Since its founding in the mid-1800s, Ocean City has transformed into a vibrant shore town steeped with history and rooted in heritage. In recent years, a group of determined homeowners and historical enthusiasts, known as the Friends of OCNJ, have banded together to preserve the town’s most historic properties, shining a light on the value and character they have brought to the community.
The organization is made up of individuals from across the island, all who share the same goal of celebrating the town’s unique and vibrant properties. What started as a group fascinated by Ocean City’s old homes has transformed into an effort to preserve iconic landmarks.
The group recently began selling personalized historic house plaques, each one featuring the year the house was built with the address or historic name above it. One of the problems many homeowners have is finding out what year to put on the plaque, but one dedicated group of individuals made a special trip in recent weeks to help them find that information.
On Thursday, June 18, seven homeowners and history enthusiasts went to the Cape May County Records Room to learn how to research the ownership history of their own homes. They traveled together by shuttle from the Scarborough Inn, participants engaged in pleasant conversation, learning about each other’s homes.
Among those in attendance was Sal Brancheri of Ventnor, who not only arranged the shuttle transportation but pointed out several architectural gems and local history along Main Street in Cape May Court House. “Sal has a great personality, and he is a history buff, so he was the perfect fit for this trip”, said Sne Avichal, co-founder of Friends of OCNJ.
The method of researching a home’s past is straightforward but requires much patience. Homeowners start with their current deed, which will include a prior deed reference, listing one of its earlier owners, a deed book, and page number. From there, the researcher will pull the earlier deed book, search for the page, read the deed, then follow the next reference backwards. It becomes a chain of titles one deed at a time.
According to Avichal, the main point of the trip is to get people interested in learning more about where they live and bring light to the town’s rich history. “The goal is to help people become historians of their own home. If every homeowner became a dedicated detective for one house, we would dramatically improve the public historical record of Ocean City.”
Avichal himself did a deep dive into the history of Scarborough Inn, with dates and information tracing back generations. The bed-and-breakfast first opened in the mid-1890s with up to sixty guest rooms. Over time, the property underwent renovations with private facilities added on. Records described the formal main dining room as once having 27 tables, over 100 chairs, a piano, and 29 silver sugar bowls. “Those 100-year-old legal records gave me the clearest picture I have ever had of what Scarborough Inn was like in its early years.”
According to Sne, he had always wondered whether the Scarborough was a modest boarding house or substantial resort inn. Last month’s visit painted a better image. “The inventory suggested a bustling, mid-to-upscale seaside hotel.”
By day’s end, everyone who took part in the record-finding mission was able to track deeds to the 1920s. Each of the records is kept in the county’s archival room, which is currently undergoing renovations, although several hours of fact-finding were more than enough for the entire group to start their adventure into history.
Friends of OCNJ History are considering additional deed-research trips in the future. Those who are interested in future trips can contact sne@friendsofocnj.org. Additional information on the Historic House Plaque Project can also be found by visiting www.friendsocnj.org.
Steffen Klenk is a photographer and multimedia journalist who enjoys capturing the eclectic moments of shore life. You may contact Steffen at shorelocalsteffen@gmail.com.
