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F 144 O. R9
V OCEAN CITY
Guide Book
2 and Directory
CONTAINING A LIST OF
Permanent and Temporary Residents, Street Directory, Historical and Bio- graphical Sketches, Wrecks, etc.
BY
MARY TOWNSEND RUSH.
29500Y
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1893, BY MARY TOWNSEND RUSH, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
" Along the ripples seabirds curie and dip : From the blue distance comes a home-ship : ut through the far-off mist-gates white sails slip. fishing-boat rocks idly to and fro, Along the sands the fishers come and go: Hark ! on the wind, the sailors' ' Yo! heare
[14=
GREAT EGG HARBOR BAY IN THE DISTANCE.
ELECTRIC RAILWAY.
View from Dr. G. E. Palen's Cottage, 9th Street and Wesley Avenue, looking north.
.SiQUIRK PHILA.
Ex-Councilman Parker Miller. FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS THE ONLY RESIDENT OF THE ISLAND.
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PREFACE.
HE demand, which far exceeded the supply, for copies of the first edition of the OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK AND DIREC- TORY, and the many kind letters and words of commendation received concerning the work, have stimulated our efforts to place before the public a more complete and exhaustive edition for the season of '93.
The rapid improvement inade during the past year, in a direction heretofore untouched, demands especial attention, and has but suggested the speedy possibilities of a city which must be before long the peer of any on the New Jersey coast.
In the researches which have been made, our correspondence has embraced thousands of miles of travel by sea and land; extending to London, to points on the Mediterranean sea, and many on our own continent. Information has been mnost cour- teously contributed by prominent officials of the State and others placed in a position to be in possession of facts. The annals to which we have gained access have been subjected to the most careful comparison and study. We have inade it a special object to confine ourselves very strictly, even to the inost minute details, to historic truth. There may be imper- fections, but there are no embellishments, so far as honest pur- pose and careful examination have been effectual in securing an authentic issue.
Owing to delay in photographic work, we have been obliged to omit a number of engravings. The fine copper plates whichi embellish the work were executed by the Crosscup and West and the Electro-Tint Engraving Co's. of Philadelphia.
Mayor G. P. Moore.
--
Mayor Moore's Residence.
Historical and Descriptive.
Possibly no resort upon the eastern coast of the United States offers greater fascination to the tourist, stronger allurements to the permanent resident, quicker and better returns to the investor, or inore lasting benefits to the health seeker, than Ocean City.
Here are found the beauty of the placid lake in the quiet waters of the bay, the roar and grandeur of the waterfall, rush- ing rivers and boiling springs in the waves, currents and stormy seething waters, but above all, the omnipresent majesty and sublimity of old Ocean itself.
Geographically, Ocean City is situated on an island on the New Jersey Coast, half way between Atlantic City and Sea Isle City, stretching between Great Egg Harbor Bay and Thorough- fare Sound on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other side for a distance of seven miles. The northern and southern limits are bounded by Great Egg Harbor Inlet and Corson's Inlet. It lies near the 39th degree of north latitude; on or near this par- allel are the Azore Islands, noted for their equable climate; the Balearic Islands of the Mediterranean Sea; Southern Italy, with her vineyards and orange groves bearing fruit in winter; the Ionian Isles; Arabia, the land of the date palm and tail- arind; the central belt of the Flowery Kingdom, and the Yosemite Valley of California.
The Island was formerly known as Peck's Beach. There may be found still further back in the archives of London a document, in which it was known as Pete's Beach.
Of a period when a race computing time by nights and moons built their inud lodges along the shore, its history is but tradi- tional, and is handed down to us interwoven with quaint beau- tiful legends of the peaceful tribes of Delawares or Lenni
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Lenapes. If we measure time by the years since the Island lias been inhabited, it is but a short step back from this bright scene of civilization to the time when their swift pirogues shot out from the shore, filled with dusky braves, gorgeous in paint and feathers, and with squaws of beautiful form, clothed in rudely made hempen garments, fringed with the hair of the red deer, still found in the forests of Southern New Jersey. Upon the advent of the first European sett'ers, there were two tribes belonging to the Great Tribe of Delawares, who held the land from *"Sandy Barnegate down to the South Cape," (May) whose chiefs bore the names of Tirans and Tiaseane. The rela- tions existing between the white settlers and the aborigines of the State of New Jersey were peculiarly peaceful, and their records are, to a great extent, free from the horrors of massacre and ambushed battle. In the early transfers of portions of Peck's Beach, before the Indian had made his home nearer the setting sun, his rights and privileges were sacredly observed. It is the pride of the entire State that "all the lands were fairly bought of the wild peoples."
As late as 1844 the industry of making wampum, or Indian money, which had been carried on by the female portion of the white settlers from the time of the remotest history which we can gather, was still engaged in. This was made of pieces of shell taken from the purple part of the clam and the pink part of the conch; these were ground and drilled into the form of rude beads and were strung upon hempen strings. At the time above mentioned they were sold to the country inerchants, who sent them to the traders in the West. The history of Peck's Beach is intricately associated with the early history of New Jersey. In 1623 the noted Dutch navigator, Cornelius Jacobse Mey, sailed up the Delaware Bay and gave his name to its north cape (May); from this the county in which Peck's Beach was located takes its name. As is well known, he was followed by other navigators, who in turn established and abandoned settlements until 1664, when the first permanent
*Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey.
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OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
settlement was made by the English, at Elizabethtown. On the 20th of March, of the same year, Charles II. made an exten- sive grant of territory to his brother, the Duke of York, and on the 23d of June a portion of this territory, consisting of over five million acres, was conveyed to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Cartaret. The following is a portion of a copy of the instrument of conveyance, secured by the publisher from Eng- land, and in this the bounds of New Jersey are, for the first time, regularly defined.
" This indenture, made the three and twentieth day of June, in the sixteenth year of the Raigne of our Sovereign, Lord Charles the Second, by the Grace of God of England, Scot- land, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith- Anno Domini 1664. Between his Royal Highness James, Duke of York and Albany, Earl of Ulster, Lord High Admiral of England and Ireland, Constable of Dover Castle, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Governor of Portsmouth, of the one part, John Lord Berkeley, Baron of Stratton and one of His Majesty's most honorable Privy Council and Sir George Carta- ret of Sattrum, in the County of Devon, Knight, and one of His Majesty's most honorable Privy Council, of the other part, Witnesseth, that said James, Duke of York, for and in consid- eration of ten shillings of lawful money of England, to him in hand paid, by these presents doth bargain and sell unto the said John Lord Berkley and Sir George Cartaret all the tract of land adjacent to New England, and lying and being to the westward of Long Island. Bounded on the east part by the main sea and part by Hudson's river, and hath upon the west Delaware Bay or river, and extendeth soutliward to the main ocean as far as Cape May at the mouth of Delaware Bay, and to the northward as far as the northernmost branch of said bay or river of Dela- ware, which is in forty-one degrees and forty minutes of lati- tude, and worketh over thence in a straight line to Hudson's river-which said tract of land is hereafter to be called by the name or names of Nova Cesarea, or New Jersey."
It is claimed in the "Historical Collection of New Jersey " that a yearly rental of one pepper corn was to be paid on the
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day of the nativity of St. John the Baptist, if legally demanded. In the year 1680 the proprietors, freeholders and inhabitants of a portion of the State, then known as West New Jersey, agreed upon a constitution or form of government, whichi was wit- nessed and signed by one hundred and fifty-one of their num- ber; a former constitution had been granted by Berkeley and Cartaret, in 1664, but this was the first one created by the people themselves. The thirtieth namne on the list of signers was that of Thomas Budd, to whom, on the 7th of October, 1695, the first survey of Peck's Beach was made.
We are also informed that Thomas Budd was present at the death scene of the great Delaware chief, the Christian Ocka- nickin, to whom he addressed his last words. These words were of a religious character, and are preserved in literature as one of the gems of poetic beauty left to us by a race whose peculiar gift of oratory was unequalled by any other uncivilized nation.
The island remained in the possession of Thomas Budd for fifty-five years. Its chief use was for grazing cattle and obtain- ing medicinal plants, sassafras, bayberry, etc., which grew in great abundance, and, together with the large quantities found on the main land, were shipped to Holland and other foreign ports.
Portions of the island gradually passed into the possession of others. The most important tract, five hundred acres, lying in the northern part, was conveyed to John Somers, of historic fame, in 1750. This tract remained in the possession of the Somers family for one hundred and thirty years, and was pur- chased, together with the entire island, by the Ocean City Association in 1880. The first houses known to be built and occupied by white settlers were those of the Kittles and Robin- sons. Joseph Robinson, now living with Parker Miller, is a descendant of the first named family. He has passed the greater part of his life of fifty-eight years on Peck's Beach.
Thirty-four years ago Parker Miller and Louisa, his wife, with four little children, Walter, Elizabeth (Mrs. John Voss), Rebecca (Mrs. C. M. Wert) and Arletta (Mrs. John Austin)
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braved the solitude and erected a home on the island, on the ground of what is now the south corner of Eighth street and Asbury avenue. As the family grew larger, and greater accon- modations became necessary, he built the house now occupied by his son-in-law, John Voss, using for his kitchen the cabin of a wrecked steamer. For over twenty years they were the only residents. Their intercourse with the outside world was when sportsmen came gunning for wild fowl, when a vessel was cast away, or " beach parties " came across the bay for a day's recreation. Mr. Miller was engaged in raising cattle, planting oysters and watching the coast for wrecks. Both he and his wife retain the happiest memory of the days spent on Peck's Beach before the world came to them, and have acquired by their long residence and direct observation a better knowledge of the island, from its primeval condition to its present high state of development, than any one living. A large family of sturdy sons and comely daughters have grown up around them and settled near what was once the old homestead.
The island is of alluvial formation and contains an area of three and one-half square miles, or over two thousand acres. The strand of firmly-packed sand, two hundred feet wide, affords a delightful driveway, either at flood or ebb tide. It is smooth and hard as a floor, without any quicksands or treacherous grounds. When the storms of the equinox sweep the Atlantic seaboard, Great Egg Harbor Bar is an invaluable protection to the city at all times; the waves breaking upon it lose their force before rolling up on the strand. When the memorable storill of '89 swept the coast, causing incalculable damage, Ocean City stood firmn, suffering comparatively little from the inroads of the sea.
Its climatic advantages are unparalelled, maintaining a happy inedium between the rigors of the north and the eternal Sum- 111er heats of the south. So equable is the temperature, tlie seasons seem to drift imperceptibly into one another.
Spring comes early; Summer is rendered delightful by the cool sea breezes; Autumn, with its gorgeous coloring, dreamny haze and bright skies, lingers long. The close proximity of
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the Gulf Stream adds greatly to the salutary influence of the climate; the Winters are tempered by the warm current, thus making an all-the-year-round residence in every way delightful. Invalids are loud in their praises of its benefits. What better inspiration can be wished for than the music of the pines, the roar of the ocean, the invigorating blast of the Atlantic north wind.
Bathing in the surf commences the early part of June and continues till October. Those who indulge in this luxury are not subjected to the exhaustion caused by buffeting with heavy waves. To those who prefer still-water bathing, the bay affords every facility.
Nature has worked here upon a broad, grand plan, and has been most prodigal of her treasures and beauties. The soil possesses peculiar properties and, protected by the sheltering sand hills which skirt the shore, is productive of a most luxuri- ant flora, blending the growth of the tropics with that of the temperate regions. Responding to this wondrous creative in- fluence, it stands out from the dreary stretch of dull marsh lands and white sands of the coast fair and green. Sturdy cedars, grasping the soil with roots of iron, whose gnarled, sombre branches have grappled with the fierce Atlantic storms for a century or more, form a pleasing background for the mottled ash bark, shining leaves and scarlet berries of the hollies, the pale green of the willows and the crimson and gold of the autumn maples.
As early as February the Siberian nonnea flaunts its scarlet flowers, March awakens more dormant plants and April ushers in a wealth of violets, buttercups and daffodils, while a thous- and other varieties of wild flowers, as the season advances and climatic conditions favor their growth, mingle their delicate bloom in thickets of grape vines, clematis, bayberry and alder bushes. The floral gem of our northern forests, trailing arbutus, resisting alike the tender hand of woman and the skillful touch of the florist in their efforts towards its cultiva- tion, flourishes about the roots of the southern magnolia.
The dull purple of cinque-foil, usually found in cold bogs,
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mingles with the yellow blossoms of that native of the arid plains, the prickly cactus, while among the lush grasses of the meadows grow hundreds of varieties of marsh and aquatic herbs, which in their season star the earth with a rich pro- fusion of variety and color. From early spring till the time of the flaming golden rod and many-hued chrysanthemum, the air is redolent with the odor of flowers.
Song birds are seldom found so near the coast. Here, con- trary to their usual habits, they build their nests among the branches of the low trees and in the thickets of eglantine and beach grass. The brilliant cardinal pipes and trills his rounde- lay with the song sparrow, robin, yellow oriole and thrush, their melody far sweeter by contrast with the plaintive cry of the gull, the scream of the bald eagle, or the low, solemn note of an occasional albatross; while their bright plumage shines out against that of the snow-white and sombre-hued sea birds with rare beauty.
The place has been well-known to sportsmen. Great num- bers of wild fowl find cover in the thick underbrush about the fresh-water ponds, and the abundant growth of small fruits affords them sustenance. In the Spring and Autumn immense flocks of wild geese, ducks and other migratory birds pass over the island or stop to regale themselves while in their northern or southern flight. Before the island was inhabited, acres of ground were covered with the nests of heron, curlew and plover, from which the eggs were gathered by people living on the main land. Wild plums and whortleberries, which the Indians reserved the right to gather after they had sold or exchanged lands, are still found in great abundance on the uncleared ground.
On the strand are found wonderful varieties of forms of ocean life, from the low, shapeless mollusk, to the gigantic cetacean. To see the ocean when it is terrible in its beauty, one must visit it during the Fall or Winter months. It is then, when lashed into fury by the winds, that the depths are stirred and its treas- ures thrown upon the strand. There is scarcely a specimen in the New Jersey collection of shells and ocean forms, at the
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the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, but may be found on the beach at Ocean City-conchs, scallops, sea snails, clams and crabs, in infinite varieties-innumerable limpits, torn from their rocky moorings in the sea. The strand looks at times as though a polar wave had swept over it and left a thou- sand fantastic forms of ice, so clear that when the sun's rays strike them, they radiate every color of the rainbow. These are jelly fish, dead and divested of their digestive organs, thus making the illusion more complete, as that is the only part of their bodies not transparent.
" What wealth untold ! * * Pale, glistening pearls and rainbow-colored shells. Thou hast the starry gems, the burning gold Won from ten thousand royal Argosies. Thy waves have rolled Above the cities of a world gone by ; Sand hath filled up the palaces of old, Seaweed o'ergrown the halls of revelry."
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FISHENS
INSURANCE
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R. Fisher's Office Buildings and Twin Cottages.
The Emmett.
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Great Egg Harbor Bay.
" For the strong wind blows from the warm southwest And ruffles the snow on the white gull's breast- Fills all the sails till the boats careen ; Low over the crested waves they lean, Driven to leeward, dashed with spray, Or beating up through the beautiful bay."
Lying on the opposite side of the island from the ocean is this picturesque, land-locked sheet of water, teeming with blue- fish, sheepshead, sea trout, oysters and shell-fish of every de- scription. It received its name from the great number of gulls' eggs found in the surrounding meadows. The gentle ebb and flow of the tide, submerging and revealing the emerald beauty of its tiny islands, the white-winged sea craft passing rapidly to and fro, or resting lazily on the blue waters, the throb- bing steamers, with their long wakes of white foam, form an endless panorama, from which the weary toiler, the dis- pirited pleasure seeker, or the invalid can never grow weary.
Away to the southwest, Thoroughfare Sound sweeps out through the meadows, till it is lost to view in the shadow of the pines. Following the line of the bay, now curving to the west, Beasley's Point is plainly visible. Sweeping down past this little hamlet the waters of Tuckahoe, Middle and Great Egg Harbor rivers empty into the bay. In the dim perspec- tive, masts and sails are outlined against the sky; in nearer view schooners, laden with wood, oysters and freight of various kinds, are hurrying out to the ocean, bound for different points all along the coast.
Historic Somers Point next marks the curve of the shore. From its wharves have sailed out brave soldiers of the Revo-
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lution and many daring and skillful navigators. Many of these left behind thein wives, sweethearts and inothers, who differed only from the heroines of fiction in that the tragedy and pathos of their lives was real, for as they left the port, they sailed out of the lives of those standing on shore, and all that ever floated back was a rumor, perhaps, of a fragment of wreck cast up on somne distant coast, bearing the name or some trace of the ves- sel. Still following the line of the shore, now lost to view, and now clear and distinct, Anchoring Point greets the eye. This was a noted spot during the Revolutionary War. Its tradi- tional lore is wildly romantic. A number of attempts have been inade to unearth treasure said to be buried there by pirates. The last were made by a wealthy but eccentric iron and oil prospector, of Pittsburg, who came for the purpose also of loca- ting, with a peculiar divining rod, the Spanish vessel Lpagadere, said to have sunk near that place, laden with gold and silver coin. The superstition that those who search for the buried treasure will meet death by drowning was strengthened when his body was cast up on the beach at Longport. Beneath the one lone tree left of a forest of pines are said to lie the bones of one of the most noted pirates of those who infested the waters of the Atlantic.
Longport is located on the point of land which forins the last boundary of the bay, and is divided from Ocean City by Great Egg Harbor Inlet. On the opposite side it is washed by the ocean for miles. This place was founded by M. Simpson Mc- Cullough in 1882. Its elevation above the sea level and the absence of swamp lands and marshes, together with acquired sanitary arrangements, complete in every detail, render it pecu- liarly pleasing and healthful. A short ride on the electric cars along the beach, in full view of the ocean, receiving all the benefit of the cool breezes, brings one to Atlantic City, where every means of amusement and the finest markets in the State may be found. The architecture of Longport is imposing and beautiful, and is in perfect harmony with the entire plan of the city, which promises to rise to a degree of refined elegance not excelled on the coast of Southern New Jersey.
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At the wharves at Ocean City, yachts, with careful and expe. rienced captains, are constantly in readiness to take parties out sailing or fishing in the bay or ocean; they are provided with lines, bait and everything necessary for the comfort and enjoy- ment of patrons.
The Atlantic Coast Steamboat Company operates a line of steamers between Ocean City, Longport and Somers Point. Frequent trips are made out on the ocean, and are thoroughly enjoyed by invalids, and pleasure seekers of all classes. While enjoying the refreshing sea air, they can rest in the cabins or beneath canopies, shaded from the sun.
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The Founders of Ocean City.
There is located at the corner of Fifth street and Wesley avenue one of the finest residences of the city, the home of Rev. E. B. Lake, who together with his two brothers, Revs. S. Wes- ley and James E., aided by their father, Hon. Simon Lake, are the founders of Ocean City. The three first mentioned were born and reared in Southern New Jersey. Their play ground was the ocean's strand, the restless waves their companions. Here they watched the navies of the world pass to and fro, bound on commercial or warlike missions, fishing fleets come and go, laden with the spoils of the deep, or helpless vessels drifting to their doom as the fierce waves stilled the voices of drowning men and the winds sang a requiem over the sailors' graves. When young men they entered the christian ministry and became members of the New Jersey M. E. Conference.
After some years their attention was directed toward the establishing of a seaside resort, where the sale of alcoholic liquors should be prohibited and the sanctity of the Sabbatlı preserved. In the interest of this work, Rev. E. B. Lake vis- ited a number of places along the New Jersey Coast, returning to the scenes of his boyhood to find a spot best adapted to the purpose. He was chosen to superintend the enterprise and withdrew from active service in the ministry to fill that posi- tion. Early inured to rugged scenes and associations and to sturdy toil, he developed in his youth the talent so generously vouchsafed to him and the ability to so employ those talents as to bring about practical results. Of all occupations or profes- sions engaging the industrious application of human thought and energy, none exceed the requirements of those who are con-
Rev. E. B. Lake.
Rev. E. B. Lake's Residence.
IVES
Hon. Simon Lake.
Rev. S. W. Lake. PRESIDENT OCEAN CITY ASSOCIATION
Rev. J, E. Lake. DIRECTOR OCEAN CITY ASSOCIATION
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stituted to be leaders among men. Mr. Lake's enthusiasm has never for a moment flagged; all his thought and energy are bestowed upon one object, the advancement of the city. He is among those who have the pluck and pertinacity to hold on when the path is dark and gloomy, to whom the harvest must come, or better still among those who perpetuate a movement of honorable enterprise and gratitude in the hearts of mankind. 2
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