A Look Back at Ocean City
By Fred Miller
- 1880—First public sale of lots
- 1880—First hotel—The Brighton
- 1881—First postmaster—William H. Burrell
- 1881—First doctor—Gilbert E. Palen
- 1882—First school—built on Central Avenue
- 1883—First bridge to mainland opens
- 1884—First county freeholder from Ocean City—William Lake
- 1902—First free mail delivery
- 1905—First Music Pavilion opens
- 1912—First Boardwalk hotel—The Breakers
- 1914—First public library building
- 1915—First City Hall opens
- 1921—First female member of the Board of Education—Eleanor Fogg
- 1921—First Ocean City contestant in the Miss America Pageant—Hazel Harris
- 1922—First Female doctor—Marcia Van Gilder Smith
- 1933—First Chevrolet dealer—Emil and Mary Palmer
- 1949—First summer male bathers could go topless on the beach
- 1949—First parking meters installed—217 of them
- 1955—First state championship by the OCHS basketball team
- 1958—First motel—Seaspray Motel, 34th Street and Bay Avenue
- 1964—First historical museum opens in the Wesley Avenue School
- 1972—First female City Commissioner—Marilyn K. Moore
- 1976—First beach tag sold, $3 preseason; total collected $761,240
- 1978—First female elected to City Council—Jeanne M.
Clunn - 1992—First First Night
