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The first bridge to carry automobile traffic into Ocean City was approved by the Maryland General Assembly in 1916 but did not officially open until July 4, 1919.
Known to locals as the “State Roads Bridge,” it had a single lane in each direction. It crossed the Sinepuxent Bay at its most narrow point and entered Ocean City at Worcester Street in the center of the old downtown.
This bridge was damaged in the Hurricane of 1933 that destroyed the nearby railroad bridge and also created the Inlet. For the three days it took to repair the State Roads Bridge, no automobile traffic was able to enter or leave Ocean City except by the long and sand-covered route through Delaware. The photo above was taken four days after the hurricane in 1933.
The State Roads Bridge was replaced by the current Route 50 Bridge in 1942.
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Photo courtesy Travis Langworthy