Our state-of-the-art archives and in-person research library together preserve the rich history of Ocean Grove. Ongoing renovations to our archival storage ensure professional preservation standards, including upgraded climate control, moisture-resistant materials, low-heat lighting, and archival-quality containers. The archives house rare materials such as fifty historic maps from 1877–1897, more than 1,000 postcards, extensive early photographs, stereographs, stereopticon slides, and over 200 glass negatives. They also include ephemera documenting Ocean Grove’s religious, cultural, and community events, along with digital records and a significant collection of Camp Meeting Association documents. These resources help homeowners and researchers date properties, understand original architectural details, and guide historically appropriate restorations.

Our research library complements the archives with a collection of more than 1,000 books on Victoriana, Victorian architecture, local history, historic preservation, and home renovation, as well as volumes signed by Elwood Stokes. Photographic notebooks organized by address enable residents to explore the history of their homes, and oversized print editions of the 1890 and 1930 Sanborn Maps provide detailed information on historic building features. Digitized versions of the 1890 and 1905 Sanborn Maps are also available through Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Together, the archives and library offer an invaluable resource for historians, homeowners, architects, and all who wish to understand and preserve Ocean Grove’s unique heritage

The Museum has available online for research, three digitized versions of local, historic newspapers:

Asbury Park Daily Press: 1898 – 1901.

Asbury Park Journal: 1876 – 1880, 1887 – 1891, 1896 – 1901. Missing years still being researched.

Ocean Grove Times: 1875 – 1988, 1991 – 1996, 1998 – 2004. Missing years still being researched.

Click the link below to begin your search in the newspapers overall; or by year, issue, or subject.

For the past decade, David Fox has immersed himself in uncovering the layered history of Ocean Grove—its people, its places, and even its most unassuming details. His research spans everything from the early residents who shaped the town to the evolution of its homes, cottages, hotels, and boarding houses. David has compiled extensive directories of former inhabitants, mapped the stories of notable figures and forgotten landmarks, and traced the development of sidewalks, utilities, social customs, and community organizations. His curiosity reaches into every corner of local history—even down to documenting the town’s first toilets—making his body of work one of the most thorough and eclectic explorations of Ocean Grove’s past.

The Sanborn Maps are described in detail in the Library section (scroll up). Below is a website link to the digitized version of the 1890 and the 1905 Sanborn Maps at Princeton University Firestone Library for research of Ocean Grove buildings. The interface is easy to use, you can zoom in on a property; and you can bookmark, send, and download what you find.

This project documents the history of Ocean Grove’s residents and businesses, beginning with those who lived and worked there from 1870–1900. Launched in 2020 with support from a Kearny Bank grant, it will ultimately allow visitors to use a touchscreen interface to explore more than 1,000 property lots, each featuring biographical sketches, images, and original records of early leaseholders, along with optional links to Main Avenue’s commercial properties and their notable proprietors. Drawing on newspapers, census data, military and vital records, city directories, and online research tools, the project aims to create a comprehensive, image-rich narrative of Ocean Grove’s formative years, with long-term plans to expand the research in 30-year increments up to the present day.

A photographic archive coming soon! In the meantime, you can use the link below to see if we have your house.

Please note that we only have photos if they have been donated for copies in the past or taken during the bicentennial.

The HSOG has a collection of its own periodic videos on our official HSOG YouTube channel.

There you can watch many inspiring and humorous videos on Ocean Grove history, and ones that rekindle memories.

In the past, the HSOG supported a blog called, “Curiosities of Ocean Grove.” It contains fascinating articles on specific, sometimes odd, aspects of Ocean Grove’s past, often using artifacts from the HSOG collection to help tell stories.

Here’s a link to the collection of posts

The HSOG has written a number of articles in the past that include a series called, “Then and Now,” which compares historic Ocean Grove buildings from how they used to look to how they look today. These articles focus on the history of the buildings, and their often intriguing owners too. They’re an insightful window on what and who helped shape Ocean Grove. Also, there are articles that use artifacts from the collection as a launching point to describe interesting aspects of Victorian life.