Pitman Grove

{{short description|Historic house in New Jersey, United States}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Pitman Grove

| nrhp_type = hd

| image = Pitman Grove Center.JPG

| caption = Pitman Grove Camp Meeting Auditorium

| location = Bounded by Holly, East, Laurel, and West Avenues (both sides), Pitman, New Jersey

| coordinates = {{coord|39|43|50|N|75|7|58|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = USA New Jersey Gloucester County#New Jersey#USA

| nocat = yes

| architecture = Second Empire, Italianate

| added = August 19, 1977

| area = {{convert|20|acre}}

| refnum = 77000870{{NRISref|version=2013a|refnum=77000870}}

| designated_other1_name = New Jersey Register of Historic Places

| designated_other1_abbr = NJRHP

| designated_other1_link = New Jersey Register of Historic Places

| designated_other1_date = July 10, 1976

| designated_other1_number = 1412{{cite web |title=New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Gloucester County |url=https://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/GLOUCESTER.pdf#page=5 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office |page=5 |date=September 28, 2021 }}

| designated_other1_num_position = bottom

| designated_other1_color = #ffc94b

}}

Pitman Grove is a {{convert|20|acre|adj=on}} historic district located in the borough of Pitman in Gloucester County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 19, 1977, for its significance in architecture, religion, and community planning. The district includes 349 contributing buildings.{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=77000870}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Pitman Grove |publisher=National Park Service|first1=Lorraine |last1=Mollenhauer |date=August 1975 }} With {{NRHP url|id=77000870|photos=y|title=accompanying 29 photos}}

The Grove centers around a circular park where the Pitman Grove Auditorium was constructed. Twelve numbered avenues, lined with cottages, radiate from this circle like spokes on the hub of a wheel.An Overview of Pitman: Its History and Charm. Pitman Memorabilia Committee, 2017.

The Grove was established in 1871 as a Methodist summer camp meeting site.{{Cite book |title=Pitman Grove Through a Tiffany Window, 1870-1900 |last=Parker |first=Charles A. |publisher=Gloucester County Historical Society |year=1984 |location=Woodbury, New Jersey}} From its early days, it attracted a large number of visitors. In 1892, a reporter for The Philadelphia Record recorded 60,000 visitors over a 16-day period. Increasingly, people started to live in the Grove year-round. In 1905, it became a part of the Borough of Pitman.

Pitman Grove Auditorium

The first structure on this site was a temporary “preaching stand” built in 1871. This was quickly replaced by a twelve-sided pavilion, about fifty feet in diameter capped by a cupola, covering a stage raised off the ground and protected by a wood railing at its perimeter. In 1878, the Auditorium was remodeled, and a new, rectangular-plan wing added to provide seating capacity. The building was expanded in 1911 adding 24-foot side aisles at both the north and south elevations. Gas lanterns lit the Auditorium beginning in the early 1880s with electrical arch lights added in 1897.

Architectural features include: colored Queen Anne Style windows, a combination of vertical board and batten siding with shingled siding above at the east end entrance, and a three-bay arrangement of a wide central aisle flanked to each side by a smaller side aisle.

The auditorium changed in the early 1960s to reflect a more modern style. An extensive renovation in 1993-94 attempted to restore the building to its pre-1911 appearance. Despite renovations over time, many original materials and features remain.

Built by the New Jersey Camp Meeting Association the auditorium continues to be used for camp meetings each summer as well as a place of secular assembly throughout the year. It is now owned by the Borough of Pitman.

Other nearby Camp Meeting Association buildings included: Whitecar Tabernacle which was located on the unit block of Fourth Avenue and was used mainly for children's religious services and instruction. Lizzie Smith Temple was located at the corner of Wesley and South Avenues.

Gallery

File:Auditorium in the Grove - Pitman Postcard.jpg|The auditorium in a postcard from 1908

File:Pitman Grove Museum.JPG|Pitman Grove Museum

File:Pitman Grove Street.JPG|Houses in Pitman Grove

File:Historic American Buildings Survey MAP OF AREA - SURVEYED AND PLOTTED BY JOSEPH B. LIVEZEY (no date) - Pitman Grove Camp Meeting, North, South, East, and West Avenues, Pitman, HABS NJ,8-PIT,1-21.tif|Map of Pitman including the Grove

File:Historic American Buildings Survey LOOKING WEST THROUGH GATES ON FIRST AVENUE AT BROADWAY c. 1890 - Pitman Grove Camp Meeting, North, South, East, and West Avenues, Pitman, HABS NJ,8-PIT,1-18.tif|Grove entrance, c. 1890

File:Pitman Grove.jpg|Grove entrance, 2017

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline}}

Category:Pitman, New Jersey

Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey

Pitman Grove

Pitman Grove Auditorium

Gallery

See also

References

External links