A permanent Boardwalk was constructed in 1885 and extended for eight blocks along the oceanfront. Styles were more formal in the 1880s and 1890s — men in suits and ties and ladies in long dresses and big hats were normal attire for strolling Ocean City’s early Boardwalk.
Both the Boardwalk and beach were narrow in those days and on high tide the ocean would come up close to the Boardwalk and into the streets — all of which were unpaved.
Ocean City’s first restaurant can be seen on the left of this postcard. Opened by George Conner in 1892, it offered food and drinks to the excursionists who took the railroad to spend an afternoon at the beach. It is likely the people pictured were part of one of those popular railroad excursions. The descendants of George Conner are still active in Ocean City’s hospitality industry today.
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Postcard image from Bunk Mann’s collection