Longest mayoral term and prolific city builder
A Look Back
By Fred Miller
Joseph G. Champion began his political career with a humiliating defeat in the March 1896 election when he received only 32 votes. But he ran again in 1901 and began an unparalleled 26 years as mayor of Ocean City.
Champion was mayor from 1902 to 1907, 1915 to 1931, and 1935 to 1939. He also served several terms as a county freeholder.
An architect and builder, he saw the need to improve the city’s infrastructure: streets and alleys were hard-surfaced; after the devastating fire of 1927, the boardwalk was rebuilt with a fireproof concrete base; and an airport was built. Under his direction, the Music Pier, the Central Avenue School, and the high school were built.
Mayor Champion died on Nov. 14, 1948, at the age of 85. Funeral services were held in the First Presbyterian Church, which he built in 1906. Rev. W. Elwell Lake spoke to the mourners saying, “There was really no need for a lengthy eulogy because his monument is all around us — the Boardwalk we walk upon, the Music Pier in which we sit, the excellent drainage of our streets, our fine paved highways and many other improvements.”
Today, we remember Joseph G. Champion as a legendary local of Ocean City.
