Ocean City in 1946 was a much different town than the resort we know today. Both the city limits and the Boardwalk ended at 15th Street and fewer than 950 people lived there fulltime.There was no Inlet Parking Lot, no Convention Center and no rides on the Pier. The tourist season ran from Memorial Day… Read more »
Prior to World War I, Ocean City looked much different than today’s popular resort.The beach was narrow with the Boardwalk raised several feet above the sand. There was no Inlet and the northern city limits ended at 15th Street; beyond the “Catholic Home” on 14th Street were only sand dunes. The town was bleak and… Read more »
The Nor’easter of March 6 and 7, 1962 was the worst storm in Ocean City’s history. Raging through three high tide cycles it trapped many people in their homes and covered the town with flood waters as the ocean and the bay met along the barrier island.The Boardwalk was destroyed and many homes in the… Read more »
Ocean City’s original Pier building was completed in 1907 on the Boardwalk at Wicomico Street. In addition to shops and a dancing pavilion, it also featured a theatre and several refreshment stands. It also served as the entrance to the Ocean City Fishing Pier.The building was raised 10 feet above the beach and built on… Read more »
Eunice Q. Sorin (1924-2011) was a fun-loving free spirit whose generosity and zest for life will long be remembered in Ocean City.A resident of Berlin and an award-winning hair stylist, Eunice and her husband, Herman Sorin, built the Nassau Motel on 61st Street (now the site of the Meridian Condominium) in 1966. The Nassau was considered… Read more »
Ocean City’s first hotels were located in what today is the area from S. Division Street to 3rd Street. The original Atlantic (1875), Seaside (1877), Congress Hall (1878) and the Plimhimmon (1895) were famous in their time but all are gone now, lost to fires over the years.Lumber for the old hotels was milled in Salisbury… Read more »
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… Read more »
The original Morbid Manor was the ultimate “haunted house” with live actors portraying ghosts, goblins and ghouls of all shapes and sizes. It even featured a plane crash on the third floor of the spooky building located on the Fishing Pier at Wicomico Street and the beach.The screams of frightened visitors could be heard on… 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 dates its “official” birthday to July 4, 1875, the day the original Atlantic Hotel opened on what was then a remote barrier island. There was no bridge from the mainland that first year and the only way to reach the new hotel was by boat.There was no Boardwalk at that time nor were… Read more »