Ocean City is Maryland’s only coastal community. It is situated on a barrier island that until the mid-1800s was a barren place attracting only a few fishermen who crossed over from the mainland in small rowboats. In 1869, a local farmer named Isaac Coffin constructed a small inn to accommodate the fishermen and others who were beginning to show an interest in the beach as a refuge from city life. Soon, other hotel properties arose. When Ocean City became an incorporated town in 1880, the little fishing village was on its way to becoming a famous seaside resort. The following year, a railroad bridge built over Sinepuxent Bay afforded visitors more convenient access to the town; prior to this, they had to dismount from the train on the mainland and then cross the bay by boat. It was not until World War I that a roadway bridge was built.

In the early 1900s, Daniel B. Trimper and his brother, both from Baltimore, started an amusement park, which is still owned and operated by the Trimper family. Local men worked in the fishing industry started by Capt. Christopher Ludlum and his son from Cape May, New Jersey, while their wives and mothers ran the hotels. From 1900 to 1915, the first sections of Ocean City’s famous Boardwalk were constructed; in those early days, it was taken up and stored during the winter. Today’s Boardwalk is a permanent walkway spanning nearly three miles.

In August 1933, a violent four-day storm hit Ocean City and cut an inlet through the island, linking the Atlantic Ocean with Sinepuxent Bay. The inlet soon brought a new industry to Ocean City—sportfishing. With easy access to the ocean from the bay, fishermen no longer had to launch boats through the surf or limit themselves to bay fishing. In 1934, the first white marlin was caught off the coast, and Ocean City proclaimed itself “White Marlin Capital of the World.”

This once humble fishing village covering only a few blocks of land now stretches for ten miles, has a city manager form of government (adopted in 1981), and operates as a full-service, year-round resort. It is an economic powerhouse for the entire region, welcoming over eight million visitors annually and funneling close to $3 billion into the state’s economy. A new convention center brings visitors throughout the year, and numerous golf courses have turned Ocean City into a premiere golfing destination, complementing its longstanding reputation as a family resort.