# Ocean City Residential Historic District

Ocean City Residential Historic District consists of 169 properties, dating back to the 1880s, located in Ocean City, New Jersey. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 20, 2003.

## History

Before Ocean City, New Jersey was founded, several families lived on the barrier island, then known as Peck's Beach. In 1879, a group of eight Methodist ministers founded the New Brighton Association as a land development company. On October 20 of that year, the group founded the Ocean City Association to develop the island as a religious resort, with a grid plan of streets running parallel to, and intersecting, each other. On May 25 of the following year, the Association began selling lots in the northern portion of the island, centered around a campground area between what is now Fifth and Sixth Streets. If buyers failed to adhere to the Association's moral code, than the property would be returned to the Association. In 1880 alone, buyers built 35 houses, along a hotel, two bath houses, and ten private stables.
A total of 32 houses built in the 1880s are part of the current historic district, including one built by Ocean City Association member Ezra B. Lake. More houses were built in the succeeding decades, aided by improved transportation. By the 1920s, most available lots in the originally settled northern portion of Ocean City were already built. The city's growth halted in 1929 following the stock market crash and subsequent Great Depression.
In the 1980s, developers began tearing down older structures and rebuilding them as duplexes. In 1988, Ocean City added a Historic Preservation Plan Element to its master plan. Three years later, the city designated the Ocean City Residential Historic District from Third to Eighth Streets, and along Wesley, Ocean, and Central Avenues; also included in the District was the Life-Saving Station at 4th and Atlantic.

## List of homes in the district

| Address | Date | Style | Notes |
| 300 Central Avenue | ~1950 | Cape Cod revival | Not a contributing property |
| 301 Central Avenue | 1880s | Folk Victorian | |
| 304 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Folk Victorian | |
| 305 Central Avenue | 1880s | Queen Anne | |
| 308 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Folk Victorian | |
| 312 Central Avenue | 1890s | Second Empire | One of the key contributing properties |
| 315 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Folk Victorian | Possibly was moved from another location |
| 317 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Folk Victorian | |
| 321 Central Avenue | ~1918-22 | Colonial Revival | |
| 324 Central Avenue | 1880s | Queen Anne | |
| 325 Central Avenue | 1910s | American Craftsman | |
| 328 Central Avenue | ~1950s | Cape Cod revival | Not a contributing property |
| 329 Central Avenue | 1910s | American Craftsman | |
| 330-332 Central Avenue | 1920s | American Craftsman | |
| 334 Central Avenue | 1892 | Dutch Colonial Revival architecture | One of the key contributing properties |
| 335 Central Avenue | ~1960 | International Style | Not a contributing property |
| 337 Central Avenue | 1930s | Neoclassical revival | |
| 340-342 Central Avenue | 1920s | Colonial Revival | |
| 341 Central Avenue | 1880s | Colonial Revival | |
| 346 Central Avenue | 1880s | Folk Victorian | Car garage added in the 1950s |
| 406 Central Avenue | 1800s | Italianate | |
| 408 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Colonial Revival | |
| 409 Central Avenue | 1920s | American Craftsman | |
| 411 Central Avenue | 1880s | Folk Victorian | One of the original meeting cottages; a key contributing property |
| 412 Central Avenue | ~1910s | Neoclassical revival | |
| 413-415 Central Avenue | ~1910s | American Craftsman/Colonial Revival | |
| 416 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Second Empire | |
| 417 Central Avenue | 1910s | American Craftsman | |
| 420 Central Avenue | 1880s | Queen Anne | |
| 421-423 Central Avenue | 1890s | Second Empire | |
| 425-427 Central Avenue | ~1980s | Contemporary | Not a contributing property |
| 426 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Folk Victorian | |
| 428 Central Avenue | 1880s | Queen Anne | |
| 429-431 Central Avenue | 1890s | Second Empire | |
| 432 Central Avenue | ~1970s-1990s | Contemporary | Not a contributing property |
| 433 Central Avenue | ~1900s | American Craftsman/Colonial Revival | |
| 434 Central Avenue | ~1920s | Colonial Revival | Modified to Second Empire/American Craftsman; not a contributing property |
| 435 Central Avenue | ~1900s | American Craftsman/Colonial Revival | |
| 438 Central Avenue | ~1910 | Folk Victorian | |
| 600 Central Avenue | 1917 | American Craftsman | |
| 601 Central Avenue | ~1990s | Contemporary | Not a contributing property |
| 604 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Second Empire | |
| 608 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Queen Anne | |
| 611 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Folk Victorian | |
| 613 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Folk Victorian | |
| 617 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Second Empire | |
| 618 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Colonial Revival | |
| 622-624 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Queen Anne/Colonial Revival | |
| 623 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Queen Anne | |
| 625 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Queen Anne | |
| 626 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Folk Victorian | |
| 629 Central Avenue | 1880s | Folk Victorian | One of the original meeting cottages; a key contributing property |
| 631 Central Avenue | 1880s | Second Empire | |
| 634-636 Central Avenue | 1880s | Queen Anne | |
| 635 Central Avenue | ~1910 | Neoclassical revival | |
| 638 Central Avenue | 1880s | Folk Victorian | |
| 639 Central Avenue | 1880s | Folk Victorian | |
| 640-642 Central Avenue | 1880s | Queen Anne | |
| 641 Central Avenue | ~1910 | Folk Victorian | |
| 644 Central Avenue | 1880s | Colonial Revival | |
| 650 Central Avenue | 1880s | Folk Victorian | |
| 701 Central Avenue | 1880s | Queen Anne | One of the key contributing properties |
| 705 Central Avenue | 1891 | Folk Victorian | One of the key contributing properties; built for the daughter of Parker Miller, one of the island's first permanent residents |
| 715-717 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Second Empire | |
| 801 Central Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Queen Anne | One of the key contributing properties; the first floor was converted to commercial use |
| 401 Wesley Avenue | 1890s-1900s | Queen Anne | Known as Northwood Inn B&B |
| 403-405 Wesley Avenue | 1880s | Queen Anne | |
| 420 Wesley Avenue | 1880s | Folk Victorian/Gothic Revival | |
| 423 Wesley Avenue | 2001 | Contemporary Queen Anne | Not a contributing property |
| 424 Wesley Avenue | ~1900 | Queen Anne | Known as Dancing Turtle Inn |
| 426 Wesley Avenue | 1800s-1900s | Queen Anne | |
| 428 Wesley Avenue | 1880s | Folk Victorian | |
| 429 Wesley Avenue | 1880s | Queen Anne/Gothic Revival | |
| 435 Wesley Avenue | 1881 | Italianate | One of the key contributing properties; owned by Ezra B. Lake; now known as Scotch Hall Restaurant |
| Reference - National Register of Historic Places Application ||||

## Other properties

The Ocean City Residential Historic District is centered around an open area between 5th and Sixth Streets. In 1881, an auditorium was built between Fifth and Sixth Streets, which became the Ocean City Tabernacle; the building was replaced in 1955 by another building at the same location.
At the intersection of 8th Street and Central Avenue, St. Peter's United Methodist Church was built in 1908 in a Gothic Revival architecture. Originally, it was a two-story building, with a three-story tower, with a two-story addition built in 1956. The church's foundation is made of cast stone and granite, and the building's exterior wall is made of stone, featuring stained glass windows. The roof is cross-gabled, with a raised parapet, pinnacles, and a bell tower. It is a key contributing property to the district.