Dr. Oren B. Cheney

Every community has someone whose vision transforms an idea into reality. For Ocean Park, that person was Dr. Oren Burbank Cheney.

When the Ocean Park Association received its charter from the State of Maine on January 24, 1881, Cheney was elected its first president. By then, he was already widely respected throughout New England as a Free Will Baptist minister, educator, abolitionist, and the founder and first president of what would become Bates College. His commitment to education, equality, and faith shaped not only the college he established but also the seaside community he helped create.

The idea for Ocean Park was born the previous summer at the 1880 Free Will Baptist Centennial Conference held at The Weirs, New Hampshire. Inspired by the growing Chautauqua movement, church leaders envisioned a place where people could gather each summer for worship, education, music, and recreation. Cheney became one of the movement’s strongest advocates. After a committee selected a wooded tract overlooking Saco Bay, the State of Maine granted a charter creating the Ocean Park Association “to establish a place of summer resort for holding religious, educational, and other meetings.” Cheney was chosen to lead the new organization during its formative years.

Cheney’s influence extended far beyond Ocean Park. In 1855 he founded the Maine State Seminary, which later became Bates College. At a time when most colleges admitted only men or imposed religious and financial barriers, Cheney insisted that his school be open to qualified students regardless of race, gender, wealth, or religious background. Those principles of opportunity and lifelong learning became hallmarks of Bates College and found a natural home in Ocean Park as well.

It is no coincidence that Ocean Park developed into more than a religious camp meeting. Under Cheney’s leadership, the community embraced lectures, concerts, literary programs, educational conferences, and family recreation alongside worship services. His belief that intellectual growth and spiritual growth belonged together became woven into the very identity of Ocean Park, giving rise to the community that would later be known as “Chautauqua-by-the-Sea.”