The Commander Hotel was built by the Lynch family in 1930. Located at 14th Street, it was the northernmost hotel on the Boardwalk until Harrison Hall was built in 1951. In the years before the Convention Hall, the Commander hosted many small conventions.The Commander was considered one of Ocean City’s most elite hotels and was… 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 »
One of Ocean City’s most famous mayors was the late eight-term Mayor Harry W. Kelley, Jr. He was born in Ocean City, served as a lifeguard on the beach patrol and was a city councilman for 16 years before being elected mayor in 1970.His fights with the Army Corps of Engineers over beach revitalization were… Read more »
A Nor’easter struck Ocean City on March 6, 1962 and lasted through three high tide cycles over a two-day period. The most devastating storm in the town’s history, it remains the standard by which all other storms are judged.The ocean and the bay waters met and put the town completely under water. Local residents were… Read more »
The Ocean City Beach Patrol poses on the beach at Caroline Street in 1948. The man in the center of the front row is Bob Craig, who served as captain of the beach patrol from 1946 to 1986.The city limits ended at 26th Street in those days, but there were few bathers north of the… 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 Ocean City beachfront from Caroline Street to 2nd Street had a much different appearance in 1955 and some of the famous hotels and buildings of that era can be seen in this historic photo.Pictured, from left, are The Maryland Inn, the Coast Guard Station, the Showell block with Edwards 5 and 10, the Roosevelt… Read more »
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 blouses…. Read more »
The Seaview was constructed in the World War I era on the Boardwalk between 3rdand 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 of 1962.The Seaview… Read more »
The Kaye Hotel was built by Marie Kaye Kinnamon on the corner of 6thStreet 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 summer.The… Read more »
