Ocean City has had its share of colorful characters over the years. The blind musicians Tex, with his 10-gallon hat, and Shorty, with his banjo and dog Mandy; “Pop” Wendling with over 200 Popeye tattoos and his novelty joke shop; and the late Boardwalk Elvis (who passed away this year) were just a few of… Read more »
Ocean City north of 15th Street was mostly undeveloped from there to the Delaware line in the late 1940s. There was, however, a small community known to locals as “Maryland Fenwick” in the area of today’s 141st Street (known at that time as Lea Avenue). There were approximately 50 cottages and a general store, which… Read more »
Ocean City in 1915 was a small village with about 600 residents. Most of the men worked as commercial fishermen or on the railroad while the women managed the hotels and boarding houses. The tourist season ran from mid-June to Labor Day and there was no off-season. The hotels closed after Labor Day and the… Read more »
For nearly 40 years, Dale’s Esso Center was the first thing people saw when entering Ocean City.The gas station at the foot of the Route 50 Bridge was one of just a handful of local businesses to stay open year-round in the 1940s and 1950s.William Dale started the business in 1941 but it was taken… Read more »
Frontier Town was built by Bill Patton and Bill Pacy in an era when there were fewer entertainment options in Ocean City and the season ran Memorial Day to Labor Day. It opened to much fanfare in 1960 with Maryland Gov. J. Millard Tawes in attendance.This was a time when Old West nostalgia had swept… Read more »
Rolling chairs were a familiar sight in Ocean City in 1920s and 1930s and were an early version of today’s Boardwalk tram. Many college students helped pay their tuition by pushing tourists up and down the Boardwalk in those wicker chairs on wheels.Rolling chairs originated in Atlantic City, N.J. and quickly made their way south…. Read more »
The 64th Street Super Market was the first strip shopping mall in what was in those days the lightly populated northern section of Ocean City.This photo, circa 1967, is from a postcard. The shopping center still exists but, thanks in part to the opening of the Route 90 Bridge in 1971, the surrounding area has… Read more »
Ocean City looked much different in this aerial photo taken in 1946 between 14thand 15th streets.The large building in the center was the original Commander Hotel before its second wing was added and the vacant space to its left is today the site of the Beach Plaza Hotel and its adjoining parking lot. The building to… Read more »
Fashions in the 1890s and early 1900s 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 blouses. Many… Read more »
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 entered… Read more »
