Ocean Park is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in the town

New England town

The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...

 of Old Orchard Beach

Old Orchard Beach, Maine

Old Orchard Beach is a town and census-designated place in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,856 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area....

 in York County

York County, Maine

York County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. In 2010, the population was 197,131. Its county seat is Alfred.Founded in 1636, it is the oldest county in Maine and one of the oldest in the United States....

, Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. A historic family style summer community affiliated with the Free Will Baptists, the site is located on Temple Avenue on Saco Bay

Saco Bay (Maine)

Saco Bay is a small arcuate embayment of the Gulf of Maine on the Atlantic coast of Maine in the United States. The name derives "from a map of the coastline made in 1525 by the Spanish explorer Esteban Gómez...

.

History

The buildings in Ocean Park were mainly constructed in the 1880s in a Classical Revival style. The site was home to a large Free Will Baptist meeting site, organized in 1881 largely by Bates College

Bates College

Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...

 President Oren B. Cheney

Oren B. Cheney

Oren Burbank Cheney was the founder of Bates College, an abolitionist, and a Free Will Baptist clergyman.-Early life:...

. One of the prominent buildings is the Free Baptist Tabernacle Temple

The Temple (Old Orchard Beach, Maine)

The Temple is a historic octagon-shaped Baptist church building on Temple Avenue in Ocean Park, Maine within the town of Old Orchard Beach, Maine....

, a large meeting hall serving as the central gathering place of the camp. The style was similar to other prominent summer church "camp" revivals

Revival meeting

A revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held in order to inspire active members of a church body, to raise funds and to gain new converts...

 such those at Ocean Grove, New Jersey

Ocean Grove, New Jersey

Ocean Grove is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Neptune Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. It had a population of 3,342 at the 2010 census. It is located on the Atlantic Ocean Jersey Shore, between Asbury Park to the north and Bradley Beach to the south...

 and Wesleyan Grove

Wesleyan Grove

Wesleyan Grove is a National Historic Landmark District in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts on the island of Martha's Vineyard. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005...

 on Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....

. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

See also

• The Temple (Old Orchard Beach, Maine)
  The Temple (Old Orchard Beach, Maine)
  The Temple is a historic octagon-shaped Baptist church building on Temple Avenue in Ocean Park, Maine within the town of Old Orchard Beach, Maine....
  
  
• National Register of Historic Places listings in York County, Maine
  National Register of Historic Places listings in York County, Maine
  This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in York County, Maine.This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in York County, Maine, United States...
  
  

External links

• Ocean Park Website
• "Centennial History of Ocean Park, Maine, 1881-1981" by Adelbert M. Jakeman
• Emeline Cheney, The Story of the Life and Work of Oren B. Cheney (Boston: Morning Star Publishing, 1907)
• Grampy's Beach Website