Ocean City, Maryland proximity
Ocean City, Maryland, a resort town situated on a barrier island along the Atlantic coast, lies just south of the Delaware state line, making it among the most accessible beach destinations for Delaware residents and visitors traveling through the region. The proximity of Ocean City to Delaware has shaped the travel patterns, tourism economy, and coastal identity of the Delmarva Peninsula for well over a century. From its origins as a quiet fishing settlement to its emergence as a bustling seaside resort, Ocean City's history and development are deeply intertwined with the broader story of the Delaware and Maryland coastal corridor.
Geographic Relationship Between Delaware and Ocean City, Maryland
Ocean City, Maryland sits at the southern edge of a continuous stretch of Atlantic coastline that extends northward through Sussex County, Delaware. The Maryland-Delaware border falls near the northern end of Ocean City, a boundary point commonly referred to by locals as the "MD-DE line" in North Ocean City. This geographic closeness means that travelers driving south along Delaware Route 1 or through beach communities such as Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, and Bethany Beach can reach Ocean City within a short drive.
The barrier island on which Ocean City is built continues northward into Delaware, where communities like Fenwick Island sit immediately across the state line. This seamless coastal geography has historically encouraged cross-border tourism, with Delaware residents making day trips or extended stays in Ocean City and Maryland visitors traveling north into Delaware's beach towns. The two states share not only a coastline but also a regional beach culture that developed in parallel over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Early History and Origins
Before Ocean City became a tourist destination, the land it occupies was sparsely inhabited. Ocean City, Maryland was known as a sleepy fishing village due to its isolation as a barrier island.[1] The barrier island's remoteness made permanent settlement difficult, and for much of its early history the area served primarily as a resource for those who worked the waters of the Atlantic and the adjacent Isle of Wight Bay and Sinepuxent Bay.
The broader colonial context of Maryland helps situate Ocean City's origins. The colony of Maryland was chartered in 1632 and settled in 1634, founded by Catholics seeking religious freedom from the Church of England.[2] While the Catholic settlers who established Maryland were concentrated further inland near the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic coast remained a peripheral zone for the colony for many decades. The barrier islands along the coast, including the land that would become Ocean City, were used by fishermen and hunters rather than permanent agricultural communities.
The land the city was built on, as well as much of the surrounding area, reflected the challenges of barrier island life: shifting sands, storm exposure, and the absence of reliable overland transportation routes kept the area isolated well into the nineteenth century.[3] This isolation, while a barrier to development, also preserved the natural character of the coastline, including the wide sandy beaches that would eventually attract tourists from across the region.
The Rise of Tourism in the Nineteenth Century
The transformation of Ocean City from a fishing village into a resort town began in earnest during the second half of the nineteenth century. The site, with its sandy beaches, began to attract tourists after the building of the Atlantic Hotel in 1875. The arrival of the railroad further accelerated the town's growth as a destination.[4]
The construction of the Atlantic Hotel marked a pivotal moment in the community's development. Prior to this, there was limited infrastructure to accommodate visitors seeking leisure travel to the coast. The hotel provided the foundational amenity necessary for tourism, offering accommodations that drew wealthy and middle-class travelers from inland Maryland and beyond. The railroad connection that followed made Ocean City accessible to a far larger population than could reasonably travel by horse or carriage across the peninsula.
For Delaware, the rise of Ocean City as a resort destination was significant. Delaware residents, particularly those from Wilmington and other population centers in the northern part of the state, gained access to Atlantic coast beaches through the expanding rail network that connected the Delmarva Peninsula. While Delaware would develop its own beach resorts, Ocean City's earlier and more developed tourist infrastructure made it an attractive destination for those seeking a beach holiday.
Grant Fritschle, a lifelong Ocean City local and real estate professional with over two decades of experience in the market, has documented aspects of Ocean City's history and development, offering local perspective on how the town evolved from its origins downtown along the boardwalk to the Maryland-Delaware line in North Ocean City.[5]
The Role of Natural Forces in Shaping Ocean City
Ocean City's development was not solely driven by human enterprise. As a barrier island community, it has been profoundly shaped by the natural forces of the Atlantic Ocean, including storms and hurricanes that periodically altered the geography of the coastline. Local accounts indicate that a major hurricane played a significant role in shaping the town's future, influencing both its physical layout and its subsequent growth trajectory.[6]
Barrier islands are inherently dynamic landforms, and Ocean City's history reflects this reality. Storms have at various points deposited or eroded sand, altered inlets, and reshaped the relationship between the island and the surrounding bays. These natural events have had lasting consequences for the community's geography, infrastructure, and even its relationship with the neighboring Delaware coastline. The inlet that defines the southern end of the Ocean City barrier island, for instance, is understood to have been created or significantly modified by storm activity.
For Delaware, the lessons of barrier island vulnerability are shared across the state line. Delaware's own barrier island and peninsula communities face similar risks from Atlantic storms, and the history of Ocean City serves as a relevant reference point for understanding the long-term challenges of coastal development along this stretch of the mid-Atlantic coast.
Ocean City's Boardwalk, Midtown, and North Ocean City
Modern Ocean City is typically described in terms of its distinct geographic sections: the southern end anchored by the historic boardwalk, the central Midtown area, and North Ocean City, which extends toward the Delaware state line. Each section has its own character and development history, with the boardwalk area representing the oldest and most historically significant portion of the resort.
The boardwalk area of Ocean City reflects the town's nineteenth-century origins as a tourist destination, with the Atlantic Hotel construction in 1875 representing the beginning of organized tourism infrastructure in the area.[7] Over the following decades, the boardwalk expanded and diversified, eventually becoming one of the defining features of the resort's identity. Amusements, restaurants, retail shops, and hotels lined the boardwalk, creating the commercial and recreational infrastructure that drew increasing numbers of visitors from Maryland, Delaware, and states further afield.
Midtown Ocean City developed largely during the twentieth century as the resort expanded northward from its original core. This expansion reflected both growing visitor numbers and the increasing availability of automobile transportation, which allowed tourists to travel to Ocean City without relying on the railroad. The shift from rail to road travel fundamentally changed the character of beach tourism across the region, including the patterns by which Delaware visitors accessed Ocean City.
North Ocean City, the section of the resort closest to the Delaware state line, represents the most recent phase of the town's development. As development extended northward toward the Maryland-Delaware line, the geographic and cultural boundary between Ocean City and Delaware's southernmost beach communities became increasingly blurred. Local real estate professionals operating in the area note that the corridor from downtown Ocean City to the MD-DE line encompasses a full range of the resort's character and history.[8]
Ocean City's Significance to Delaware Coastal Tourism
The proximity of Ocean City, Maryland to Delaware has had lasting effects on the development of Delaware's own coastal tourism industry. The existence of a well-established resort immediately south of the state line created both competition and complementarity for Delaware's beach communities. On one hand, Ocean City's larger size and longer-established infrastructure drew visitors who might otherwise have stayed exclusively at Delaware beaches. On the other hand, the flow of visitors to the region as a whole benefited Delaware towns located along the same coastal corridor.
Delaware beach communities, including Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach, Dewey Beach, and Fenwick Island, each developed their own identities partly in relation to Ocean City. Rehoboth Beach, for instance, cultivated a reputation as a quieter and more refined alternative to the busier resort atmosphere of Ocean City, a distinction that continues to inform how the two destinations are perceived and marketed.
The shared coastal geography of Delaware and Maryland means that visitors to the region often travel between Delaware and Ocean City during the same trip, treating the entire stretch of Atlantic coast from Cape Henlopen southward through Ocean City as a single destination zone. This cross-border tourism pattern has made the Delaware-Maryland coastal corridor one of the more economically significant leisure travel routes in the mid-Atlantic region.
Practical Considerations for Delaware Travelers
For Delaware residents and visitors to Delaware considering a trip to Ocean City, the proximity of the two destinations is a practical asset. The drive from Fenwick Island, Delaware, to the center of Ocean City covers only a short distance, making day trips straightforward for those already staying at Delaware beaches. Similarly, visitors arriving at Delaware coastal towns by car from Wilmington, Dover, or other Delaware population centers can reach Ocean City without a significant additional travel commitment.
The shared infrastructure of the Delmarva Peninsula, including highway connections and regional services, further ties Delaware and Ocean City together as a travel region. Tourism officials and businesses on both sides of the state line have historically recognized this interdependence, with Ocean City's resort economy drawing on a visitor base that includes substantial numbers of travelers who begin or extend their trips in Delaware.
Summary
Ocean City, Maryland's position immediately south of the Delaware state line makes it a natural point of reference in any discussion of Delaware's coastal geography, tourism, and regional identity. From its origins as an isolated fishing village on a barrier island, through its transformation into a major Atlantic coast resort following the construction of the Atlantic Hotel in 1875 and the arrival of the railroad, to its continued growth across a span of distinct neighborhoods from the historic boardwalk to North Ocean City at the Maryland-Delaware line, Ocean City represents both a neighboring destination and a historical parallel to Delaware's own coastal development. The two states share a coastline, a regional beach culture, and a long-standing pattern of cross-border tourism that continues to define the character of the mid-Atlantic coast.