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April, 1880
(The New York Times)
MARYLAND'S SEASIDE RESORT
THE RAPID GROWTH AND MANY ATTRACTIONS OF OCEAN CITY
(In last week's Part 1 of the article on Ocean City's beginnings
it was stated that in 1874 "It exists only on paper and in the imagination of
its founders" but by just 1880 there were numerous large hotels, and train
excursions were bringing up to 20,000 people to the resort on some days from off
the peninsula locations.
(Part 2)
The growth of the popularity of Ocean City as a Summer resort
has been very rapid, but the cause of this progress is very simple. It is easily
reached from any portion of this peninsula, and from Baltimore, Wilmington, and
Philadelphia. It offers to the lovers of bathing facilities for the
gratification of that pleasure second to no other seaside resort on the
Atlantic. For the lovers of the surf, the Atlantic Ocean breaks uninterrupted on
a sand-bound shore for 40 miles. The undertow, it is claimed, is less dangerous
than at Atlantic City or Long Branch, and the certainty of good surf bathing is
absolute, while for ladies and children who are not strong enough, or do not
possess the courage to find pleasure in the breakers , the Synapuxant Bay, which
is as close to the hotels as to the ocean, affords perfectly safe bathing in
water nowhere over six feet in depth, and in few spots over three feet deep.
Ocean City is situated on a sand formation or beach, which connects with the
mainland 16 miles to the north of this point, and to Chincoteague inlet, 25
miles south of here, and at this point it is less than a thousand feet wide. The
Ocean House, which is nearly 300 feet long, and stands with one end toward the
ocean and the other toward the bay, is less than 400 feet from either the bay or
the ocean. The Synapuxant Bay is a large and shallow sheet of water, 40 miles
long, and varying in width from a half-mile to 10 miles. Perhaps that which has
done most to make this a popular Summer resort for the people of this peninsula
is moderation in all charges to the visitors. Excursion tickets, good to return
in five days, have been sold at Wilmington as low as $1.60. The distance from
here to that city is upward of 140 miles, making the rates for passage over the
railroads amount to little over a half-cent per mile. The charges at the hotels
are also moderate. The highest price charged by any hotel in Ocean City is at
the Atlantic, and there the best rooms in the house can be had for $2.50 per
day, including meals, and all the hotels on the beach have established
reputations for the excellence of their tables. The highest rate charged by any
hotel to guests engaging rooms by the week is $12.50, and some of the smaller
hotels entertain their guests at a charge of about $8 a week. In the matter of
dress, the guests are almost invariably democratic, each lady dresses to suit
her own inclination and convenience, and plainness in dress is almost universal,
but there is a social element in the society of Ocean City, or, at least there
was last season, that is not readily understood by the chance visitors from the
nearer Northern sea-side resorts. The marked and pleasant familiarity of the
guests at the hotels is not measured by dress. Nor is there that separation of
circles into different sets, as at many other places. The truth is that in
Maryland everybody knows everybody, and Ocean City by common consent has become
the place for an annual reunion, where friends meet friends on common grounds,
to entertain and be entertained in strict accordance with the far-famed
hospitality of Maryland. Ocean City is a sea-side resort within reach of
moderate incomes, where health may be recuperated and life may be enjoyed as
well as at any other point on the Atlantic coast. The Old Dominion Steam-ship
Company's steamers make close connections from New York, at Lewes, for this
resort, and for Rehobeth City, another popular sea-side resort 16 miles north of
this place, which has grown up during the past few years.
(Synapuxant and Rehobeth were the Newspaper's spellings.)
April, 1954
Daniel Shaw was elected Pocomoke City mayor. He was former
president of the city council and unopposed to succeed Mayor Crady Matthews.
Clayton Lambertson, a former Pocomoke mayor and councilman in the 1940's, was
unopposed for one council seat that was on the ballot.
April, 1977
Plans were proceeding for the opening of a Christian Day school
in Pocomoke City offering a state approved curriculum taught by certified
teachers. The classes would be conducted at the Glad Tidings Assembly Of God
Church on Market Street and Payne Avenue.
January, 1912
(The Evening Post- Frederick, Md)
John W. Guy Dead
Thrice Married, He Was Father of 32 Children
Cape Charles, Va., Jan 8.- John W. Guy, 79 years old, father of
32 children, died at his home near Melfa, Va., of stomach trouble after an
illness of several months. He was a prosperous farmer and life-long resident of
the Eastern Shore of Virginia. He was married three times. His first wife was
Mary Ann Redfield, a farmer's daughter, both bride and groom being in their
twenty-second year. To this union seven children were born. His second wife was
Margaret Elizabeth Ayers, 21 years old. To this union 18 children were born.
Lola Crockett, 16 years old, daughter of a farmer, became his last bride when he
was in his sixty-fifth year. To this union seven children were born. Of Guy's
children, 21 were sons and 11 daughters.
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Paul Conner
