Ocean City

Sister cities

• Virginia Beach
• Pärnu City
• Finale Ligure

History

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-speaking Assateague and Nanticoke peoples. 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 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. 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". 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. , it is still owned and operated by the Purnell family. 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 Wicomico & Pocomoke Railroad from 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…

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Ocean City is located on Fenwick Island, a barrier spit which encompasses Ocean City, as well as South Bethany and Fenwick Island, Delaware. Ocean City's southern point is an inlet formed by the 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane. Rainfall and tides swelled the rivers and bays surrounding Ocean City until the overflowing water cut a 50-foot crevasse from the bay to the ocean. Ocean City businessmen had long sought funding to create an inlet to support a harbor, so residents seized the opportunity and built jetties to ensure the city's land remained divided from what is now Assateague Island. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Ocean City, Maryland has a humid subtropical (Köppen: Cfa) or oceanic with long, warm to hot and humid summers, cool winters and year-round precipitation. Ocean City receives 2300 hours of sunshine annually (higher than the US average). Temperatures are moderate in Ocean City due to its location on the Atlantic coast. During the summer months, a cooling afternoon sea breeze is present on most days with an average of only 10 days annually reaching . However, in 2010 the temperature rose to which was the hottest air temperature on record, and episodes of extreme heat combined with tropical humidity can occur with heat index values ≥ . The geographic location of Ocean City, places it where just above where Atlantic tropical cyclones turn out to sea on the East Coast, thus direct hits from tropical storms and hurricanes are rare, although they sometimes brush the area. The Atlantic hurricane season extends from June 1 through November 30, sharply peaking from late August through September. During the winter months, Ocean City…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American herring gull, Smithsonian Gull

  Larus smithsonianus Coues, 1862 · Aves
  11,439
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  9,914
• Laughing Gull

  Leucophaeus atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,990
• Great Black-backed Gull

  Larus marinus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  8,694
• Double-crested Cormorant

  Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  8,654
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,557
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,438
• Bufflehead

  Bucephala albeola (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,357