An aerial view of the area between 12th to 15th streets reveals the less developed Ocean City of the mid-1960s.
The beginning of Motel Row with the departed Sea Scape and Santa Maria motels can be seen in the upper left corner with two of the town’s iconic hotels – Harrison Hall and the original Commander (1930-1997) to the south on the Boardwalk. The Beach Plaza, the future site of the proposed Margaritaville development, is on the oceanfront at 13th Street. In the center of the picture The Royal Palm Townhouse complex covers an entire square block while below and to its right sits the ill-fated Beachcomber Apartments, the scene of a tragic fire in 1988.
The vacant land west of Philadelphia Avenue was dredged from the bay by the Army Corps of Engineers in the late 1940s. It is densely built up and developed today.
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