Ocean Grove's Centennial Cottage

Centennial Cottage serves as the Historical Society of Ocean Grove's living history museum. Visitors to the Cottage gain an understanding of life in a 19th Century Camp Meeting and seaside resort community.

Centennial Cottage was erected in 1884 at 47 Cookman Avenue by Elizabeth Fell. The last owners of the Cottage, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Skold, donated the Cottage to the Camp Meeting Association in honor of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Ocean Grove in 1969. The Cottage was moved to its present location on the corner of McClintock Street and Central Avenue.

The Cottage  is constructed in the Swiss Chalet style. The Chalet style was popular in the latter half of the nineteenth century and Ocean Grove boasts many fine examples of this type of architecture.  Color research was done and the appropriate Victorian exterior colors have been used in the restoration.

There are photographs of houses and tents in Ocean Grove from the late nineteenth century which were used as a guide for choices of furniture during restoration. The Cottage has a front parlor, a dining room and a small kitchen on the first floor. Three bedrooms, two of which open onto the upper porch, are located on the second floor. A smaller room on the second floor is of undetermined use and may have housed a tin bathtub, been used as storage or used as additional sleeping quarters during Camp Meeting week when the population of the community swelled to over 15,000.

As well as being a living history museum, the Cottage is also the site of various exhibits and events throughout the season. The Floriography exhibit delves into the explanations of the symbolism for plants and flowers used during the 19th Century and their religious significance. The Cottage is also host to events such as the Teddy Bear Tea and various craft workshops held in the gardens during the summer season.