History

Ocean City Steel Pier Railway and Amusement Company

company · founded 1900

Also known as Ocean City Steel Pier, Railway and Amusement Company

Chartered by Chapter 682 of the Maryland Acts of 1900, approved 10 April 1900, to build an iron or partly-iron ocean pier at Ocean City from a point south of Wicomico street, fit it with amusements, and run an electric railway the length of the Maryland barrier beach from Fenwick's Island Lighthouse to the North Beach Life-Saving Station. Capital 1,000 shares of $50, with power to increase to 4,000. Incorporators: George J. Records, John F. Waggaman, William Lee Carey, Henry J. Anderson, William J. Warrington and John M. Carter, Jr. of Maryland; Louis F. Doyle of New York; Claud M. Johnson of the District of Columbia; and Nathaniel F. Wilds of Delaware. Nothing was built. It is the successor scheme to the Steel Pier and Railway Company of Ocean City, incorporated in 1896 with the same $50,000 and one shared incorporator, William J. Warrington.

The most ambitious thing ever chartered at Ocean City and one of the least built: a steel pier, an amusement park and an interurban from Fenwick to Assateague, all of it on paper.

In the record (2)

  1. 1900 · 1900-04-10

    Chapter 682 charters the Ocean City Steel Pier Railway and Amusement Company — an ocean pier plus an electric railway the whole length of the beach.

    Approved 10 April 1900, Chapter 682 of the Acts of 1900 incorporates George J. Records, John F. Waggaman, William Lee Carey, Henry J. Anderson, William J. Warrington and John M. Carter, Jr. of Maryland; Louis F. Doyle of New York; Claud M. Johnson of the District of Columbia; and Nathaniel F. Wilds of Delaware. The company may build "a steel or iron, or partly steel or iron, and partly wooden pier, projecting into the Atlantic Ocean from the shore, beginning ... from some suitable point south of Wicomico street, in said Ocean City, above high-water mark," fit it with "such appliances for amusement or use as the said incorporators may determine," and charge for them. It may also build an electric or compressed-air railway that "shall begin within the corporate limits of Ocean City, and shall run north and south from such points of beginning, the northern terminus to be at or near Fenwick's Island Lighthouse ... and the southern terminus to be at or near North Beach Life-Saving Station" — roughly the entire Maryland barrier beach, with powers of condemnation. Capital: 1,000 shares of $50, expandable by vote to 4,000. Two guards were written in: no use of Ocean City's streets or public property without "the consent and authority of the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City," and if only part of the works were ever built the charter would not be forfeited. The bill was introduced by Mr. Anderson of Worcester and reported from Annapolis on 1 March: "A new amusement pier and railroad will probably be the outcome." Neither the pier nor the railway was built; this is the third Ocean City pier company in five years to be chartered and vanish. — 1900 FULL PASS, 2026-08-11 [reviewed]: Adds the act's substance, read off the volume. Chapter 682, pp. 1074-1079, approved 10 April 1900. Incorporators: George J. Records, John F. Waggaman, William Lee Carey, Henry J. Anderson, William J. Warrington and John M. Carter Jr. of Maryland; Louis F. Doyle of New York; Claud M. Johnson of the District of Columbia; Nathaniel F. Wilds of Delaware. Section 2 authorises "a steel or iron, or partly steel or iron, and partly wooden pier, projecting into the Atlantic Ocean from the shore, beginning… from some suitable point south of Wicomico street, in said Ocean City, above high-water mark", with amusement appliances and tolls — AND an electric or compressed-air railway whose "northern terminus [is] to be at or near Fenwick's Island Lighthouse, in Worcester County, and the southern terminus to be at or near North Beach Life-Saving Station": a trolley the whole length of the barrier island. Capital 1,000 shares at $50, expandable to 4,000; organisable on 100 shares subscribed and $1 a share paid; nine directors; power to borrow, mortgage, consolidate with or lease to connecting railways; and nothing touching Ocean City's streets or public property effective "until the consent and authority of the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City are first obtained." That North Beach reference is the only mention of a life-saving station in the entire 1900 session-law volume.

    John F. WaggamanW. Lee CareyWilliam J. Warrington

    Source · checked 2026-08-06

  2. 1905 · 1905-05-12

    A crowded meeting at the railroad depot organises the Ocean City Pier and Improvement Company to build an ocean pier — the third such company since 1896, and the first to build one.

    "A New Pier for Ocean City. A company was organized last Friday to erect an ocean pier out from the beach at Ocean City — a project long contemplated. A largely attended meeting was held at the railroad depot." R. Lee Purnell of Snow Hill chaired and J. E. Ijams of Baltimore was secretary. Officers of the Ocean City Pier and Improvement Company of Ocean City, Maryland: president Christopher Ludlam of Ocean City (the town's mayor); vice-president L. L. Dirickson, Jr., of Berlin; treasurer D. J. Adkins of Berlin; secretary R. L. Purnell of Snow Hill; assistant secretary J. E. Ijams of Baltimore. A board of directors was elected to serve one year, and it was proposed "to erect the pier at once and to capitalize the company at $20,000." By 8 July R. Lee Purnell reported plans to build "just below the Atlantic Hotel, extending [900] feet into the Ocean."

    capitalised at $10,000–$20,000 — the two Messenger reports disagree

    Ocean City Pier and Improvement CompanySteel Pier and Railway Company of Ocean CityChristopher LudlamCol. L. L. DiricksonDavid J. AdkinsRobert Lee PurnellJ. Edgar Ijams

    Source · checked 2026-08-06