Harvey Cedars Hotel

Harvey Cedars Hotel is the last remaining historic hotel of its size located on Long Beach Island, in the town of Harvey Cedars, NJ. It began as a house constructed by Sylvanus Cox between "soon after the War of 1812" and 1837. In 1841, Captain Samuel Perrine purchased and expanded the house into "Connahassatt House at Harvest Cedars," which served as a boarding house for fishermen and duck hunters. Its biggest attraction was its public dance hall on the south side of the building.

View from south of Harvey Cedars Hotel when it was a 2-story, before 1903 renovation

Harvey Cedars Hotel
Harvey Cedars Hotel, 1930s
General information
Architectural style	Victorian
Location	12 Cedars Ave. Harvey Cedars, New Jersey, United States 08008
Construction started	1812-1837
Opening	1841
Renovated	1887-1903; 1995-2004
Owner	Harvey Cedars Bible Conference
Technical details
Floor count	3
Design and construction
Architect	Sylvanus Cox, Samuel Perrine, William Thompson
Other information
Number of rooms	45

Sometime between 1865 and 1870, John Warner Kinsey began to run the hotel, and it became known as "Kinsey's." He continued as the hotel keeper until the end of June 1880. Captain Isaac and Mary Jennings were in charge of the Harvey Cedars Hotel by 1881. It was nearly self-sufficient as the property had fruit trees, gardens, animals, and an abundance of seafood from local waters.[1] From 1886 to at least 1907, William Thompson managed the hotel, including a massive expansion of the building. The hotel was also raised and had the third floor, dormers, and tower added, giving it the appearance it has today. The hotel went out of business around 1910, and Harvey Cedars Beach Company sold it by 1912. It suffered a succession of owners until sold to the YWCA of Philadelphia, which turned the property into a Christian summer camp for young women named Camp Whelen from 1923 to 1935.

Drawing of Harvey Cedars Hotel during Kinsey's time

Camp Whelen survived until the Depression. After shutting down due to a lack of funds, the hotel was abandoned for about six years. In 1941, Presbyterian minister Jack Murray purchased the hotel and converted it into Harvey Cedars Presbyterian Bible Conference. In 1951, Jack left the operations to Al Oldham. The name was changed to Harvey Cedars Bible Conference and was run by Al until 1995, when he passed on the director position to his son, Jon Oldham.

Years of neglect of the building led to HCBC's decisions to renovate over the years. The former dining room (which now serves as the main lounge) has been kept mostly original. All exterior windows have been replaced, but the decorative embossed steel walls and ceiling are still present, although painted over, in the inner half of the room. The gas light fixtures were removed. The pocket doors on the south side were covered but are still inside the walls. The former kitchen was expanded and now serves as an ice cream shop and game room.

Further renovations between 1995 and 2004 replaced the former bar (which was HCBC's staff lounge) with office spaces. Additional offices were built, replacing parts of the west porch. The embossed steel ceiling is still present under the new drop ceiling. The two matching fireplaces in the west and south lounges were removed. The south balconies were replaced with one of the two fire-resistant stairwells added to each end of the building. The original stairs which extended from the former kitchen to the attic were mostly removed, but some sections remain in the walls. The former south lounge, which served as the chapel in the 1940s, was extended into conference rooms. Many rooms were gutted and rebuilt out-of-style with the original Victorian architecture, some being repurposed as public restrooms.

In 2021, the former 1860s house, which was connected to the hotel in the 1903 expansion and served as a staff boys' dormitory for HCBC, was entirely gutted and is currently being renovated into an apartment space. The bricks of the original chimney were preserved and sold.

Today, the hotel is named the Victorian Hotel and serves as the main building for Harvey Cedars Bible Conference.