Readers’ Forum

‘Surf Avenue”

Curator’s note: Participants in the recent Storm Warriors 5K walk/run held this past November asked us a number of interesting questions.  We are sharing some of those questions in this and future newsletters.

Q: What is the origin of Surf Avenue between 7th Street and 8th Street?  No other boardwalk blocks are divided like that.

A: “Surf Avenue” first appeared on a survey and plat prepared by the Maryland Seashore Corporation in October of 1925.  See accompanying illustration.  The oceanfront block between 7th Street and 8th Street was the first of several vacant blocks that the company acquired in 1925 and 1926.  The company built houses on two of the lots, and pitched them in April of 1926 as “two new modern houses in the most exclusive Ocean block of Ocean City”.     The first deed executed by the company, dated April 24, 1926, made it clear that Surf Avenue was a private street intended only for the use of property owners in that block: “[Neither] the filing of Maryland Seashore Corporation Plat No. 1 nor anything herein contained shall be construed as a dedication of or an intention to dedicate to the public the street or the public use of the street … designated as Surf Avenue”.  The deed goes on to grant the purchaser “the unobstructed right of way over Surf Avenue … from Atlantic avenue [the Boardwalk] to Baltimore avenue.”     We don’t know when Surf Avenue became a public thoroughfare.  A more recent deed for a property on Surf Avenue, executed on January 1, 2013, still includes the provision granting an “unobstructed right of way over Surf Avenue as designated on said Maryland Seashore Corporation Plat #1.”

We welcome all questions about Ocean City and U.S. Life-Saving Service history, and we’ll try our best to provide answers.  Please direct your inquiries to curator@museum.org.