Ocean City, New Jersey, was founded as a "Christian seaside resort" in 1879. Soon thereafter, it became a vibrant year-round community and a highly desirable summer retreat. Hotels were integral to the city's success. The most famous of these was the Flanders Hotel, which opened to much fanfare in 1923. It was built in the Spanish Mission Revival style and named after Belgium's Flanders Field; today, it is in the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to other stately hotels, such as the Brighton, the Biscayne, and the Bellevue, many smaller hotels and guesthouses, like Jernee Manor, the Castle Inn, Locksley Hall, and the Scarborough Inn, were also established. Ocean City's Historic Hotels features the rich architectural and recreational history of this New Jersey coastal town and its many hotels.

Nestled along the New Jersey coastline and built to be one of the original seaside tourist destinations, Ocean City still sets the standard for resort living along the mid-Atlantic. What was once a whale-processing center in the 1700s emerged as a destination for sun and fun by drawing the biggest names and the classic American families of the early twentieth century. As our country's search for the ideal vacation grew, this 7-mile stretch of beach cultivated a rich history and a reputation as one of the most alluring communities on the East Coast.

This is a visual history of the architecture of tourist accommodations in Maryland's famous beach resort. These have ranged from the Atlantic Hotel to the most recent chain hotels and condominiums that have so altered the streetscapes and skyline of the barrier island. Ocean City's architectural evolution paralleled national developments; it began on boardwalk-adjacent and beachfront sites with turreted and gabled cottages and shingle-clad Victorian hotels. By the 1920s, porticoed boardwalk hostelries emerged, and as the popularity of the automobile increased, auto camps and groups of cottages developed into motor courts and mom-and-pop motels during the mid-20th century. After the 1970s, lodgings changed, with infill condominium blocks, time-shares, and megastructures casting afternoon shadows across the beach.

Mary Ann Conklin, also known as "Madame Damnable," ran Seattle's first hotel, the Felker House, which burned to the ground in the Great Seattle Fire of 1889. The Rainier Hotel was erected quickly following the Great Seattle Fire but razed around 1910. The Denny Hotel, an architectural masterpiece later known as the Washington Hotel, was built in 1890 but torn down in 1907 during the massive regrade that flattened Denny Hill. Upon opening in 1909, the Sorrento Hotel was declared a "credit to Seattle" by the Seattle Times. The Olympic Hotel was the place for Seattle's high society throughout the 1920s. The Hotel Kalmar was a workingman's hotel built in 1881 and was razed for the Seattle tollway. The Lincoln Hotel was destroyed by a tragic fire in 1920, along with its rooftop gardens. The famous and grand Seattle Hotel in Pioneer Square was replaced by a "sinking ship" parking garage, thus sparking preservationists to band together to establish Pioneer Square as a historic district. Robin Shannon is the author of two previous books in Arcadia's Images of America series: Cemeteries of Seattle and Seattle's Historic Restaurants. In this volume, Seattle's historic hotels are preserved in more than 200 vintage photographs, postcards, and memorabilia, allowing readers to revisit visionary hoteliers and magnificent architecture of the past. The Images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Using archival photographs, each title presents the distinctive stories from the past that shape the character of the community today. Arcadia is proud to play a part in the preservation of local heritage, making history available to all.

Originally the land of the Algonquian people, the barrier island on which Ocean City is now located, served as a protective wall for the mainland Delmarva peninsula. It was a somewhat remote area until five men, having formed the Atlantic Hotel Company Corporation, built the first lodging facility, and Ocean City as a coastal resort began to take root. From the cattle grazing in the mid-1800s to the few blocks of buildings constructed at the turn of the century, from the infamous storm of 1933 to the overwhelming growth of the 1940s, Ocean City has had a rich and vibrant history. This volume offers a historical perspective of Ocean City from its inception to 1946, a period when growth was steady but slow. Now boasting over eight million visitors annually, the area is Maryland's golden-haired child and its second-largest city during peak summer weekends when an average of 300,000 tourists arrive.

Originally the land of the Algonquian people, the barrier island on which Ocean City is now located, served as a protective wall for the mainland Delmarva peninsula. It was a somewhat remote area until five men, having formed the Atlantic Hotel Company Corporation, built the first lodging facility, and Ocean City as a coastal resort began to take root. From the cattle grazing in the mid-1800s to the few blocks of buildings constructed at the turn of the century, from the infamous storm of 1933 to the overwhelming growth of the 1940s, Ocean City has had a rich and vibrant history. This volume offers a historical perspective of Ocean City from its inception to 1946, a period when growth was steady but slow. Now boasting over eight million visitors annually, the area is Maryland's golden-haired child and its second-largest city during peak summer weekends when an average of 300,000 tourists arrive.