Fashions in the 1890’s and early 1900’s were far more formal than what can be seen in Ocean City today. In that era, people dressed up to stroll on the Boardwalk. Men wore hats and suits — or at least a coat and tie — and women wore long skirts, fancy hats and long sleeved… Read more »
Category: Vanishing Ocean City
Vanishing Ocean City
Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann
The Seaview was constructed in the World War I era on the Boardwalk between 3rd and 4th streets. More of a boarding house than a full service hotel, the Seaview offered both rooms and apartments to summer guests. The frame three-story building was built on pilings and survived many storms including the famous March Storm… Read more »
Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann
A railroad once played an important role in the development of Ocean City. The railroad era began in 1876 and lasted for 57 years. It was the primary form of transportation as well as the major supply line for the resort before the automobile bridge opened in 1919.During that period everything of substance was shipped… Read more »
Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann
The Kaye Hotel was built by Marie Kaye Kinnamon on the corner of 6th Street and the Boardwalk in 1927. Following her death and the subsequent sale of the property, the name was changed to The Hotel Normandy prior to the 1945 season — most likely to honor the D-Day landings in Normandy the previous… Read more »
Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann
James B. Caine (1922-2006) was one of Ocean City’s legendary figures and the man most responsible for the development of the northern part of town. He dredged and filled the marshlands along the bayside in the late 1960s and built lagoons and bulkheads which today give the uptown area much of its character.In the words… Read more »
Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann
The first bridge to carry automobile traffic into Ocean City was approved by the Maryland General Assembly in 1916 but did not officially open until July 4, 1919. Known to locals as the “State Roads Bridge,” it had a single lane in each direction. It crossed the Sinepuxent Bay at its most narrow point and… Read more »
Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann
In the winter of 1893, Daniel B. Trimper arrived with his family from Baltimore and brought the first mechanical rides to Ocean City. His amusement complex would eventually include two hotels, game and food stands and numerous rides including a Ferris wheel.His first ride was a small hand-cranked carousel but within a few years he… Read more »
Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann
Postcards were a popular form of staying in touch with the folks back home in the days before cell phones and email made communication so easy.Many of the pictures that survive today of Ocean City in the early 20th Century were originally published as postcards. The comic postcard became popular during World War II and… Read more »
Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann
John Dale Showell, Jr. built Ocean City’s first swimming pool in 1917. Located on the Boardwalk between N. Division and Caroline streets, it was a salt water pool with water pumped in from the ocean.Showell charged 25 cents to swim in the pool and cleaned it once a week, refilling it at night. The beach… Read more »
Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann
The Breakers Hotel was built circa 1904 on the southwest corner of 3rd Street and the Boardwalk and at the time was one of the northernmost hotels in Ocean City.The Breakers, like most of the hotels of the era, operated on the American Plan (meals included with room) and did so up into the early… Read more »