The opening of the Atlantic Hotel in 1875 is often regarded as the official “founding” of Ocean City.
If you wanted to visit the little beach town in those days, you had to take a boat or a train across the Sinepuxent Bay.
Train passengers often arrived to town covered in ash and soot. Nonetheless, the journey was a part of the experience.
Ocean City train station, kilduffs.com
Besides, the soot wasn’t the last mess to deal with. There was, of course, lots of sand. In 1910 a permanent boardwalk was built to elevate vacationers from the perils of sand.
A highway bridge to Ocean City was built a few years later. At last, the beach could be enjoyed without too much inconvenience from soot OR sand.
Ocean City remained a sleepy little beach town. When John B. Lynch, his wife Ruth, and his mother Minnie built the Commander Hotel on 14th street in 1930, it was a bit of a risky prospect. On the northernmost end of the “city”, the property was beyond the end of the boardwalk and a bit out of the way.
In 1933, an August hurricane changed everything. Residents watched as huge waves battered the barrier island, buildings washed away, and the boardwalk was destroyed. Thirteen lives were lost, and the road and railways linking the island to the mainland were no more. At the south end of the island, the Sinepuxent Bay washed a stretch of land out into the ocean, creating an inlet directly from the Atlantic to the bay.
Fishermen were overjoyed at this last bit. No longer would they have to drag their ocean catches across the island to the safe harbor of the bay. Federal funding was quickly secured to preserve the inlet from filling back up with sand. The new inlet became a crucial fishing port. Ocean City was now much more than a sleepy resort; it was the “White Marlin Capital of the World,” attracting sport and commercial fishermen. In the year 1939, 161 white marlins were caught – two by President Roosevelt.
Commander Hotel, Boston Public Library
The Commander Hotel proved to be a gamble that paid off. It was expanded over the years and incorporated attractions like clambakes and dinner theater.
The hotel was known for their food; three meals were included with the price of a room. Sometimes, guests enjoyed clams and corn served at long tables on the beach, or they dressed up in coats and ties to have dinner in the dining room in the evenings. John Lynch, Jr., the son of founders John & Ruth Lynch, contributed this Peach Brandy Pound Cake recipe to the 1995 book “Maryland’s Historic Restaurants and Their Recipes,” noting that in addition to the cake being a favorite in the Commander’s dining room, his own family enjoys it around Christmas.
And it is indeed a great pound cake – moist, flavorful, and just sweet enough.
The old Commander Hotel was torn down in 1997 to make way for something larger and more modern. By this time, hotel meals were no longer an important part of vacationer’s stays, with the plentiful restaurant options in town. The current building fits in with the other large hotels full of generic rooms that serve more as a place to stay than a destination in itself. Guest Norris Lanford recalled as much on eve of the hotel’s demolition: “I didn’t go to Ocean City. I went to the Commander Hotel.”
In a town built on a barrier island, where everything could be one big storm away from washing into the sea, change is the one thing you can count on.
Recipe:
- 1 Cup butter
- 3 Cups sugar
- 6 egg
- 3 Cup flour
- .25 Teaspoon baking soda
- 1 Cup yogurt (or sour cream as called for in the original)
- 2 Teaspoon rum
- 1 Teaspoon orange extract
- .25 Teaspoon almond extract
- .666 Teaspoon lemon extract
- .5 Cup peach brandy
Cream butter and gradually add sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with yogurt, beating well after each addition. Stir in flavorings. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until cake tests done.
Recipe adapted from “Maryland’s Historic Restaurants and Their Recipes” by Dawn O’Brien and Rebecca Schenck
