It's no secret I am a "history buff". I enjoy history from around the world, around America, and right here around New Jersey. I especially love when we can talk about history right here at the Jersey Shore. This time around we are looking at churches here in Ocean County, the oldest church.

 

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Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
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I reached out to the Toms River Historical Preservation Commission and asked for some help, in identifying the oldest church in Ocean County. Looking at their info it seems we are going to stay here in Toms River, it was originally known as the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cedar Grove.....the oldest standing church in Ocean County, still serving weekly mass, is the Cedar Grove United Methodist Church in Toms River. The church is nearly 170 years old, originally built on January 10th, 1853. The church is still open and serving mass on a regular basis. The Cedar Grove United Methodist Church in Toms River is located right on Bay Avenue.

 

 

 

 

Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
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In addition to the church, the Cedar Grove Cemetery also has a lot of history. Originally the Applegate Cemetery dates back to 1800. The cemetery still sits aside from the church grounds.

 

 

Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
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Other historical Ocean County Churches include the Potter House at Murray Grove and the Quaker Meeting Houses in Barnegat and Little Egg Harbor/Tuckerton.

Shout out to SJ Banks who let me know that there is a “portion” of the oldest church in Ocean County in Manahawkin. The former Manahawkin Baptist Church the current building dates to 1864 contains a portion of the original from circa 1758. Below is a pic I took several years ago of the steeple at the Manahawkin site.

 

 

Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
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Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

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