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 »

Willye Conner Ludlam built the Santa Maria Motel on the Boardwalk and 15th Street in 1956. It was one of the first masonry buildings on the Boardwalk and one of the first motels on what would become known as “Motel Row”.The Santa Maria epitomized what motels of the post-World War II era had to offer… Read more »

The Warren Cottage was located on the corner of 5th Street and the Boardwalk. Owned and managed by Berlin native Mary Purnell Warren, it had 12 rooms with a kitchen annex in the rear.Damaged in the March Storm of 1962, the property was sold and plans made to transport it to a new location in… Read more »

In the latter part of World War II (1944-45), German prisoners from the Prisoner of War Detention Camp east of Berlin were used to do beach cleanup and road work in Ocean City as well as work on various Worcester County farms. Most of these German POWs (there were never any Japanese prisoners housed on… Read more »

The China Seas Motel was located on the oceanfront at 51st Street. Designed to resemble a Chinese “junk” (a commercial fishing boat seen on the rivers of China), the unique building attracted much attention on Coastal Highway.The motel had been built in 1963 after lower land values following the March Storm of 1962 spurred development… Read more »

This aerial photo shows the creation of the Inlet in August 1933 and the separation between Ocean City and Assateague Island from the most historic storm to ever hit the region.The photo clearly shows the existence of a new 50-foot wide, eight-foot deep Inlet at the south end of town. The huge waves that pounded… Read more »

Jack and Paul Townsend of Selbyville, Del. are given credit for bringing big game fishing to Ocean City. They had fished for marlin off the coast of Florida and speculated that the marlin would follow the warm waters of the Gulf Stream north to the Delmarva coastline. They took VIPs, such as Lou Gehrig of… Read more »

Ocean City’s 9th Street was the favorite hangout for the college crowd from the end of World War II through the late 1960s. One reason was, in addition to several hamburger stands, it was the location of the iconic Beach Club. In those days, the Beach Club was Ocean City’s most popular beach bar.On Sept…. Read more »

A permanent Boardwalk was constructed in 1892 and extended for eight blocks along the oceanfront. Styles were more formal in the 1890s and 1900s — men in suits and ties and ladies in long dresses and big hats were normal attire for strolling the early Boardwalk in Ocean City.Both the Boardwalk and beach were narrow… Read more »

This postcard view from the 1960s looks west from 33rd Street and the oceanfront toward the bay and mainland. The building in the foreground was the Stardust Motel, which anchored the northern end of “Motel Row.” The Harrison Group’s Hilton Hotel occupies that block today.The smaller hotels in the middle of the picture were the… Read more »