The Pocomoke Fair
The Pocomoke Fair was first staged in the year 1902 and continued for the
next 29 years. The fair was held each week in the month of August until 1930.
The fairgrounds were located just south of the corner of Second and Broad
Streets. It was an agricultural fair featuring displays of farm products,
animals, tools, and equipment. On the first floor of the grandstand were
numerous exhibits competing for prizes in handicrafts, arts, food, and so
forth. In the afternoon, there were harness races on a fine half mile track with
both hand betting and purses. Numerous horsemen from Virginia competed
with our local drivers bringing their best pacers and trotters. One of their
best drivers from Virginia was Will Bull (?) and the best from Pocomoke area
was Dan Armstrong. A large carnival furnished entertainment each afternoon
and night: ferris wheels, merry go rounds, other mechanical rides, side
shows, wheels of fortune, games of chance, and both boxing and wrestling
matches. Some added attractions were parachute jumps from balloons,
airplanes and automobiles on exhibit. On special days, passenger trains
were scheduled from Cape Charles and as far north as Laurel, Delaware. Our
local baseball stars played exhibition games against professionals. The
famous Homerun Baker played in these matches on several occasions.
Automobile races were set up one day of the fair during the last 10 years. In
later years, president of the fair was Ray B. Gladding, later mayor of
Pocomoke City. And the secretary and treasurer was James M. Crockett, a
young lawyer and later a judge of the Circuit Court.
Interviewer: How was the train? What was it like?
Elmer: In 1916 we went by train to Ocean City. We left the Pocomoke station
and went to Salisbury and then south to Ocean City. And at that time the
railroad bridge went over to the beach up at Ocean City and there was a
station. And we went for the day and my father took us. The whole of Ocean
City was only about 10 blocks from one end to the other. And now of course,
Ocean City extends almost to the Delaware line on Fenwick Island. I did camp
on the beach for a week on the beach with the Boy Scout troop, not in Ocean
City, but rather up at Fenwick Island, right opposite the lighthouse. At that
time I was about 14 years old, which would’ve been about 1922 and there
were 8, possibly 10 cottages on Fenwick Island, but there was no road to
Ocean City. One day, as a hike, we hiked down on the beach to Ocean City
and back to the lighthouse. There were about 24 Scouts in the camp. And
when we went to the camp on Fenwick Island, we had to go to Selbyville,
Delaware and then come south over the old iron bridge that’s still standing
and almost opposite the lighthouse. Of course, the lighthouse has been
discontinued. Over the years, later on, I fished from the surf at Fenwick and
Ocean City. And every year, or several years, rather, when the trout were
running in the fall, we would stay a few days in one of the cottages at
Fenwick Island. And that was very good fishing in those days. We used to
catch trout, kingfish, and numerous others. You never knew what you were
going to catch in the surf, it was so much variety.
Interviewer: What kind of things did you do on Ocean City? Did you go there
for a trip, for fun? In the town? Did you go swimming at the beach?
Elmer: Yeah, there was a restricted area where you were supposed to swim,
but it wasn’t enforced. You could go anywhere you wanted. But we mostly
fished away from the swimmers. We’d get up the beach a ways and there was
plenty of places to fish. Now, there’s no place to fish in the surf, except just
here and there.
Interviewer: Did you go to the town? Into the town of Ocean City? And maybe
shop?
Elmer: No, not when we were fishing. But for the summer, yeah, we all went
down for the day, Saturday or Sunday.
Interviewer: Were the streets paved then?
Elmer: Oh, yes. The main street was. Yes.
Interviewer: What kind of stores did they have?
Elmer: Well, it’s like all resort towns, It was all kinds of amusement machines
and all that kind of thing. Saltwater taffy and hamburger stands and all that
stuff, just like it is today, somewhat, but not as elaborate.
Interviewer: They had a swimming pool in Ocean City.
Elmer: They had swimming pools in Ocean City, oh from possibly 1930 on.
Usually at only the larger hotels.
Interviewer: There was one, that they told us about, that was a salt water pool.
Elmer: Yeah, well, I’m sure of that. They used the salt water because they had
it right there. They’d pump it right in out of the ocean. Bound to be salty.
Interviewer: What were some of the first hotels they had there?
Elmer: I remember the old Atlantic which was run by the Purnell family for
many years. It was one of the largest, and it was wooden. Mostly, we just
went in there to eat, I never [stayed there], because we were close by, we
would drive home at night, unless we were at a convention or something like
that.
Interviewer: Do you remember anything about Berlin? Was it a small town?
Did you hear much about it then?
Elmer: No…it’s only recently that many of the citizens of Berlin, owning
property in Ocean City, made a lot of money out of it. But, actually as a town,
it’s never been very progressive.
Interviewer: What about Snow Hill? Did you go there much?
Elmer: Oh, yeah. Snow Hill is almost like a second Williamsburg. Many of the
old homes there are well worth seeing, and they date back to the revolution
and before. And Williamsburg, of course, was all rebuilt. Or most of it, with
the Rockerfeller money.
Interviewer: There were Rockerfellers? In Williamsburg? Where were the
Rockerfellers?
Elmer: In Williamsburg, not Ocean City. We always went to Williamsburg to
see all these old colonial homes, but we had them right here in Snow Hill.
Interviewer: Back to Ocean City a minute…Do you remember the ’32
hurricane?
Elmer: The ’62 hurricane, yeah, but the other two probably…
Interviewer: This hurricane was the one that cut the channel between
Assateague….
Elmer: I know about it, but only after it was over, when they had the new
channel down there.
Interviewer: Were you there?
Elmer: Not at that time…(audio not clear)
Interviewer: You didn’t see any of the flooding because of it?
Elmer: No, but this friend of ours, in the ’62 storm, had a cottage on Fenwick
Island, above the lighthouse. And there just wasn’t nothing left. Not even the
pipes or anything. The whole cottage was gone. We were up there for about 3
weeks before, and when the storm came in, they called us up on the phone.
No, we called them on the phone and told them to come on down. And they
said, “Oh, we’re all right.” He and his wife. He was in the army. He said,
“We’re all right” and right after that, the roof blew off of the house. And he
had this flashlight (audio not clear) and they finally wound up on
the roof on top of a dune next to it, rather, and they were rescued by the
Delaware National Guard in tanks. And then they picked up a woman at the
foot of this place. We were just there 3 weeks before.
Continues next Saturday here at The Pocomoke Public Eye.
Anonymous said...The Ocean City inlet was cut by a hurricane on August 23, 1933, not 1932.
Your friend,
Slim
