code for Ocean Park is 04063. [2]
The main institutional buildings in Ocean Park were mainly constructed in the 1880s in a Classical Revival style. The site was home to a large Free Will Baptist meeting site, organized in 1881 largely by Bates College President Oren B. Cheney. One of the prominent buildings is the Free Baptist Tabernacle Temple, a large octagonal meeting hall serving as the central gathering place of the camp. The style was similar to other prominent summer church camp meetings such those at Ocean Grove, New Jersey and Wesleyan Grove on Martha's Vineyard. [3]
Branford is a shoreline town located on Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, about 6 miles (10 km) east of downtown New Haven. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. Branford borders East Haven to the west, Guilford to the east, and North Branford to the north. The population was 28,273 in the 2020 census.
Ocean Grove is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) that is part of Neptune Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. It had a population of 3,057 at the 2020 census, down from 3,342 in 2010. It is located on the Atlantic Ocean's 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 and for the Great Auditorium, acclaimed as "the state's most wondrous wooden structure, soaring and sweeping, alive with the sound of music."
Old Orchard Beach is a resort town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,960 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland−South Portland−Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Chautauqua Institution is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education center and summer resort for adults and youth located on 2,070 acres (840 ha) in Chautauqua, New York, 17 miles (27 km) northwest of Jamestown in the western southern tier of New York state. Established in 1874, the institution was the home of, and provided the impetus for, the Chautauqua movement that became popular in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Chautauqua Institution Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was further designated a National Historic Landmark.
The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. Revivals and camp meetings continued to be held by various denominations, and in some areas of the mid-Atlantic, led to the development of seasonal cottages for meetings.
Oren Burbank Cheney was an American politician, minister, and statesman who was a key figure in the abolitionist movement in the United States during the later 19th century. Along with textile tycoon Benjamin Bates, he founded Bates College as the first coeducational college in New England which is widely considered his magnum opus. Cheney is one of the most extensively covered subjects of Neoabolitionism, for his public denouncement of slavery, involuntary servitude, and advocation for fair and equal representation, egalitarianism, and personal sovereignty.
Cobb Divinity School was a Baptist theological institute. Founded in 1840, it was a Free Will Baptist graduate school affiliated with several Free Baptist institutions throughout its history. Cobb was part of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, United States from 1870 until 1908 when it merged with the college's Religion Department.
Parsonsfield Seminary, which operated from 1832 to 1949, was a well-known Free Will Baptist school in North Parsonsfield, Maine, in the United States. Also known as the North Parsonsfield Seminary, its preserved campus of four buildings is located on State Route 160 near the New Hampshire border. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Maine Central Institute (MCI) is an independent high school in Pittsfield, Maine, United States that was established in 1866. The school enrolls approximately 430 students and is a nonsectarian institution. The school has both boarding and day students.
The Chautauqua adult education movement flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, then declined. However, some Independent Chautauquas still operate today, and these are the 21st century Chautauquas. They are divided into two categories, Continuously Operating Chautauquas and Revival Chautauquas.
The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History is a museum of natural history located near the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Pacific Grove, California, United States. The museum is a living field guide of the California Central Coast showcasing local native plants, animals, geology, and cultural histories.
The Ocean Park Historic Buildings are a group of four religious community structures in the center of the Ocean Park area of Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Also known as Temple Square, they form the heart of the summer camp meeting established in 1881. The buildings include The Temple, one of the only octagonal church buildings in the state. The buildings were listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The Temple is a historic octagon-shaped Baptist church building on Temple Avenue in the Ocean Park area of Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Built in 1881, it is the centerpiece of the summer camp meeting established in 1880 by Free Will Baptists led by Bates College President Oren Cheney. It is the only known octagonal religious structure in use in the state. The temple was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and included in the Ocean Park Historic Buildings district in 1982.
The Monterey Peninsula anchors the northern portion on the Central Coast of California and comprises the cities of Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove, and the resort and community of Pebble Beach.
The history of Bates College began shortly before Bates College's founding on March 16, 1855, in Lewiston, Maine. The college was founded by Oren Burbank Cheney and Benjamin Bates. Originating as a Free Will Baptist institution, it has since secularized and established a liberal arts curriculum. After the mysterious 1853 burning of Parsonsfield Seminary, Cheney wanted to create another seminary in a more central part of Maine: Lewiston, a then-booming industrial economy. He met with religious and political leaders in Topsham, to discuss the formation of such a school, recruiting much of the college's first trustees, most notably Ebenezer Knowlton. After a well-received speech by Cheney, the group successfully petitioned the Maine State Legislature to establish the Maine State Seminary. At its founding it was the first coeducational college in New England. Soon after it was established, donors stepped forward to finance the seminary, developing the school in an affluent residential district of Lewiston. The college struggled to finance its operations after the financial crisis of 1857, requiring extra capital to remain afloat. Cheney's political activities attracted Benjamin Bates, who was interested in fostering his business interests in Maine. Bates donated installments of tens of thousands of dollars to the college to bring it out of the crisis.
Emeline S. Burlingame was an American editor, evangelist and suffragist. She served for seven years as president of the Rhode Island Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.), and was the first president of the Free Baptist Woman‘s Missionary Society (W.M.S.). She was a licensed preacher, and was three times a delegate to the free baptist triennial conference. Burlingame held positions with several religious publications, including, for eight years, editor of the Missionary Helper for many years. She was a potent factor in securing Rhode Island State constitutional prohibition for 1884–1887. Considered a suffrage luminary, she authored the leaflet, “An Appeal to Women’s Missionary Societies Urging Church Women to Support Woman Suffrage as a Step Toward More Efficient Missionary Work,” which was printed and distributed by the National American Woman Suffrage Association among missionary societies. Burlingame died in 1923.
Nathan Cook Brackett (1836–1910) was an abolitionist, Free Will Baptist pastor, first president of Storer College, and chairman and co-founder of Bluefield State College.
The Gosby House Inn, in Pacific Grove, California, is a two-story Victorian mansion that was built in 1887 by J.F. Gosby. The Inn evolved architecturally in stages, from a vernacular boarding house serving a religious retreat to a Queen Anne hotel catering to vacationers. The Victorian was listed on the National Register of Historic Places of local significance category on December 2, 1980.
ChautauquaHall is a historic building in Pacific Grove, California, United States. It was built in 1881 by the Pacific Improvement Company for the Pacific Grove Retreat Association for presenting concerts and entertainment. On July 20, 1970, the building was declared a California Historical Landmark #839. In 2022 the hall hosts classes and programs for the city. This facility is Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant.
Founded in 1881, the unique seaside Chautauqua community of Ocean Park, Maine still flourishes as a summer assembly—in the Chautauqua tradition—with 141 years of history and heritage.
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