Ocean Grove received its name from a
town of the same name near New Jersey, USA.
During the 1870s the American Methodist
church started a religious camp near New Jersey, it was such
a successful idea they decided to spread there camps
overseas and soon got together with the Victorian Methodists
and set up a camp near Point Lonsdale.
By
1882 the need arose for the church to acquire a large area
of land so they could set up their Australian Ocean Grove.
Photo: Like most of the regions costal towns - surfing
is the biggest recreational activity.
Ocean Grove is in close proximity
to the tourist attractions of Wallington, Barwon Heads
and historic Queenscliff.
The place they choose was was situated on the east side of the
mouth of the Barwon River overlooking Bass Strait. The town
was later linked by a bridge to
Barwon Heads on the
other side of the river.
Many street names take on the names of important people in the
old Methodist community, while the local youth camp was run by
the Methodist church from the 1920s up until 1996.
Now the largest town on the Bellarine Peninsula it has one of
the largest shopping centres of any of the Bellarine towns
only a few blocks from the beach making it popular with
tourists and locals alike.
OCEAN GROVE
