In the late nineteenth century, the camp meeting movement gave birth to more than 350 assembly centers scattered across the United States. All assembly centers were situated near water with a grove of trees nearby. The Ocean Park Assembly is one of the few remaining active assembly centers.
The most famous assembly center was - and still is - in Chautauqua, New York. The name of that institution became so well known, that "Chautauqua" became the word used to identify assembly centers whose programs include religion, education, cultural entertainment and recreation. Ocean Park's identification with the Chautauqua movement is clearly stated in the title on the cover of the 1897 booklet - Eastern New England Chautauqua.
Ocean Park was founded under Free Will Baptist auspices in 1881 and the Ocean Park Association held its first assembly season that year. The charter, issued to the Association by the State of Maine on January 24, 1881, stated that the purpose of the corporation was "to establish a place of summer resort for holding religious, educational and other meetings at Old Orchard, in Saco, in the County of York".
The one-half mile by one-half mile tract along Saco Bay that became Ocean Park was purchased for $5,000. The Temple, seating a thousand people, was erected in six weeks with volunteer labor at a cost of $3,550 and was dedicated on August 2, 1881. Over the ensuing years, Ocean Park expanded through the addition of buildings needed to accommodate an expanding program and the construction of residential structures - cottages and year round homes - which today number almost 500.
History buffs who want to delve more deeply into Ocean Park's past are encouraged to read "Centennial History of Ocean Park, Maine, 1881-1991" by Adelbert M. Jakeman, which can be found in the library. Program booklets in the Ocean Park Association archives afford glimpses of the assembly program evolution. In addition, the Ocean Park Historical Society is an excellent source of information about Ocean Park's past.