Jackson’s Casino was Ocean City’s most popular nightclub in the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s. Music, drinks and slot machines were the main attraction at the big wooden building on the Boardwalk between 9th and 10th streets.
Jackson’s was where the locals hung out and many still recall the special façade built to meet blackout requirements during World War II. Slot machines were prevalent in Ocean City during that period and when State’s Attorney Jack Sanford cracked down on gambling in the early 1950s it is said over 30 slots were put out of commission at Jackson’s Casino.
Jackson’s became the Ocean Casino in 1953 and was then a popular pinball arcade and teenage gathering spot on the mid-town Boardwalk. Heavily damaged in the March Storm of 1962, the iconic frame building was demolished and replaced by the masonry building that sits on the same site today.
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Photo courtesy Stacy Crockett, Baltimore Sun