The Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company was formed in 1905 with two hand-drawn hose reels. In addition to fighting many fires over the years, the department has served with distinction during storms and floods, helping evacuate Ocean City during the March Storm of 1962 and Hurricane Gloria in 1985.The department was even called out for… Read more »

There were several reasons that Caroline Street was Ocean City’s primary swimming beach in the 1920s and early 1930s. The beach was narrow in those days and Caroline Street was its widest part. It was also the site of Showell’s Bathhouse where tourists could rent lockers and bathing suits for 25 cents a day.The most… Read more »

“Laffing Sal” used to stand in the cage at the entrance to Jester’s Funhouse on Worcester Street and the Boardwalk. You could easily hear her crazy laugh at least a block away.Sal was purchased by the Jester family in the early 1940s from a funhouse equipment firm in Philadelphia. Sal shook her head, bowed low,… Read more »

Sept. 22, 1994 will long be remembered as the date of the “Sunfest Disaster,” a day which taxed Ocean City’s emergency services to the limit. As vendors were setting up for the opening of Sunfest, the annual end of summer arts, crafts and music celebration, a windstorm hit the Inlet Parking Lot with 50 mph… Read more »

Surfing became popular in Ocean City in the mid-1960s. George Pittman and Bill Wise opened Ocean City’s first surf shop (called the Eastern Surfer) in 1964 in the basement of the Sandy Hill Motel.The less crowded beaches of north Ocean City quickly became the favorite surfing areas in the days before the high-rise condominiums.This 1965… Read more »

The first Boardwalk tram went into service on June 6, 1964 and became an immediate hit with summer visitors. It was so successful early on that a second tram was purchased two weeks later at a cost of $10,000.The early trams were designed to resemble a train and most Ocean City locals still refer to… Read more »

Assateague reached its peak as a sportsman’s paradise in the years immediately following World War II.During this period, the only access to the isolated barrier island was by boat with duck hunters and surf fishermen as the most frequent visitors. Local kids often accompanied their fathers to Assateague and collected shells that had washed ashore… Read more »

Jackson’s Casino was Ocean City’s most popular nightclub in the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s. Music, drinks and slot machines were the main attraction at the big wooden building on the Boardwalk between 9th and 10th streets.Jcakson’s was where the locals hung out and many still recall the special façade built to meet blackout… Read more »

In a precursor to American involvement in World War II, the Norwegian freighter “Olaf Bergh” ran aground about 60 yards off the beach at 94th Street on March 7, 1941. The ship had been hugging the coastline to avoid German submarines that were lurking offshore.The U.S. Coast Guard stationed in Ocean City quickly responded and… Read more »

The building that serves as today’s City Hall was at one time the center of formal education in Ocean City. This was the site of Ocean City High School from 1917 until its merger with Berlin’s Buckingham High to form Stephen Decatur High School in 1954. During much of that time, it was one of… Read more »