Trailblazing businesswomen sparked Ocean City as vacation hotspot
BALTIMORE - We know Ocean City for its beaches and boardwalks. It's a sure thing for a summer getaway not too far from home.
But things were quite different back in the 1800 and 1900s.
"It was a fishing village where people lived and worked," said Christine Okerblom, curator at Ocean City Life-saving Station Museum.
Several women had big dreams for the small town.
Beginning as one of the only acceptable ways for women to make additional money, they started what is now a booming tourism industry.
"These women from the 1800s and1900s really paved the way for businesswomen," Okerblom said.
The women known as the Petticoat Regime, symbolic of the times, began hosting folks from out of town.
Gorgeous ocean views brought families from all over.
"First, it was renting rooms, then boarding houses, and hotels and motels," Okerblom said.
As word spread, Ocean City became a destination spot, thus creating the need for other local business.
"There was now a need for gas stations, restaurants, entertainment," Okerblom said. "It was the beginning of tourism."
By 1926, 30 out of the 32 hotels were owned by women, all with diverse backgrounds working to make ends meet.
"They were willing to take risks and they were going to do what it took to be successful," Okerblom said.
Paving the way for the steel magnolias, a group of women hoteliers in the 1980s.
And several of these hotels, including Castle in the Sand, are still up and running today.