OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City Museum Society recently donated a digital copy of the original Ocean City Station Logbook to the National Archives in Philadelphia, Pa.
Scanning of this logbook was made possible by the Nabb Research Center in Salisbury. This book gives a handwritten account of all of the activity at the Ocean City Life-Saving Station from its first day of opening on Dec.25, 1878 to Jan. 22, 1880. The late Bill Wimbrow, past Society President and life-long member, placed the book on loan for display in the US Life-Saving Service exhibit. It continues to be on display through the generosity of the Wimbrow family.
“The Ocean City Life Saving Museum was something my Dad was very passionate about,” said Dinah Wimbrow-Warfield. “He was excited and very proud to have the original 1878 station logbook on loan to the museum. He would have been so pleased to know that the logbook was an integral part of completing the series for The National Archives. We appreciate the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum for being such a stalwart steward of this rare artifact.”
Thomas Wimbrow, brother of Bill Wimbrow, who is currently vice president of the Ocean City Museum Society Board of Directors, noted that their late father, R. Edwin Wimbrow, saved the document from destruction in the 1950’s when such documents were not as valued as they are today. He is sure both his father and his brother would be pleased to know a copy of the original logbook is now in a place of permanence where it can be used for historical research.
Wimbrow relates he remembers well his father spending winter evenings at the family dining room table attempting to decipher the archaic handwriting and marveling at the information that was revealed.