By the mid-1980s, most of the beach in Ocean City had become narrow and in some places nearly non-existent on high tide. It was said you could fish from the Boardwalk on 15th Street during a storm and there was barely enough room to set up an umbrella between 21st and 25th streets. Most of… Read more »
The first multi-alarm fire since Hooper’s Crab House burned down in 2002 occurred when the Dough Roller on South Division Street and the Boardwalk caught fire 13 years ago last month on March 30, 2008.There was fear of losing an entire block of the southern part of the Boardwalk, but a quick response by the… Read more »
Thelma Conner (1913-1999) has been called “a visionary entrepreneur who was ahead of her time.” The successful hotel owner was the first woman ever elected to the Ocean City Council, serving from 1976 to 1984. She helped form the Ocean City Museum Society and was instrumental in moving the old Coast Guard building to the… Read more »
The Wheels of Yesterday Museum was located on Route 50 about a half west of town in the old Villani Furniture building. Opened in 1996 to house Granville Trimper’s collection of antique and classic cars, it was a popular tourist attraction in West Ocean City. At its peak 45 vehicles were on display.Items in the… Read more »
St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church has occupied the northeast corner of 3rd Street and Baltimore Avenue for well over a century. The first service in the historic building was held on June 7, 1901.The earliest Episcopal service in Ocean City was held in the former Congress Hall Hotel in the summer of 1878 and a… Read more »
One of the biggest events of the season in the 1980s and 1990s was Oceana Magazine’s “Waiter and Waitress Cup.” Held in the convention center’s parking lot, it featured intense competition between employees of local restaurants and bars who raced through an obstacle course while balancing a bottle and glass on a cocktail tray.The prize… Read more »
In the 1950s, a new town known as Ocean Beach was being promoted on the northern end of Assateague Island about five miles south of Ocean City.The development faced several problems, however, including access — there was no bridge to Assateague in those days and the small ferry could only carry three cars. Another problem… Read more »
Ocean City was once a highly segregated town with unwritten “Jim Crow” laws in effect into the late 1960s. Blacks (known as Negroes or colored in that era) were not welcome as guests in the white-only hotels and restaurants or on the beach or Boardwalk.A unique event developed in the years prior to WWI known… Read more »
The Carousel opened in July 1962 after the original ribbon cutting had been delayed several months due to damage from the famous March Storm of 1962.At the time of its construction, it was far north of the existing city limits and stood virtually alone with only sand dunes and a few small cottages nearby. The… Read more »
The Sandpiper was one of the most popular restaurants in town from the 1950s through the 1970s. Located on 33rd Street and Coastal Highway in a building with a big white chicken on the roof, it featured seafood and some of the best fried chicken ever served in Ocean City.Robe and Mary Belle Holland opened… Read more »