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 »
Rudolph Dolle founded Dolle’s Candyland on the Boardwalk at Wicomico Street in 1910 and his son, Rudy, turned it into an Ocean City tradition. Salt water taffy was the signature item and by the early 1920s Dolle’s also advertised, “Popcorn sent in air tight containers everywhere.”The original building, pictured, once featured a small carousel behind… Read more »
Atlantic sturgeon were once of the most prevalent large fish found in the coastal waters surrounding Ocean City. In the 19th Century, it is estimated over 20,000 sturgeon could be found in this region alone.The brackish waters of the Sinepuxent Bay — before the creation of the Inlet in 1933 changed the salinity — was… Read more »
In 1922, a whale washed up on the beach near Caroline Street in Ocean City. It was towed out to sea by the U.S. Coast Guard but floated ashore again just north of the fishing pier.The City Council ordered the whale carcass dynamited and several pieces landed on the Pier building and surrounding hotels and… Read more »
The property best remembered as Melvin’s Steakhouse had its beginning in 1946 when William Ruark built a restaurant and rooming house on the corner of N. 1st Street and Philadelphia Avenue. Originally named The Avenue Hotel and Restaurant but known to locals as Ruark’s, the building was purchased at an auction by Dirk Quillin in… Read more »