In 1920 the beach patrol was established, and four years later the first high school was built.Ī bridge from Somers Point to Ocean City was built in 1912, followed by three other bridges that connected Ocean City to lands in the north, south and west. Boarding and guest houses opened to welcome visitors who wished to stay on the island overnight.Īs part of a federal plan to experiment with air delivery service, the first air mail was flown between Ocean City and Stone Harbor in 1912, a flight that took only 20 minutes. Asbury Avenue, the first street built in the new city, became the commercial hub. The Station reopened between 19 to house personnel and equipment for anti-saboteur and submarine beach patrols during World War II, and in 2013 it too was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. By turn of the century, Ocean City had seen a lot of development. It was also instrumental in the rescue of numerous small boats and endangered swimmers. It operated as a life-saving station until 1937 and was instrumental in saving all 35 crew members of the sailing ship Sindia when it ran aground in 1901. Life-Saving Service constructed 45 life-saving stations along the New Jersey Coast, including one at 4th Street and Atlantic Avenue in Ocean City. Steamboat service from either Longport and Somers Point shuttled visitors to the island between 18. The Shore Fast electric line, operated by Atlantic City and Shore Railroad, ran from Atlantic City to Ocean City by way of the mainland communities of Pleasantville, Northfield, Linwood and Somers Point from 1907 to 1948. A train called the “Yellow Kid’ ran between Ocean City and Stone Harbor to the south. The 10th Street station still stands and today – listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it currently serves as a transportation center for buses.īetween 18, several transportation modes were available to bring people to the island. Another station was built in 1898 at 10th Street and Haven Avenue. A rustic train station was built at 34th Street and Haven Avenue. Within one year of its conception, a railway service brought visitors in to the island from Tuckahoe and, later, direct from Philadelphia. From its inception, it was determined that the sale of alcoholic beverages in Ocean City would be “forever prohibited” – a law that remains in effect today.ĭevelopment of the new island city was rapid. They purchased the land and cleared it to make lots, which they began selling in May 1880 for approximately $50 each. Standing under a cedar tree in 1879, they set out a plan to develop the land and formed the Ocean City Association to execute it. Legend has it that he used the cabin of a wrecked steamer as the family’s kitchen.įour Methodist ministers, interested in creating a seaside Christian resort, traveled to the island to inspect it and determined it was the perfect place for what they envisioned. Miller was a representative for lost cargo insurance claims, protecting shipping companies’ rights when ships wrecked off island. By the mid-1800s, Parker Miller and his family came to live on the island as its only full-time residents, living in a house that once stood where Seventh Street and Asbury Avenue is today. In 1750 John Somers bought a few hundred acres in the northern part of the island and used it for cattle grazing. In 1700, the area became known as Peck’s Beach after a whaler by the name of John Peck used the beach to store whales caught off shore. As with most of the barrier islands in Southern Jersey, Ocean City was once a hunting and fishing ground for the Lenni-Lenape Indians.
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