The Knickerbocker Ferry passes through the Route 50 Bridge in February 1971. Planned as a floating shopping mall with two restaurants and a 200-seat movie theater, the former Staten Island, N.Y. Ferry met with nothing but disaster during her three-and-a-half-year stint in Ocean City.Owned by the Washington-based company, Ferryboat Ltd., the boat got stuck on… Read more »
Ocean City was a seasonal small town in 1946. The season ran from Memorial Day to Labor Day. It was said you could fire a cannon down Baltimore Avenue after Labor Day and not hit a single soul.The Boardwalk ended at 15th Street and Coastal Highway and was only one lane north and one lane… Read more »
The Hastings Hotel was built in 1916 on the Boardwalk between 2nd and 3rd streets by its namesake Josephine Hastings. It was purchased by Willye Conner Ludlam in the mid-1920s who built the Miramar next door and connected it to the Hastings.The Hastings-Miramar was later managed by Mrs. Ludlam’s daughter-in-law Thelma Conner, who became the… Read more »
St. Rose’s Summer Home for Orphans was built by the Sisters of Charity of Washington, DC in 1898. It was far outside of city limits at the time (Ocean City ended at 7th Street in that era) and the road to 14th Street was unpaved. Supplies were delivered by ox cart and horse drawn wagon… Read more »
Eight blocks of Boardwalk from North Division to 1st streets were rebuilt in concrete and widened by 10 feet between January and April in 1955.The Mayor and Council had decided to replace the wood with concrete due to maintenance costs. The George Bert Cropper Company did the work for $43,819 and used some of the… Read more »
The St. Mary Star-of-the-Sea Catholic Church was the first church constructed in Ocean City. Land had been purchased on the southwest corner of Talbot Street and Baltimore Avenue, but the building was not completed until the summer of 1880. Services were held in a room arranged as a chapel in the Myers Cottage on Wicomico… Read more »
The building that houses today’s City Hall opened in 1915 at 3rd Street and Baltimore Avenue as a training facility for teachers. Known as the Maryland State Normal School, it was the first brick building in Ocean City. The Normal School lasted only two years and then became the Ocean City High School in 1917.Eventually… Read more »
This photo depicts the corner of Caroline Street and Philadelphia Avenue in 1930. The homemade tennis court was on the west side of the home of Irving Mumford, who was famous for taking a daily dip in the ocean which he did on a year-round basis regardless of the weather.The sign on the large brown… Read more »
The Gordy Hall Motel Apartments were located on the bayside at 45th Street and Beach Highway from 1949 to the early 1970s. They took their name from owners Harold and Betty Gordy and Robert and Peg Hall and were known for their relaxed atmosphere and hospitality.The center building had been the old Brass Rail bar… Read more »
During World War II, Ocean City’s nightclub scene was centered on 9th Street. Within a short block, Jackson’s Casino, the Blue Dahlia and the Beach Club provided music, dancing and a lively bar scene. Slot machines were everywhere and there was hardly a hotel, bar or restaurant that didn’t have several.Ocean City was still a… Read more »