History

Frank Waller

Ocean City summer policeman · active 1913

Ex-deputy sheriff of Salisbury engaged by the Ocean City authorities for the summer of 1913 "with strict instructions to preserve order and break up the [speakeasies] which are said to be flourishing at that resort." He is the first named seasonal police hire in the town's record since the 1890s. — 1945 FULL PASS, 2026-08-12: A Frank Waller was named to Ocean City's first Zoning Commission on 24 April 1945 and ELECTED ITS PRESIDENT on 10 May 1945, serving through the drafting of the town's first zoning ordinance; he called the joint meeting of 20 November 1945 to order, at which Attorney Wm. Price read the 38-page document aloud and the commission signed it over to the council. ⚠ THE IDENTIFICATION WITH THE OCEAN CITY SUMMER POLICEMAN OF THIS RECORD IS BY NAME AND TOWN ONLY AND IS NOT DOCUMENTED. If they prove to be two men, this paragraph belongs to the zoning commissioner. Note also that a 'Senator Waller of Waller Paving Co.' contracted with the town on 14 April 1945 to build the dump road and excavate an acre for $2,800 lump sum and to grade and gravel the parking lot at $1.50 the cubic yard; whether he is the same man, a relative, or unrelated is likewise NOT established. — 1946 FULL PASS, 2026-08-15: A FRANKLIN WALLER WAS APPOINTED TO OCEAN CITY'S FIRST BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS FOR A THREE-YEAR TERM AND NAMED ITS CHAIRMAN BY MAYOR TRIMPER on 1 October 1946 - the man who had chaired the Zoning Commission that wrote Ordinance No. 99 now chairing the board that heard appeals from it. On 21 May the council's instinct had been simply 'to ask the same members to serve that were on the Zoning Board', and it substantially did. ⚠ THE IDENTIFICATION WITH THE OCEAN CITY SUMMER POLICEMAN OF THIS RECORD IS BY NAME AND TOWN ONLY AND REMAINS UNDOCUMENTED, exactly as the 1945 pass recorded it; if they prove to be two men, this paragraph belongs to the zoning man. The clerk writes 'Franklin Waller' in 1946 and 'Frank Waller' in 1945.

In the record (2)

  1. 1913

    "The lid was on tight": Mayor Powell hires a Salisbury ex-deputy and enforces Sunday closing on the boardwalk.

    Under the head LID ON TIGHT AT OCEAN CITY the Messenger of 5 July 1913 reported that ex-Deputy Sheriff Frank Waller of Salisbury "has been engaged by the authorities at Ocean City to serve on the police force this summer, with strict instructions to preserve order and break up the [speakeasies] which are said to be flourishing at that resort." Worcester County had voted dry in 1908 and Ocean City had failed to win an exemption. On the first Sunday of July, "Mayor William [B. S.] Powell, assisted by the Sheriff and his deputies, started in Sunday to enforce the Sunday closing law. The lid was on tight. Officers were stationed at the doors of alleged speak easies; and several plain-clothes men were on the lookout." The mayor's own statement is the clearest thing any Ocean City mayor has said on the record in this decade: "It is my purpose to see that Ocean City is run on business principles and that women can appear on the boardwalk at all times without being insulted or molested. I ordered the police to arrest every person Sunday under the influence of liquor, and I will see that these orders are carried out."

    Ocean City BoardwalkWilliam B. S. Powell

    Source · checked 2026-08-06

  2. 1946 · 1946-10-01

    Ocean City's first Board of Zoning Appeals was confirmed on 1 October 1946 with the man who had chaired the Zoning Commission as its chairman - and one seat already changed hands before the board was ever listed.

    'The appointment of Mr. James Farlow to take place of Mr. Harland Huston on Zoning Appeal Board for one year was approved', and the clerk then set the board out in full: James Farlow, one year; Walter H. Jarman, one year; Dr. C. W. Purnell, two years; Franklin Waller, three years; John P. Whaley, four years. Mayor Trimper named Waller chairman. Ordinance No. 99 required exactly this - five members, staggered two/one/one/one at one, two, three and four years, one designated chairman by the Mayor - and the council's instinct on 21 May had been simply 'to ask the same members to serve that were on the Zoning Board'. It substantially did: Waller chaired the Zoning Commission organised in May 1945 and Purnell was its secretary, so the men who wrote the ordinance now sat on the board that heard appeals from it. The substitution was made before the meeting: on the lawyers' draft of 4 May, 'Harland Houston' is struck through in manuscript with 'James Farlow' written above it, and the two-year seat there reads 'John W. Purnell'.

    Ocean City Board of Zoning AppealsOcean City Zoning CommissionDr. Charles Washington PurnellJohn P. WhaleyDaniel W. Trimper, Jr.

    Source · checked 2026-08-15