History
Detailed here is the story of the creation and development of Harvey Cedars Bible Conference, and how the historic hotel it occupies was restored and transformed to bring generations to Christ.
“God takes people who are broken and run down, restores them, and uses them for his honor and glory. The old Harvey Cedars Hotel can tell the same story.”
1837-1865
History of the Harvey Cedars Hotel
Around 1837, a farmer named Sylvanus Cox built a house [1] on an island in an area called Harvest Quarters. The island was good for gardening and livestock. The house would become the first section of the Harvey Cedars Hotel. Cox also built a bridge across the creek. [2]
In 1841, Captain Samuel Perrine of Barnegat purchased the house and added to it, turning it into the two-story “Connahassett House.” This served as a boarding hotel and men’s hostelry for fishermen and duck hunters. Harvey Cedars got its name from its cedar trees in the north remnants of a forest destroyed by a hurricane in 1821.
When Perrine started up his hotel, there were plenty of large hotels on Long Beach Island. The smaller ones attracted a New York crowd, a popular choice being Perrine’s. Wealthy men savored the experience of the hotel, enjoying seafood, waterfowl, and liquor while gunning and courting the rugged life.
[1] The original structure included the T-shaped section ranging from the present main lounge (half of which was originally a porch, as seen in this section’s photo) to the end of the present entrance sign. According to former conference director Al Oldham, the oldest sections used mortise-and-tenon construction with 3x8" rough-hewn joists, and original windows remained inside the walls of the first floor until renovations in the 1990s.
[2] The creek was filled in during the 1960s, making the island a peninsula as It is today.
1865-1886
Harvey Cedars Hotel: Samuel Perrine & Isaac Jennings
The most notable attraction of Perrine’s hotel was its ballroom, a building on the south side, where dancers enjoyed his fiddle playing. He was an entertaining host and was also in charge of the Harvey Cedars unit of the US Life Saving Service. Captain Perrine was the grandfather of J.H. Perrine, builder of Barnegat Bay sneakboxes and other boats, who made over 3,600 craft in his yards over 55 years.
Samuel Perrine’s hotel became famous along the shore. Sailing parties from other hotels came on summer evenings for lively square dances and reels. The sound of fiddles and chanting filled the air far out on the water. Before the addition of the dock, boats might hit low tide, so men would get out and carry their women up to the dance hall.
After his Civil War quartermaster position between 1865 and 1870, John Warner Kinsey began to run the hotel, which became known as “Kinsey’s.” According to census records, he continued as the hotel’s keeper until at least June 1880. [1]
Captain Isaac Jennings was in charge of the Harvey Cedars Hotel by 1881, sometime after Captain Perrine passed away. It was nearly self-sufficient as the property had fruit trees, gardens, animals, and an abundance of seafood from local waters.
Additional rooms and a porch were added to the south end of the hotel during this time. Jennings’ wife Mary made the kitchen meet the highest standards of the island's other hotels, featuring a long bar facing the bay.
By 1886, Jennings, the first mayor of Harvey Cedars, had passed away, and Harvey Cedars Beach Company owned the hotel and 200 acres of land. The Tuckerton Railroad's expansion onto Long Beach Island generated hope for the Harvey Cedars Hotel—the rail line ran almost the entire length of the island.
[1] One source asserts that the Harvey Cedars Hotel was destroyed in a fire in 1880 and was rebuilt. In decades of repairs, ashes or signs of a fire have never been found at the foundations. The present building indicating alterations from the original structure include floorboard changes, plaster under the building, and evidence in the first-floor walls that the former guest rooms used to open onto an outside porch. In addition, a Springfield Gas Machine, dated August 17, 1868, found in the basement, is on display in the main entrance today.
1886-1914
Harvey Cedars Hotel: Billy Thompson and major expansions
From 1886 to at least 1907, Billy Thompson, known as “Duke of Gloucester,” managed the Harvey Cedars Hotel and oversaw a massive expansion and renovation, giving it its present external appearance.
The hotel was raised, creating a crawl space, and had the third floor [1], gambrel roof, dormers, large porches, water tower (now bathrooms and office space), and additional rooms added to the bay side. Cedar shingles replaced the white siding.
Gas lamps lit the various types of rooms. As a fire precaution, the walls and ceilings of the main dining room (now the lobby and bookstore) were covered with decorative tin, most of which remains today [2]. The most distinctive feature added was the hotel’s octagonal central tower (now the Prayer Tower, dedicated in memory of Dorothy Krauss in 1948). It was an architectural feature popular in seashore hotels.
A small two-story building was moved and placed on the front side of the hotel and later connected to it. This has been used as a laundry room and a staff housing unit over the years. Three fireplaces built on the first floor featured engraved logos telling us that these renovations concluded in 1903.
The Harvey Cedars Hotel’s rates were as low as $2 per day. A surviving 1907 reservation receipt claims the hotel was the “best gunning and fishing resort on New Jersey Coast.” With its more sophisticated look, it hoped to compete for the recreational trade that Thompson hoped would reach Long Beach Island by rail. It is in folklore that Grover Cleveland visited the hotel. As Harvey Cedars lost its attraction as a tourist destination to the development of the south end of the island, the hotel had become a giant “white elephant” and Thompson sold it with all its furniture, rugs, and silverware.
By May 11, 1912, Harvey Cedars Beach Company again owned the hotel but went into bankruptcy, and its property was sold to Walter Pincus of Philadelphia for $1,000. In 1914, Pincus sold most of the property to Daniel B. Frazier Company.
[1] Some believe that the original second floor and roof were raised to become the third floor, and that the present second floor was built underneath. Floorboards seem to indicate that the third floor was once an attic.
[2] The Canteen and offices now have drop ceilings, but the tin ceiling underneath remains. The front wall of the main lounge was replaced by drywall for maintenance. Patterns in the decorative tin indicate locations where gas light fixtures once were. They have been replaced with electric lighting.
1921-1935
Harvey Cedars Hotel: YWCA Camp Whelen
During World War I and the industrialization of America, thousands of young people were moving to cities. As hundreds of camps and conferences sprung up across the country, the old Harvey Cedars Hotel became a place of vacation for working city girls.
In 1921, the Young Women’s Christian Association of Philadelphia purchased the hotel for $35,000. It became a summer camp called Camp Whelen [1], where hundreds of girls and counselors made memories and studied biblical principles. The camp welcomed guest speakers and had a piano in its dining room, making shows popular. Many women went on to successful lives of leadership in their communities, churches, schools, businesses, and professions. A group of women who had served on the YWCA staff held a reunion at HCBC in 1983.
Camp Whelen closed in 1935 due to declining attendance and a lack of funds during the Great Depression, leaving the hotel to sit neglected for the next six years. In 1939, the hotel was purchased by Miss Mabel Bayard of Philadelphia but remained unused.
[1] Postcards and other media use a variety of spellings including “Whelan” and “Wellen.” Most official documents use “Whelen.”
1941
Harvey Cedars Bible Presbyterian Conference begins
By 1941, the Great Depression held the nation. Waterfront lots cost $75, the railroad to the island was gone, and most of the 14 great Victorian hotels on Long Beach Island had been destroyed or abandoned.
Reverend John W. "Jack” Murray was a student at Wheaton College when revival swept its campus between 1935 and 1936. He spent the rest of his life in evangelism.
As a 27-year-old associate pastor of a large Presbyterian church and the National Director of the Summer Bible School Movement (later AWANA), Murray successfully developed a 12-year, five-week educational program for children. He told his members they could only take vacations in August and wanted a place to reward the graduates with a two-week vacation. This idea later developed into a permanent Bible Conference.
While fishing in the spring of 1941, Jack’s friend Bill Ritchie showed him the old, run-down Harvey Cedars Hotel from the water on the beautiful windswept, sun-drenched Long Beach Island. Intrigued by the building, they entered and found the entrance filled with feathers. Jack Murray had the vision to see its potential and decided that this hotel would make an ideal retreat center once restored.
They discovered that Mabel Bayard held the title, and they went to her Germantown home to see if she would donate the property for their cause. She countered by asking for an offer. They responded that it would take all their money to get the building in usable condition. Bayard was a hard bargainer and asked the most they could give her for it. The two men went into her foyer and prayed about the matter, letting God set the purchase price for them. They returned with an offer of $7,000, which she accepted with the condition that they paid in cash within a month. A staggering sum for Depression days, Murray and Ritchie trusted God to raise it. They lacked money, but they had faith. They did their part by approaching people interested in helping, and they gathered the total amount within the required time.
It took an incredible amount of work to restore the old hotel, but the Harvey Cedars Bible Presbyterian Conference was able to open by the end of the summer. After an afternoon worship service in the hotel’s south chapel, meetings started with great expectation on Friday, August 1, 1941. A dedication service took place on Sunday, August 3, 1941.
1941-1951
Jack & Eleanor Murray and HCBC’s early days
Jack met his wife, Eleanor, when they were students at Wheaton. Eleanor was the daughter of a leading national evangelist at that time, George T. Stephens. While at college, Jack and Eleanor worked for her father over the summer and traveled for evangelistic ministry on weekends. A great revival at Wheaton College led them to commit to a life of evangelism and to each other.
As the owner of the Bible Conference, Jack was an outstanding preacher and evangelist who had joy in leading hundreds each year to faith in Jesus. He was also a hard worker: he would leave at 5 AM to visit farms and shops 50 miles away to buy food for his guests, as rationing was pervasive. Carpentry, painting, and cutting grass were not beneath his dignity.
Eleanor was a devoted wife and wonderful mother. She was a fantastic pianist who played for congregational singing. She trained the staff choir and did much of the cooking for many summers. Eleanor wrote hundreds of choruses and hymns.
The early days of the Bible Conference were difficult and discouraging. Sugar, meat, gas, and construction materials were rationed. German U-boats sank oil tankers just off the island, and beaches were smothered with oil. The 1944 hurricane was devastating to the town of Harvey Cedars. At the same time, America’s churches were struggling theologically. Bible Conferences played a significant role in the country’s Christian history by helping people get back to the basics in a natural setting, away from the formal and ritualistic. Like many others, Harvey Cedars hoped to call the church back to the Bible and the historic Christian faith.
The Bible Conference was only open in the summer. The Murrays traveled the rest of the year in week-long evangelistic crusades with great success. Many people came to faith in Christ through Jack and Eleanor’s crusades, Jack’s daily radio programs. Many converts and friends were attracted to summer family weeks at HCBC through these programs. Nationally known figures such as Francis Schaeffer, Vernon Grounds, and Jack Wyrtzen frequently spoke at Harvey Cedars.
In 1946, construction started on the current dining room building as attendance increased. In 1947, God provided in unexpected ways as funds were raised and plans drawn for the chapel, which was completed in 1950. The chapel originally featured stained glass windows from the demolished Engleside Hotel’s dining room, which were removed in renovations in 2003.
Story of the Chapel - Rev. Jack Murray (PDF)
In 1949, the conference’s name was changed from Harvey Cedars Bible Presbyterian Conference to Harvey Cedars Bible Conference as the ministry broadened in outreach. Jack and Eleanor laid a strong foundation through ten years of sacrifice and hard work. They were committed to the success of the conference. Their legacy lives on today as two of their children, George Murray and Sarah Eremic, continue to contribute to the ministries at HCBC as speakers.
1949-1951
Al Oldham becomes director
Albert Oldham, in his teens, was impressed by Jack Murray's preaching. Al heard Murray speak of the Bible Conference and how he needed teens to serve on staff. Al volunteered in the kitchen [1] for three summers, and that decision changed his life.
Pastor George Schmeiser from Philadelphia spoke one evening in the conference hotel's south lounge on Paul's letter to the Corinthians. He stressed Paul's logic: if Jesus left Heaven to come and love us, live for us, and die for us, we have no right to live for ourselves but rather for him. That night Al walked forward and decided to live his life for Christ. He changed his plan to attend law school and instead attended Wheaton College and Faith Seminary, where Jack Murray taught. Upon graduation, Jack asked 23-year-old Al to become his assistant director for the summer of 1951. Al struggled with the request, but after sincere prayer, he sensed God's direction to accept.
Jack Murray was handling many jobs. He was a pastor, ran Philadelphia’s Church of the Open Door's evangelism ministry, spoke daily on the radio, taught two days a week at the seminary, and managed the staff and programs of the Bible Conference. After his doctor told him he was under too much pressure and needed rest, Jack resigned—coincidentally on the conference's 10th anniversary: August 1, 1951.
Al had no idea. To his surprise, the board chairman drove down from Haddonfield and informed him that Jack resigned and was leaving the next day. He asked Al to shut the conference down or to run it until they could find a replacement for Rev. Murray. However, as Rev. Al liked to share, "They couldn't find anyone else to do the job for 44 years!"
[1] As the present dining room was not complete, the kitchen at the time was in the space that The Canteen occupies today, and today’s main lounge was a dining room seating 150.
1951-1995
Development by the Oldhams
Many more changes came to the conference under Al Oldham's leadership. With God's providence, sacrifice, and perseverance, HCBC became debt-free, and it remains so to this day. In addition, it changed from a summer-only camp to a year-round retreat center.
Volunteers built a small bookstore on the chapel's grounds with wood from houses ruined by the March storm of 1962. That bookstore was demolished and replaced by an addition to the chapel featuring the present bookstore, nursery rooms, bathrooms, and a dormitory in 1975. Other facility additions during this time included the indoor pool (1989), Poolside Lodge (formerly “Driftwood Lodge,” 1965), a gymnasium (1970, now The Cedars and The Avenue), and dining room additions (1975).
Al's wife, Dorothy, continued Eleanor Murray's tradition by directing the staff choir and delighted visitors with beautiful violin music. Dorothy also sewed the staff girls' uniforms. Throughout the years, all of Al and Dorothy’s children have worked at the conference.
Al resigned as director in 1995 and continued to serve on the Board for the rest of his life.
1995-2004
Jon Oldham becomes director, further development
Al Oldham's son, Jon, became Assistant Director of Harvey Cedars Bible Conference in 1990 while overseeing Food Service and Maintenance. He has been Executive Director since 1995. Jon's passion for the conference is to stay true to its original purpose: to be a place where people preach the gospel and experience changed lives after encounters with the living God. It gained its description during this time: “Where Christ finds people and changes lives.”
Under Jon's leadership, the conference had its facilities improved over the years to meet guests' growing expectations and to increase capacity. Jon served as general contractor for the construction of Bayview Lodge in 1994. He then managed an expansion to the old hotel adding conference rooms, stairs, offices, and air conditioning, and a renovation of its original rooms on the first floor. The building was renamed the Victorian Hotel as it is the last remaining one of its time on Long Beach Island.
2011-present
Continued expansion of ministries and facilities
Steps of Faith campaign: In 2011, the Davis Center gym and activity center opened, adding greatly-needed recreation for families, teens, and retreat groups.
Next Steps campaign: The 2014 addition to the north side of Bayview Lodge added ten rooms, an elevator, and various meeting spaces to the facility. The former gym, attached to Bayview Lodge, was renovated in 2016 and became The Cedars (a large multi-purpose meeting space) and The Avenue (a cafe-style lounge and snack space.) The Avenue contains an electric fireplace with a mantel that was formerly a counter in the old bookstore.
Stepping Up campaign: The Marsh building opened in 2019 and provides dormitory-style accommodations for Summer Staff girls and year-round retreats. Volunteer groups helped renovate the Historic Boys’ Dorm to become a staff apartment in 2021.
Stepping Into the Next Generation campaign: The Cove, the twin building to The Marsh, opened in 2024 and provides additional lodging and meeting space for families, youth, and year-round retreats.
Jon Oldham has kept HCBC’s mission in view through all the upgrades and changes to the facilities. Jon continues to develop that mission to provide quality programs, excellent facilities, and a rich environment for guests and staff of all ages to learn about Jesus Christ, become more like him, and get trained for leadership in the home, church, and community.
Continuing the tradition of family involvement, all of Jon’s children have served on staff.
Discipleship Ministries
Summer Staff and Waypoint
When HCBC began, so did the Summer Staff ministry. The high-school and college-aged staff served food, cleaned rooms, and maintained the grounds for room-and-board only in the early summers. Today’s staffers continue to serve in ministry while encouraging personal and spiritual growth through carefully planned programs, including chapel sessions and group studies. As a result, hundreds of those who served have become pastors and missionaries.
HCBC expanded its ministry to college-aged young adults with the discipleship program Waypoint, in 2019. This carefully designed program equips people to see God’s guidance in their lives through Bible study, college-level courses, mentorship, and practical application.
HCBC has provided many other local ministry programs throughout the years.
God takes people who are broken and run down, restores them, and uses them for his honor and glory. The old Harvey Cedars Hotel can tell the same story.
Who would ever put a business plan together where you take something past its usable life, reclaim it, and put it back into use? It makes no sense in human terms, but makes perfect sense in God's economy. He takes run-down things and makes them new again. In his eternal plan, he finds people and reclaims their lives.
Through the eyes of Jack Murray, God envisioned what LBI’s last remaining great hotel of its time could become, restored it to the best condition it has ever seen, and has been using it to change the lives of thousands who come and stay in its rooms each year.
Through Al and Jon Oldham, God has brought thousands of people of all ages to Harvey Cedars Bible Conference each year to learn, believe, and experience his love. At the oldest hotel on the island, the oldest love story in the world is retold to new generations.
“Today, Jesus Christ still searches hearts, reveals His Father's character, changes lives, and calls disciples to follow Him as He did by the Sea of Galilee in the days of His flesh.”
— Al Oldham, “Bible Conference by the Sea”
If you own any historic photos either not shown here or in higher quality than shown here, you may scan and email them to activities@hcbible.org to be added to our official archive. Thank you so much!