Ocean City [N.J] guide book and directory 1894, Part 1

Author: Rush, Mary Townsend "Mrs. J. S. Rush." [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: [Ocean City
Number of Pages: 156

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GUIDE BOOK

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DIRECTORY

Ocean City, New Jersey.

ontaining a list of Permanent and Temporary Residents, Street Directory, Dlistorical, Biographical and Descriptivc Sketches, \reeks, ete.

4 3283

- BYNIGHT 19 1894

WASHINGTON

27032-Z 1 .... BY ....

MARY TOWNSEND RUSH.

F 144 O, Rai

H. G. Steelman, Mayor.

Councilman J. F. Hand.

Councilman J. C. Steelman.

Councilman S. B. Sampson.

Councilman H. C. Sutton.

PREFACE.

IN presenting to the public the GUIDE-BOOK AND DIRECTORY

for the season of 1894, we can but call attention to the fact of a continuation of the labor of prosecuting searches for histor- ical and statistical matter, as in compiling the edition of 1893, from which we quote :

"In the researches which have been made, our correspon- dence 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 most courteously 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 made it a special object to confine ourselves strictly, even to the inost minute details, to historic truth. There may be imperfec- tions, but there are no embellishments, so far as honest pur- pose and careful examination have been effectual in securing an authentic issue."

We desire to make our sincere acknowledgments to the citizens and press of Ocean City for many kind acts and words of encouragement, and for the substantial aid which they have contributed toward the work.

Location and Boundary.

Ocean City is located on an island on the New Jersey Coast, formerly known as Beck's Beach, sixty miles southeast of Philadelphia, ten miles south of Atlantic City, and thirty miles north of Cape May. The island has for its boundary these waters and is noted for its margin of seven miles of hard, smooth ocean strand, two hundred feet wide, and eleven miles of Bay, Sound and Inlet shores: North- Great Egg Harbor Inlet. South-Carson's Inlet. East __ Atlantic Ocean. West- Great Egg Harbor Bay and Thora- fare Sound.

Ocean City is easy of access by way of West Jersey R. R., which follows an almost direct line from Philadelphia, across the State of New Jersey, and conveys passengers by ex- press trains, without change, to the heart of the city.

GREAT EGG HARBOR BAY IN THE DISTANCE.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY

View from Dr. G. E. Palen's Cottage, Ninth Street and Wesley Avenue, looking north,

" Look upon a landscape ending in a sunlit sca * * In the picture, there is never dull monotony, In the music there is perfect harmony."

HETHER some upheaval of nature of a period known only to him " Who laid the cornerstone thereof when the morning stars sang together," or, to judge by its alluvial character, the ocean in its ever encroaching, ever reced- ing surges, laid at the feet of the continent this emerald jewel in its setting of silver sands, we know not. That it was created for our enjoyment is sounded in the murinur of the pines, in the ripple of the waves and in the full diapason of the north wind as it lashes into fury the turbulent billows. The happy location, equi-distant from the bleak rock-bound shores of Maine and the sandy borders, swept by the hot breath of the tropics, of the land of Florida, and lying within the isothermal lines which mark the most equable temperature of the globe, favors it with an unparalled climate. Added to these advantages, the Gulf Stream in sweeping up the coast tempers. the vinter and ren-

ders the island at that season a inild, healt! and delightful

resort. The variety and abundance of its 1. 1 is a source of constant wonder. February ushers in the s. ou of flowers with the tiny scarlet blossoms of an arctic plant nestling close beside the tropical cactus, which later on bursts into yellow gorgeousness. March sends a thrill thro' the invisible under- ground life and in quick response crocuses, hyacinths and tulips

OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.

spring into bloom. April develops into infinite beauty a wealth of wild flowers indigenous to the soil of both tropical and ten- perate regions. The perpetual green of the cedars 'is every- where seen. These add by their emerald touches to the per- fection of the crimson, russet and golden bloom of the sur- rounding luxuriant vegetation. Among their gnarled and straggling branches, and in the symmetrical boughs of the berry laden hollies, the cardinal or Virginia mocking bird trills in an abandon of ecstasy to his busy mate; the brown thrush lilts in full clarionet tones of the Southern rice fields, as his cousin, the robin, sways and bows on a neighboring branch in sublime indifference to every sound save his own liquid melody. The yellow oriole darts hither and thither like a sunbeam, while the ubiquitous song sparrow challenges alike the blue bird, swallow, lark and nuthatch to intrude upon his domain, in the firm conviction of his ability to conquer the entire feathered tribe. Long wavering lines of wild ducks, geese and brant move rapidly overhead from the bay to the ocean, while the bald eagle, albatross and sea gull, in their majestic sweeping flight, render by contrast the confusion greater of the fluttering flocks of curlew, plover and snipe. St. Patrick must have rested his foot upon the spot at some time, tho' but part of the work was accomplished here, as elsewhere, when

" He gave the toads and snakes a twist And banished them forever,"

for the toads remain, tho' of very diminutive proportions. Deer were once upon the list of its fauna. These have long since disappeared from the island but are still frequently shot on the neighboring mainland. A strange feature of animal life was seen up till eight or ten years ago in numbers of wild cats. The island became inhabited by them in the following manner: " Beach Parties," the memory of which is dear to the hearts of all the old residents of the adjacent main land, consisted of young people wlio sailed across Great Egg Harbor Bay to the island for a day's recreation in fishing and bathing, never forgetting to bring along a fiddler, and down on the

BRI

ich

Hotel Brighton, Seventh and Ocean Avenue, R. R. Sooy, Prop'r. THE FIRST HOTEL BUILT ON THE ISLAND,

TRẦY MÓRY

The Traymore-A. C. Creth, Prop.

OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.

beach at low tide a terpsichorean fling was indulged in with a hilarity that would startle society now. These parties fre- quently brought superfluous cats from their homes which they turned loose. Tabby's antipathy to water prevented her return, bnt, nothing daunted by this misfortune, she exercised her nine life prerogative and commenced to forage on her own respon- sibility. Gradually hier numbers increased and from a sleek, velvety, luxury-loving creature she developed through succes- sive generations her original size and ferocity. This strange metamorphiose was noticeable particularly in the huge sharp claws, pointed ears and short, thick tail. Efforts to tame them were unsuccessful. They were frequently shot by sports- men now living in Ocean City. Possibly this custom origin- ated by its association, the saying at one time current that "the girls 'off shore' (on the main land) were turned loose on Peck's Beach when they became old maids."

About the time of the disappearance of wildcats the last of a herd of wild cattle, which had undergone a transformation from a domestic to a wild nature, were exterminated. This herd originated in some stray calves which were not claimed when the island was used for pasture lands only. Many an old sportsman remembers Great Egg Harbor Bay and its treasures of oysters and shellfish of every description, long before the island was inhabited. How they sailed over its waters or out of the inlets upon the ocean for deep sea fishing, returning from both ocean and bay laden then as now with drum fish, sheepshead, snapping mackerel, blue fish, hague croakers, weak fish or mullet, each in its stated season. September, 1890, snapping mackerel chased a school of weak fish into the surf and it was estimated that eleven tons were caught by the residents of the city. This frequently occurs, tho' they seldom come in in such great numbers. Among the curiosities of the finny tribe are the quaint little sea horse, the sea robin, bur fish, shovel-nose and hammer-head sharks, sting ray and toad fish. The sea spider sprawls back to its native element in all its ungainliness when brought up by a sly wave, the king crab

OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.

burrows silently beneath its huge umbrella like covering till it disappears under the sand. The pugilistic soldier crab scut- tles over the ground, bearing defiantly aloft its huge lone claw in flat contradiction to all known laws of gravitation. Here may be found ample material for reflection upon the saying, "As happy as a clam at high tide," for those who understand the nature of a bivalve, which to the casual observer is not at any time given to evidences of an elevated degree of levity. At the north point of the island, where the waters of the inlet wash across the sands, manose and razor clams find seductive ground. It is no unusual sight to see the shore on the opposite side dotted with visitors of the beautiful resort of Longport, as well as the Ocean City side, engaged in gathering these delicate and toothsome shellfish. The quahog of the bay and the surf clam of the ocean are always in demand. A sword fish was captured in the bay November 21, 1883, weighing two hundred and forty pounds, the sword measured four feet. A sunfish washed ashore in front of the Hotel Brighton June 27, 1883, weighing five hundred pounds. October 8, 1891, a rorqual whale, sixty-eight feet long, was cast on the beach. May, 1894, a dolphin was thrown up on the shore where it gave birth to a young one. The skeletons of the whale and the large dolphin, and the body of the young dolphin are now on exhibition at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. A wealth of ocean life is continually coming up on the strand, from the highest and mnost gigantic forms on down through the lower orders, arousing our admiration at every step in the auroral tints upon the curved scroll of the shell, the delicate carving of the sea urchin, the prismatic lights of the medusa, still down to those dubious forms which mark the confines of the two great divisions of organic life, animal and plant, apparently having so little in common with each other, though always mingling with the former, specimens are cast up from sub-aqueous forests in a wonder of profusion.

Giant Finback or Rorqual Whale; came ashore at Ocean City Oct. 8, 1891; 68 feet long; 15 feet across the flukes ; 13 feet across the jaws.

OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.

"Look ! how the sea plants trembling float, All like a mermaid's locks, Waving, in thread of ruby red, Over the nether rocks.

" See! on the violet sands beneath, How the gorgeous shells all glide ; O Sea ! Old Sea ! who yet knows half Of thy wonders and thy pride."

OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.

Historical and Descriptive.

F the primitive inhabitants of the island we have no his- tory save the meagre records and traditions of the white

man. I11 1623 Captain May sailed up the Delware Bay and gave his name to its north cape, from which the county in which Peck's Beach is located takes its name, and he, together with other navigators, report Indians all along the coast. Prior to this time we are told of two tribes which held the land from "Sandy Barnegate down to the south cape " (May) whose chiefs bore the names of Tirans and Tiascans. These are doubtless the tribes of Kechemeches and Sorgehunnocks, branches of the great tribe of Delawares or Lenni Lenapes mentioned by De Vries in his journals of 1631-2-3, in which he frequently refers to the Indians of what is now Egg Harbor. But little remains to us, however, of

" These legends and traditions, With the odors of the forest, With the dew and damp of meadows, With the curling smoke of wigwams."

In the flight of the same water fowl we hear no intelligible sounds. To us is not given to understand the language in which they imparted to these children of nature her mysteries.

" All the wild fowl sang them to him, In the moorlands and the fenlands, Chetowaik, the plover, sang them ; Mahng, the loon, the wild goose, Wawa ; The blue heron, the Shushugah."

Of his conquests of battle, his council fires, his deer-skin

Rev. E. B. Lake.

Rev. S. W. Lake. PRESIDENT OCEAN CITY ASSOCIATION.

---

Residence of Rev. E. B. Lake.

OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.

wigwam, the hunt and chase, the records are facts locked in the graves and shell mounds* which alone remain.

Following the red man came the European settler. But sixteen years after the first settlement made in New Jersey, that of Elizabethtown, in 1664, one hundred and fifty-one of the inhabitants of the part of the State then known as West New Jersey signed the first constitution of government created by the people themselves. The thirtieth name on the list of signers was that of Thomas Budd, to whom, on October 7th, 1695, the first survey of Peck's Beach was made. The land was held by him for fifty-five years; its chief use was for grazing cattle and obtaining medicinal plants, of which sassafras and bayberry were the principal ones, and which, together with the great quantities which grew on the mainland, were shipped to Holland and other foreign ports. In1 1750 John Somers bought five hundred acres in the northern part; this tract remained in the possession of the Somers family for one hundred and thirty years, or until the entire island was bought 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 on the island, is a descendant of the first named family. For over twenty years Parker Miller and family were the only residents of the island. He built his first residence on the site of what is now Thorn's hardware store. He soon afterwards built the house No. 730 Asbury avenue, using for a kitchen the cabin of a wrecked steamer.

The Origin of Ocean City.

Three Christian ministers, brothers by the ties of blood, Revs. S. Wesley, James E. and Ezra B. Lake, sons of Hon. S. Lake, had for some time directed their attention toward the establishing of a seaside resort where the sanctity of the Sabbath should be preserved and the sale of alcoholic liquors prohibited. In the summer of 1879, while sailing across Great

*Remains of these may also be found by the antiquarian upon the neighboring Longport Beach.

OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.

Egg Harbor Bay, they were impressed with the location and altitude of the well timbered island lying to the eastward of their course. September roth following they met at the home of their father, at Pleasantville, and in company with another clergyman proceeded from thence to the place designated. Landing close to where the large and commodious steamers of the Atlantic Coast Company now sweep up to a magnificent pier they moored their little craft and waded thro' the mud to shore. Several hours were spent in following the tortuous windings of the cowpaths thro' the otherwise impenetrable brush until weary and footsore they arrived at the northern point upon a wooded knoll overlooking the island. To the east lay the ocean in its never-ending wonder of infiniti- tude. The line marked by the command, "Hitherto shalt thou come and no further," was strewn with shells, seaweed and driftwood as far as the eye could reach. To the north the ebbing tide laid bare the shining sands of the Inlet, to the west Great Egg Harbor Bay stretched away for miles into the main land a quiet silver sheet. The sun in its decline was casting long quivering beams of red light over the broken swirl of waters on Great Egg Harbor bar and piling banks of crimson and gold and purple vapor in the western sky in the peculiar beauty of an ocean sunset. Here, impressed with the gran- deur of nature in her primeval condition, the quartette bowed beneath one of the patriarchal cedars* which had kept watch upon the shore for centuries, and in a service of prayer and song dedicated to Almighty God the projected work.

Ocean City Association.

The fine executive ability of these men was shown by the fact that October 20tli following a company had been formed with the above namie, with Dr. W. B. Wood, of Philadelphia, as President. Active operations towards the fulfillment of its object were immediately begun by

*This landmark now occupies a position at the west corner of the public park.

ICUA & WERT ENG. CO.

The Illinois-Mrs. H. D. Canfield, Proprietress.

Residence of Dr. F. R. Graham.

The Vandalia House, 725 Central Avenue. MRS. S. BURLEY, PROPRIETRESS.

Residence of Councilman S. B. Sampson.

OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.

securing the land and issuing stock. The first topographi- cal survey was made by W. Lake, February 13, 1880. The part known as Section A was staked off into avenues, streets and lots. This was rapidly cleared of brushiwood and timber, thousands of feet of ditching were dug for drainage and hundreds of loads of brushwood were placed at the north point of the island for the purpose of gathering the moving sand and extending the ocean front. The first public sale of lots took place in May, 1880; these sold for about $50.00 each. The first deed was made to S. T. Champion. Lots to the value of $85,000 were soon disposed of and another portion of land, Section B, surveyed and laid out. A wharf one hundred and twenty-five feet long and seventy-two feet wide was built at an enormous cost; this was connected with the city by a good road over the meadows and a board walk running parallel with it the entire distance. A board walk was also built along the ocean front. The first building erected was the little Pioneer Cottage on the rear of the lot now occupied by the Association offices. It was used as a boarding-house for the mechanics then at work on the island, and was sometimes occupied by forty men. The first building of any considerable size was that of the Bellevue, erected by I. B. Smithi. It was upon the site of this house, at the corner of Seventh street and Asbury avenue, that the first funeral services ever held on the island were conducted, those of Harry McCann, a boy killed by falling from a cart while hauling sand. The funeral sermon was preached by Rev. W. H. Burrell to an audience of fifty mechanics and laborers seated in the open air on piles of lum- ber and building materials. The first hotel, the Ocean House, now Hotel Brighton, was also built by I. B Sinith. A rail- road was built from Pleasantville to Somers Point; this was for- mally opened October 26, 1880. A steamboat was purchased to ply between Somers Point and Ocean City, thus com- pleting connection with the outside world. A turnpike com- pany was organized to build a road from Beasley's Point to Ocean City, which, together with a bridge over Thoroughfare

OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.

Sound, was completed the following Spring. Thus, in an in- credibly short time, was the foundation laid and the work advanced of a inost brilliant enterprise. Rev. E. B. Lake was appointed Superintendent when the Association was organized and has held the position ever since. Nature endowed him with the talents necessary for the work. He is associated with every movement of advancement in the city, few of which he is not the projector as well. There is not an acquired advan- tage of any resort upon the New Jersey coast that he has not thoroughly investigated, and when found practicable directed all his energy toward securing the same object in Ocean City. The present officers and managers are: President, Rev. S. W. Lake; Vice President, Rev. J. B. Graw; Secretary and Super- intendent, Rev. E. B. Lake; Treasurer, Dr. G. E. Palen; Direc- tors, G. L. Horn, G. B. Langley, H. B. Howell, Rev. J. E. Lake, Rev. W. B. Wood.

J S.RUSIII PAINTERİ

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Ocean City [N.J] guide book and directory 1894, Part 1

Author: Rush, Mary Townsend "Mrs. J. S. Rush." [from old catalog] Publication date: 1894 Publisher: [Ocean City Number of Pages: 156

Author: Rush, Mary Townsend "Mrs. J. S. Rush." [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: [Ocean City
Number of Pages: 156