Editing Ocean City, Maryland (section)

==History==
[[Image:Oceancitymd inlet.JPG|thumb|Ocean City's inlet during the offseason]]

===19th century===
Before the European colonization of what is now Maryland in the 17th century, the shoreline of the [[Delmarva Peninsula]] had been populated for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples including the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian-speaking]] [[Assateague people|Assateague]] and [[Nanticoke people|Nanticoke]] peoples.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oceancity.com/brief-history-of-ocean-city-maryland/ |title=A Brief History of Ocean City Maryland |publisher=OceanCity.com |accessdate=August 31, 2023}}</ref> The land on which the city was built and much of the surrounding area was obtained by Thomas Fenwick, an Englishman, from the [[Indigenous peoples of Maryland|Indigenous peoples of the region]]. In 1869, businessman Isaac Coffin built the first beach-front cottage to receive paying guests. During those days, guests arrived by stagecoach and ferry.

Soon after, other simple boarding houses were built on the strip of sand, with the activity attracting prominent businessmen from the [[Maryland Eastern Shore]], [[Baltimore]], [[Philadelphia]], and [[Wilmington, Delaware]]. They came not so much to visit as to survey the [[spit (landform)|spit]]. A decision was made to develop it and 250 lots were cut into it. A corporation was formed to help with the development of the land. The corporation’s stock of 4,000 shares sold for $25 each.

Before 1870, what is now Ocean City was known as "The Ladies' Resort to the Ocean".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Myers |first=Christopher |date=July 21, 2021 |title=Despite a Century of Changes, Ocean City is Still All About Family and Fun |url=https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/historypolitics/ocean-city-maryland-beach-history-despite-century-of-changes-family-fun-remains/ |access-date=April 16, 2023 |website=Baltimore Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Atlantic Hotel, the first major hotel in the town, opened July 4, 1875. The Atlantic Hotel originally was owned by the Atlantic Hotel Company, but eventually Charles W. Purnell bought it in 1923. {{As of|2025}}, it is still owned and operated by the Purnell family.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.atlantichotelocmd.com/about|title = About|date = 2014|access-date = November 21, 2014|website =Atlantic Hotel }}</ref> Besides the beach and ocean, it offered dancing and billiard rooms to the visitors of its more than 400 rooms, and for years it was the northernmost attraction in Ocean City. By 1878, tourists could come by the [[Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Railway#Wicomico & Pocomoke Railroad Company (1848–1890)|Wicomico & Pocomoke Railroad]] from [[Berlin, Maryland|Berlin]] to the shores of [[Sinepuxent Bay]] across from the town. By 1881, a line was completed from across Sinepuxent Bay to the shore, bringing rail passengers on the [[Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Railroad]] directly into the town to a train station and returning to larger city markets with locally caught fish from Ocean City.

===20th century===
[[File:Ocean City Hurricane, 1933.ogv|thumb|upright|1933 hurricane in Ocean City]]
[[File:Maryland - Ocean City - NARA - 23941153 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Ocean City, 1935]]

In 1930, Ocean City Beach Patrol was formed in order to better protect the bathers that frequented the shoreline. It was done in collaboration with Mayor William W. McCabe and Coast Guard Captain William Purnell.<ref>{{Cite web|title=About Us|url=https://oceancitymd.gov/oc/departments/emergency-services/beach-patrol/about-us/|access-date=February 23, 2021|website=Town of Ocean City, Maryland|language=en-US}}</ref>

The Ocean City Inlet was formed during a [[1933 Chesapeake Potomac hurricane|significant hurricane]] in 1933, which also destroyed the train tracks across the Sinepuxent Bay. The inlet separated what is now Ocean City from [[Assateague Island]]. The Army Corps of Engineers took advantage of nature's intervention and made the inlet permanent at the south end of Ocean City. The inlet eventually helped establish Ocean City as an important Mid-Atlantic fishing port, as it offered easy access to the Atlantic Ocean fishing grounds.

In the late 1930s, the Army Corps of Engineers dredged a new channel on the bayside of Ocean City to allow larger boats to have access to Sinepuxent Bay. The dredge was pumped back onto the western shore of Ocean City allowing the creation of Chicago Avenue and St. Louis Avenue, leading to new development where previously only marshland had been.<ref>[http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130822/NEWS/308220064/How-1933-hurricane-carved-lifeline-Ocean-City-Md-] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202192133/http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130822/NEWS/308220064/How-1933-hurricane-carved-lifeline-Ocean-City-Md-|date=February 2, 2015}}</ref>

Ocean City has undergone a fairly rapid expansion that took place during the post-World War II boom. In 1952, with the completion of the [[Chesapeake Bay Bridge]], Ocean City became easily accessible to people in the [[Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area]]. In 1964, with the completion of the [[Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel]], another pathway to the south was opened. This tunnel connects Northampton County on the Delmarva Peninsula to Southeast Virginia. These two events helped Ocean City become one of the largest vacation areas on the East Coast.

By the 1970s, big business flourished and gave birth to the construction of more than 15,000 condominium units.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mann |first=Bunk |date=April 14, 2022 |title=04/14/2022 {{!}} Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann – April 15, 2022 |url=https://mdcoastdispatch.com/2022/04/14/vanishing-ocean-city-with-bunk-mann-april-15-2022/ |access-date=April 18, 2023 |website=News Ocean City Maryland Coast Dispatch Newspaper |language=en-US}}</ref> However, throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the width of the beach began to shrink, prompting the first of a series of [[beach nourishment|beach replenishment]] projects.

A fire during the annual Sunfest destroyed five boardwalk businesses in 1994.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-09-23-1994266079-story.html/|title=Fire destroys businesses, apartment in Ocean City|first=Baltimore|last=Sun|website=Baltimore Sun|date=August 20, 2023 }}</ref> There was a small water park and giant walk-through haunted house with live actors near the end of the pier and a New Orleans-style Hollywood in Wax Museum on the boardwalk side. In the mid 1990s, the [[wax museum]] closed<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oceancity.com/ocean-city-oddities-boardwalk-memories-in-wax/|title=Ocean City Oddities: Boardwalk Memories in Wax|first=Brandon|last=Seidl|website=oceancity.com|date=January 5, 2018}}</ref> and was turned into a [[Photon: The Ultimate Game on Planet Earth|Photon laser tag]] arena{{Citation needed|reason=No source for laser tag|date=August 2024}}. The building now houses the [[Ripley's Believe it or Not!]] museum.

===21st century===
[[File:Ocean City MD beach looking north at 25th Street.jpeg|thumb|Ocean City beach at 25th Street]]

In 2002, Ocean City undertook a multi-million dollar [[beach restoration]] program in an attempt to slow the westward migration of its beaches. The program pumped tons of sand from offshore and deposited it onto the beach. A dune line was also re-established in front of Ocean City's building line. Another similar project began after the 2006 tourist season closed.

In 2006, the city erected the Ocean City Firefighter's Memorial to honor local firefighters as well as firefighters who died in the [[September 11 attacks]]. In addition to a statue of a firefighter, the monument incorporates a piece of steel beam from one of the towers destroyed at the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Ocean City Firefighter's Memorial|publisher=Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company|url=http://www.ocvfc.com/memorial.cfm|access-date=February 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114072811/http://ocvfc.com/memorial.cfm|archive-date=November 14, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The resort area was visited by approximately 8 million visitors in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ococean.com/media |title=Ocean City Maryland - Media |publisher=Ocean City Maryland Convention and Visitors Bureau and Department of Tourism |access-date=September 6, 2011}}</ref>

In 2022, the Town of Ocean City announced the Oceans Calling Festival, a four-day music event drawing major artists such as the [[Dave Matthews Band]], [[Cyndi Lauper]], [[The Lumineers]], and [[Alanis Morissette]]. However, [[Hurricane Ian]] forced the event to be rescheduled for fall 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oceans Calling 2022 festival in Ocean City canceled due to Tropical Storm Ian |url=https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/maryland/2022/09/29/oceans-calling-2022-in-ocean-city-md-canceled-due-to-weather-threat-music-festival/69527780007/ |access-date=April 20, 2023 |website=The Daily Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

Ocean City continues to sprawl westward across the bay, toward [[Berlin, Maryland|Berlin]] and [[Ocean Pines, Maryland|Ocean Pines]].{{When|date=April 2024}} It was part of the Ocean Pines [[micropolitan statistical area]] until that was subsumed by the [[Salisbury metropolitan area]].{{When|date=April 2024}}

{{wide image|Ocean City, Maryland panorama.jpg|1200 px|Beach in Ocean City|alt=A beach with people scattered about and backlit by late afternoon sun}}