The year 1896 is an important date in the history of Ocean City for it marked the beginning of the commercial fishing industry and changed a small seasonal resort to a year-round town.Captain Christopher Ludlam brought a crew of fishermen from Cape May, N.J. and began pound fishing off the coast of Ocean City in… Read more »
The Plimhimmon Hotel fire was one of the biggest ever fought by the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company and threatened the downtown area in the early morning hours of Nov. 21, 1962.The Plimhimmon was the town’s largest hotel and at the time of the fire was being further enlarged. Built in 1894, the big wooden… Read more »
Local kids used to earn spending money for the pinball arcades and Boardwalk rides by selling seashells on the Boardwalk. Conch shells were the best sellers and were found on Assateague before the Verrazano Bridge made public access to the island easy in 1963. Comic books, handmade jewelry and “shark strings” (woven string ankle bracelets… Read more »
The Sinepxuent Bay Bridge (now known as the Harry Kelley Memorial Bridge or more commonly the Route 50 Bridge) was under construction in this 1942 photo. This bridge replaced the original single lane automobile bridge, which had been built in 1916 and entered town at Worcester Street. Construction began in 1940 and was completed by… Read more »
This rare photo shows the efforts made by the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge a channel on the bayside in 1947.The white building next to the marina was the famous Ship Café and the adjoining vacant land is the location of today’s Harbour Island. St. Louis Avenue had not been extended northward at this… Read more »
The Samoa and Mario’s were two of Ocean City’s most popular restaurants in the late 1960s. Located on Philadelphia Avenue between 22nd and 23rd streets, the Samoa moved two blocks north in 1969 and is now the location of a Sunsations store.Mario’s was a favorite of Ocean City’s locals and stayed open year-round serving some of the… 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 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 Ocean City Fire Department… Read more »
The Ocean City Fishing Pier is under construction circa 1906 in this photo but the pier building had not been built. Work began in 1904 and was completed in time for the 1907 season.The original permanent Boardwalk can also be seen; it was narrow and raised above the sand. On hot days, bathers would sit… Read more »
In 1952, the Ocean City High School boys’ basketball team won the Maryland “Class D” state championship. This was quite an accomplishment as Ocean City High was one of the state’s smallest schools based on student enrollment. There were only 21 in the graduating class.The starting five consisted of Burt Raughley, Ben Lewis, Bill Brown,… Read more »
The development of Ocean Pines by the Boise Cascade Corporation began in 1968 and continued at a rapid pace throughout the 1970s. In the early years, there was no Route 90 bridge and unique marketing strategies to sell lots “in the middle of nowhere” included Hawaiian Luaus, a private clubhouse and pool on the beach… Read more »
