Friends of OCNJ History & Culture

10/23/2026

🎄🏠 Be part of Ocean City’s favorite holiday tradition!
Friends of OCNJ History & Culture is seeking hosts for this year’s Members-Only Holiday Historic Home Tour, taking place Saturday, December 5.

If you own an older home or rental property in Ocean City, being a part of our tour is a chance to highlight what makes your property special while highlighting your love for the character and history of our community.

Not a homeowner but still want to get involved? Volunteers are an important part of making our tour possible! We need help serving hot chocolate, line wrangling, ticket taking, and generally keeping good vibes flowing!

Interested in learning more? Contact Friends President Sne Avichal at [email protected] or visit our website https://www.friendsocnj.org/events/2026-holiday-historic-home-tour to learn more.

Please save the date for the most festive event of the year! Secure your tickets now for the members-only Annual Holiday Historic Home Tour, taking place the first weekend of December. This special evening is open to Friends of OCNJ members, and this year, we’re excited to introduce three expanded

10/06/2026

"I spy" another Friends house plaque on a historic house across from OCHS where there was a row of rooming houses. This one was saved from the wrecking ball and gives homage to its original use, The Ebbie. Interested in getting a plaque of your own for your house built before 1957? Reach out today! friendsocnj.org/home-plaque

09/28/2026

The thoughts of Friends of OCNJ are with everyone whose home was affected by this weekend’s nor’easter. If floodwater reached your older home, a little care now can help prevent further damage and save historic materials. Take photos, wait until it’s safe to enter, and get professional advice about utilities, structural concerns and hazardous materials. Here’s the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s checklist for homes affected by flooding:

As floodwaters recede: a checklist for older homes
☐ Follow local emergency instructions, laws and regulations
☐ Wait until officials say it’s safe to enter; avoid floodwater
☐ Document damage before cleanup
☐ Don’t handle utilities in a wet area; contact the utility or a qualified professional if systems need to be shut off
☐ Wear protective clothing
☐ Have a qualified professional assess and brace unstable structures
☐ Pump basement water slowly, following local guidance
☐ Ventilate the building when it’s safe to do so
☐ Clean and disinfect surfaces with products appropriate for the material; take care with historic finishes
☐ Allow saturated materials to dry with natural ventilation where possible
☐ Have the foundation checked for damage
☐ Have displaced soil around the foundation assessed and restored as needed
☐ Save historic materials if possible
☐ Don’t disturb lead-based paint or asbestos; contact a qualified professional
☐ Once it’s safe, clean and repair the roof and drainage systems to help prevent future damage

09/25/2026

We very much appreciate Preservation New Jersey calling attention to the current vacancies on OC's Historic Preservation Commission.

Ocean City’s historic homes and neighborhoods are an important part of what makes our community special. A strong and fully staffed Historic Preservation Commission helps ensure that preservation has a meaningful voice as our city continues to grow and change.

We encourage the City to move quickly to fill these important vacancies.

A recent opinion piece in Shore Local News is drawing attention to vacancies on the Ocean City Historic Preservation Commission and the important role local preservation commissions play in protecting historic resources.

According to the piece, Ocean City’s commission currently has three open seats, even as it continues to review construction and demolition applications within the city’s historic district.

Historic Preservation Commissions are an important part of preservation at the local level—bringing residents, professionals, and municipal government together to help steward the places that define a community.

Strong local preservation programs depend on engaged citizens willing to serve.

👉 Read the full opinion piece from Shore Local News:
https://shorelocalnews.com/opinion-ocean-city-should-fill-open-historic-preservation-commission-seats/

09/22/2026

A great example of what can happen when a historic home finds owners who see its value.

The Cline House, a 1922 cottage in Harvey Cedars, Long Beach Island, has survived more than a century, including the 1962 Ash Wednesday storm, which lifted the house off its foundation and left it in the middle of Long Beach Boulevard.

Over the years, preservation-minded owners have chosen to restore the home while keeping the historic details and architectural features that make it special.

We love stories like this that show how much history can be preserved when someone sees an older home not as something to replace, but as something worth caring for.

Read the full story from The SandPaper below:

I launched the “Still Standing” series over Memorial Day weekend with a column about my family’s 100-year-old home in Surf City. It seemed fitting to conclude this summer’s installments over Labor Day weekend with another home that has played such an important role in my life. I feel incredi...

09/21/2026

📸 Have a favorite summer photo from Ocean City? We’d love to see it!

There’s still time to share a photo for the Friends of OCNJ 2026 Summer Photo Contest. You don’t need a professional camera or a perfectly staged shot — we’re looking for the everyday places, details, and moments that capture what makes Ocean City special.

Maybe it’s a favorite historic home, a porch at sunset, a beautiful garden, an architectural detail you’ve always noticed, or a summer evening spent in one of Ocean City’s historic neighborhoods.

🏆 Selected photos will be featured on Friends of OCNJ social media and in future communications, and the contest winner will receive 2 tickets to our December Holiday Historic Home Tour.
To participate:
📍 Tag of OCNJ
📸 Use
📅 Share your photo by September 30, 2026

Selected photos may be featured on Friends of OCNJ social media and in future communications.

Photographers grant Friends of OCNJ History & Culture nonexclusive (photographer retains copyright and is allowed to use their images elsewhere), royalty-free, perpetual rights to use, reproduce, publish, display, distribute, and promote the photograph, in whole or in part, in connection with the organization's mission, programs, events, fundraising, and communications now and in the future.

09/15/2026

An article worth reading in the most recent edition of Shore Local Newsmagazine. https://shorelocalnews.com/opinion-ocean-city-should-fill-open-historic-preservation-commission-seats/

09/14/2026

Share your home’s history this holiday season!

Friends of OCNJ History & Culture is looking for homeowners to open their doors for this year’s Holiday Historic Home Tour, happening the first weekend of December.

The tour gives visitors a chance to experience Ocean City’s beautiful old homes up close while learning about the architecture, traditions, and stories that make these places special. If you have a historic or special home and would like to share it with the community this holiday season, reach out to Friends President and tour organizer Sne Avichal at [email protected].

And join us for a Historic Home Tour Info Session on Sunday, September 20, from 6–7 p.m. at the Scarborough Inn. Come learn more about what’s involved in being a host (and stick around for food, fun, and live music on the porch afterwards).

https://www.friendsocnj.org/events/2026-historic-home-tour-info-session

09/08/2026

When a modest Shore cottage is demolished for a luxury home, is that simply “the market”? Or is the market responding to zoning rules that make the lot more valuable than the house?

This Philadelphia Inquirer article looks at what happens when development potential sets the price, and why our zoning laws are the first line of protections for many residential neighborhoods.

https://www.inquirer.com/newsletters/shore/jersey-shore-wrecking-ball-20260903.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawUGy_FwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAGJyaWQRMU1yQlVrQ2gxR3A1WkVxR01zcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeS0IHVcLTUyxLsE0l23VgpgV23TCVgcwsqF6oxuOebkVu98MGMfmVeQTwxCA_aem_lCBo1obq9TfNpV-b5vrDtw

Plus, the season is winding down.

09/04/2026

Our latest Friends of OCNJ newsletter is out! Even as summer winds down, there’s still plenty going on, from our first-ever Photo Contest (submit today!), new membership levels to choose from, to preparations for this year’s Historic Holiday Home Tour.

The newsletter also includes an update on our Historic Home Preservation Network, ways to get involved as a volunteer, and a recent Ocean City Sentinel feature on one of Ocean City’s beloved “Storybook cottages.”

Read the latest newsletter here: https://www.friendsocnj.org/campaigns/view-campaign/6KEnqkFrOarh9l9HlDMOpbN2eg66rq8nk7JhiDytcfHcA50OnhfnIj0gKs9Qykx-afjQjuT9VMaxK4iKGh3cf5cC4tE2D9J_

Not subscribed? Sign up for Friends of OCNJ updates at https://www.friendsocnj.org/home

We’re enjoying the last days of the summer season and hope you are as well; there’s still plenty happening with Friends of OCNJ!