Joseph Schaefer
baker and confectioner · active 1904
Ocean City baker whose establishment stood on Baltimore Avenue opposite the Atlantic Hotel, selling bread, cakes, pies and ice cream and serving ice cream and dairy lunches on the premises. He advertised weekly in the Worcester County paper through the summer of 1904.
In the record (7)
1904 · 1904-07-30
Joseph Schaefer sells bread, pies and ice cream on Baltimore Avenue, opposite the Atlantic Hotel.
A standing advertisement running in the county paper from July through September 1904: 'Schaefer knows all about the Bakery business and he will do your baking satisfactorily, and deliver your orders promptly. Leave your orders with me. Ice cream and dairy lunches served from my establishment on Baltimore avenue, opposite the Atlantic Hotel. Quality and refreshment in each plate and package. Joseph Schaefer, Ocean City, Md.' — bread, cakes, pies and ice cream.
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1905 · 1905-10-16
Pile-driving for the Ocean City pier starts on 16 October 1905 — 900 feet of hickory piles, a 120-by-70-foot convention and dancing hall at the shore end, and a pavilion at the far end.
"Building Ocean City Pier. Active operations began Monday, the 16th instant, on the construction of the pier at Ocean City, giving employment to a great number of workmen. The beach in the neighborhood of the [locality] where the pier is being constructed is strewn with stout timbers, including hickory piles for the structure. The builders claim that hickory trees cut at the season of the year when the bark will remain are more durable than iron or steel in salt water. The building of the pier will be continued throughout the winter … The plans call for a pier 900 feet long and 130 feet wide. At the shore end there will be a hall for conventions and dancing, 120 feet long by 70 feet wide. At the other end of the pier will be another pavilion. From the shore the pier will extend over the outer bar into deep water." Robert Lee Purnell was promoter and general manager. At the company's annual stockholders' meeting, reported 16 December, Capt. Christopher Ludlam was re-elected president, Calvin B. Taylor treasurer and R. Lee Purnell secretary, with Taylor and John W. Staton as counsel, and "the pier will be completed for the opening of the coming season."
Ocean City Pier and Improvement CompanyRobert Lee PurnellChristopher LudlamCalvin B. TaylorWilliam T. TaberThomas J. CropperJohn L. JohnsonCapt. Joshua J. DuntonDavid J. AdkinsCol. L. L. Dirickson
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1909 · 1909-09-25
An exploding oil lamp at the town water works nearly takes the south end of Ocean City; the life-saving crew and a bucket brigade save it.
"Fire At Ocean City. Fire, caused by the explosion of an oil lamp at the Ocean City waterworks Saturday night, partially destroyed the building and seriously damaged the gasoline and steam pumping plants. A building belonging to Joseph Schaefer, adjoining the pumping station, was also destroyed. Several buildings, including the Sea Side Hotel, Glendale Hotel and the railroad station, were on fire, but with the water supply from the city tank and the work of a bucket brigade the flames were extinguished with little damage. The city will probably be without water for a few days while one of the pumps is being repaired. It looked for a while as if the entire south end of the city would be destroyed, and it was only through the hard work of the volunteer fire department, the bucket brigade and the Ocean City life-saving crew, headed by Capt. John B. Jones, that the city was saved. Everyone fought the fire, women and children joining the men in carrying buckets of water." Note that this report credits "the volunteer fire department" — the previous year's fire report had said flatly that "there is no regular organized fire company" — and that the accounts published the same week carry "T. J. Cropper, cleaning closets and Fire Co. rent 33.00" and $141.25 of ladders and hardware for the Fire Co.
Second fire in twelve months at the same end of town, and the second time it was put out by hand.
Capt. John JonesThomas J. Cropper
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1909 · 1909-09-25
The town's own share of the 1909 walk: $1,065.33 to Henry E. Davis, Jr. for the front board walk, $348.71 of oak lumber, $128.62 of crossings.
The published accounts itemise every payment the corporation made, and the boardwalk lines can be totalled. **Henry E. Davis, Jr.** was paid in three instalments for the ocean-front walk — "front board walk 100.00," "front walk 400.00," "front walk 565.33" — $1,065.33 in all, with a further $100 to **Lemuel Wyatt** as "part payment on front walk." **D. J. Ward** supplied "oak, lumber board walk" at $348.71 (and $340.15 of lumber carried over from 1908). **G. W. Rounds** was paid $25.16, $58.76 and $44.70 — $128.62 — for "building board walk crossings" and "front board walk crossing," the public-street sections the town could not assess to an abutting owner. The cement side of Ordinance No. 302 cost more: **R. C. Quillen** took $1,561.67 for cement walks in four payments, and **Jos. Schaefer** $701.57 for cement walks and crossings, including "1 Cement Crossing N. 3d St. 40.00." Against a year's total expenditure of $9,348.63, walks and pavements are far the largest thing the town bought. Because the ordinance assessed most of the cost to frontage owners, these figures are the municipality's share only, not the full price of the walk.
The first hard construction price for an Ocean City boardwalk anywhere in the record — and it is a builder's name and three instalments, not a contract.
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1915
Ten cents admitted you to the Ocean City pier in 1915, with dancing and fishing thrown in; the pavilion itself was free, and the pier ran day and night with new bowling alleys, pool tables, a soda fountain, a museum and moving pictures every night.
The pier's display card, standing in the Democratic Messenger all season: "The Pier — Ocean City's Greatest Attraction! OPEN DAY AND NIGHT. New Bowling Alleys, Pool Tables, Soda Fountain & Museum. DANCING every afternoon and evening at the end of Pier. Moving Pictures every night. Admission to Pavilion is Free. 10c. admits to Pier with privilege of Dancing and Fishing. SEASON TICKETS AT SPECIAL PRICE." The pier had been leased out in 1911 and was under Orlando Harrison's association in 1913; by 1915 it is being advertised as a year-round-hours amusement plant rather than a fishing platform with a pavilion on it. The other Ocean City cards in the same columns fill in the boardwalk: "The Virginia, On Ocean Front and Board Walk, Bathing from the Hotel, Cuisine the Best, Rates Moderate — LAFAYETTE JOHNSON, Proprietor"; "Conner's Restaurant, On Board Walk — Best of Everything to Eat, GEO. B. CONNER, Prop'r"; "John D. Showell — The Oceanic Bath Houses, The Oceanic Hotel, The Mt. Vernon Hotel"; "JOSEPH SCHAEFER, the BAKER, OCEAN CITY, MD. Ice Cream, Plain and Fancy Cake, Layer and Pound Cake, Pies, Rolls and Buns, Best Bread ... Will ship you any quantity"; "Cranes Ice Cream, Hackney's Fountain, Ocean City, Md."; and "ROSS B. GEISBERT, Auctioneer, Ocean City, Md. Selling Real Estate and Personal Property a specialty."
Ocean City Fishing PierOcean City BoardwalkLafayette JohnsonRoss B. GeisbertJohn D. Showell
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1916
A weekly "Patronize These Ocean City Advertisers" column gives the 1916 board walk a business census: Dolle's taffy, Schaefer the baker, Mead's Cafe, Conner's Restaurant, the Thoroughgood Co. in the new Perskie Building — and Jimmy's Alleys, kept by James H. Yoshihiro.
From the *Democratic Messenger*, running weekly through the summer of 1916. **Rudolph Dolle**, "BOARD WALK, OPPOSITE THE PIER": "Dolle's Original Salt Water Taffy — AND IT DOES NOT STICK TO THE TEETH. Guaranteed Under the Pure Food and Drugs Act. Made Fresh Every Hour at Ocean City, Md." **Joseph Schaefer, The Baker**: ice cream, plain and fancy cake, layer and pound cake, pies, rolls and buns — "Will ship you any quantity." **Mead's Cafe**, on the Board Walk opposite the Pier. **Conner's Restaurant**, on the Board Walk — "Sea Food Dinners Are Our Specialty." **The Thoroughgood Co.**, merchant tailoring and furnishing goods, "In the New Perskie Building ON THE BOARD WALK." **The Maryland Pharmacy**, Dr. Paul Jones proprietor, with a soda fountain, novelties, souvenirs and post cards. **Seaside Hotel**, Dashiell & Bounds props., "OPENED JUNE 19th ... Terms are Very Reasonable." **"Homewood,"** Mrs. H. E. Collins and Miss Blanch Riggin managers, at Baltimore Avenue and Caroline Street, with special rates for Summer School students and teachers. **Ross B. Geisbert**, auctioneer, Ocean City. And **"Visit Jimmy's Alleys — Play the Fascinating Japanese Ball Game. Keep Your Score and Get a Prize. Hand-painted China, Bric-a-Brac, Japanese Pictures, Luncheon Sets, etc. JAMES H. YOSHIHIRO."** Cambridge visitors that August are recorded at the Hotel Hamilton, the Hotel Belmont, the Tarry-a-While, the Plimhimmon and the Atlantic.
Two names on this list are still on the board walk a century later, and one of them — a Japanese proprietor running a Japanese ball game and selling hand-painted china in 1916 — is the first non-European merchant the campaign has found in Ocean City.
Ocean City BoardwalkDolle's CandylandPlimhimmon Hotel / Plim PlazaAtlantic HotelRudolph DolleJames H. Yoshihiro
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1921
Joseph Schaefer's Bakery and Ice Cream Parlor advertises weekly from Baltimore Avenue, opposite the Atlantic Hotel - "Finest on the Peninsula."
"Joseph Schaefer's Bakery And Ice Cream Parlor, Ocean City, Md. All kinds of Ice Cream, Bread, Pies and Cakes. Everything is First-Class. Quality and refreshment in each plate and package. Baltimore Avenue, opposite Atlantic Hotel. FINEST ON THE PENINSULA." The advertisement ran week after week in the Democratic Messenger through the autumn of 1921. It fixes Ocean City's commercial street of 1921 as Baltimore Avenue and puts the bakery directly across from the Atlantic - the same block that held the Bank of Ocean City.
Source · checked 2026-08-10