History

P. E. Burroughs

state roads engineer · active 1917–1919

Resident engineer of the Maryland State Roads Commission at Salisbury and superintendent of construction, in direct charge of the work, for the Sinepuxent Bay highway bridge into Ocean City. He rode in the first automobile across the finished bridge in late April 1919, and when a northeaster caved in twenty feet of the Ocean City embankment a week before the Fourth of July dedication he drove over from Salisbury and closed the gap himself. Named in the Democratic Messenger, the Annapolis Evening Capital and the Cambridge Daily Banner.

In the record (2)

  1. 1922

    In March 1922 the State Roads Commission drives the first experimental jetty into the surf at Ocean City — four hundred feet of double piling opposite Somerset Avenue, sixteen men, three weeks.

    The Democratic Messenger of 1 April 1922: "Under the supervision of District Engineer P. E. Burroughs, of Salisbury, construction was started on Wednesday of last week by the forces of the State Roads Commission on the new experimental jetty at Ocean City. The site is opposite Somerset avenue, between the Washington Pharmacy and the Ocean City Pier — starting at the building line and running well out into the surf for a distance of approximately 400 feet. The construction consists of the driving of two rows of piling about six feet apart, which are tied together by lateral braces and steel tie cords. The construction is such that the waters may pass through the jetty on ordinary tides or wash over it on high tides without inflicting damage, meanwhile putting a stop to the encroachment of the waves upon the beach surface." It was estimated at about three weeks' work with about sixteen men. "Officials state that the jetty will in no manner interfere with the splendid surf bathing at Ocean City during the seasons." By 20 May the town's own correspondent reported it "being rounded off, and finished up this week. Capt. Lloyd has done good work, and people say, who should know, that already its good results begin to show. The consensus of opinion is, that the next one should be placed above the end of the boardwalk, as the force of all of our storms come from the North-east; also that the jetty should be built before the September storms." — 1922 RECTIFICATION, 2026-08-10: The Worcester Democrat of 1 April 1922 carries the same State Roads Commission story as the Democratic Messenger under the headline "WORK ON NEW JETTY BEGUN AT OCEAN CITY", and says "The State Roads Commission has about **15** men working on the project" — the existing fact says sixteen. It also carries the sentence the existing record lacks: "One jetty only will be constructed at this time as it is only a matter of experiment. If this one proves satisfactory it is said by officials that the jetties will be a very cheap method of protecting the entire frontage of Maryland's only seaside resort." By 16 December the town's own column reports jetties in the plural nearly complete, and by 30 December "practically completed" and holding sand enough "to form a new beach." Add fact:1922-more-than-one-jetty-goes-in and fact:1922-the-jetties-make-a-new-beach to relatedFactRefs.

    Ocean City's first piece of hard shore protection, and the town was already arguing about where the second one should go.

    Ocean City BoardwalkMaryland State Roads CommissionOrlando Harrison

    Source · checked 2026-08-06

  2. 1922

    The temporary fishing piers that had grown up against the new highway bridge are ordered out of Sinepuxent Bay by 15 April 1922, and a public wharf is promised in their place — on the railroad's land.

    The Democratic Messenger of 28 January 1922, under "Ocean City To Build New Pier To Replace Temporary One": after a conference at Ocean City between watermen, their attorneys A. M. Jackson and L. Claude Bailey of Salisbury and District Engineer P. E. Burroughs of the State Roads Commission, the temporary piers built the previous spring were to come down before 15 April. "A new public pier is to be constructed by an Ocean City corporation; probably extending from the land of the Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Railway Company." The army engineers had refused a permanent permit because the State Roads Commission objected to piers landing on its bridge, and on 3 January the owners were notified to remove all landings, pilings, timbers, houses or sheds within fifty feet of the centre line of the State road over Sinepuxent Bay. The paper also complained that "the view of the bridge is practically cut off by a gasoline storage station built on one of the piers." G. W. Rounds, Alvin J. Townsend and Edward C. Evans gave a written guarantee to remove the obstructions, which bought the extension to April. The promised wharf was to serve "fishermen, oystermen, summer visitors who wish to crab and fish, yachting parties, Coast Guard and others."

    Three years after the bridge opened, the town's watermen had colonised it — and the state made them get off.

    Ocean City Fishing PierMaryland State Roads CommissionBaltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic Railway

    Source · checked 2026-08-06