Today is International Women’s Day—a day for both celebration and reflection on the many milestone accomplishments and achievements of women all around the world. From social triumphs to rising to new heights in the political arena, from overcoming all odds and outdated standards to excelling in economic endeavors and even trailblazing developments in entrepreneurship, women have come a long way as powerful contributors to society. Throughout history, there have been plenty of times when women have silently stood in the background as unsung heroes, out of the limelight yet remaining the firm, foundational glue holding everything together. One such example can be seen in the crucial role such ladies played in helping to grow and develop Ocean City, Maryland into one of the most popular resort destinations on the East Coast.
Have you ever heard Ocean City historically referred to as “The Ladies Resort to the Sea” and wondered about this? It’s a reputation hearkening back to its earlier formative years as a coastal community. At the time, plenty of pioneering females settled here, going on to open and actively operate various resorts, inns, dining establishments, and other notable businesses. While the men were largely working on the water, it was the ladies leading the scene on the shore in hospitality and housing and eventually transforming the community into what it is today.
It is estimated that more than 70 percent of Ocean City establishments were owned and operated by women, starting in the 1800s (when women entrepreneurship was such a rarity in most of the world) through the mid-1900s and beyond. For this Flashback Friday Feature, I’m sharing the names and interesting backstories of just a few of those notable ladies who were so instrumental in Ocean City history.
Zipporah “Zippy” Lewis
One of the earliest accounts of an independent self-supporting lady on the Ocean City scene is that of Zipporah “Zippy” Lewis. Born in 1812 in Delaware (near the Fenwick area) Zippy married her husband Jonathan Lewis (a sailor) at the age of 16. The couple lived in a shack on the beach and had a total of five children.
After Jonathan went out to sea in the mid-1800s and was lost to the waves, Zippy was left on her own to raise her children as a 30-something widow. Struggling financially, while Zippy walked the beach time and again hoping for her husband’s lost ship to somehow return, she would comb the shores and collect various pieces of discarded “junk” that had washed up from area shipwrecks. Her hobby soon turned lucrative when she began loading her recoveries onto an oxcart, which she would lead to Bishopville to sell for profit.
Rosalie Tilghman Shreve
Another pioneering business-savvy female in Ocean City was Rosalie Tilghman Shreve. Having been widowed at 19 years old—just two years after marrying Thomas Jefferson Shreve—it was up to Rosalie—a mother of two—to make ends meet. At first, she moved to Baltimore where she successfully opened (and ran) a boarding house for a time. But in the late 1800s, bigger aspirations eventually led her to a newly emerging coastal town on the Eastern Shore. There she went on to establish a summer-only boarding house operation that became known as Goldsborough Cottage.
By the 1890s, following the success of Goldsborough Cottage, Rosalie went even bigger and better, going on to purchase two lots on 2nd Street to build the grandest hotel in town. The result was the impressive 48-room Plimhimmon Hotel. As the very height of fashion in its day, some of the innovative new features that impressed guests were the modern bathrooms on every floor and electricity powered by the hotel’s very own steam engine. Rosalie’s contributions to Ocean City did not end there and included such other additions as Rose Cottage (behind the hotel) and the Plimhimmon Casino.
Ella Dennis
When Ella Phillips Dennis arrived in Ocean City in 1890 it was strictly for health reasons. A doctor had advised her on the benefits of moving closer to the shore to improve the physical ailments she suffered from. While the move, in and of itself, may not have been impactful, the arrival of this headstrong lady to the Ocean City community did end up leaving a positive impact indeed.
By 1892 she and her husband Reverly would go on to build the four-story Dennis Hotel on the southeast corner of Dorchester Street and Baltimore Avenue. She also involved herself in the developmental framework of Ocean City as a community in several other ways, including helping to establish the First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City. Before she died in 1952 (at the age of 91) she was credited with being the oldest continuous hotel owner in Ocean City. She was also once famously quoted as saying “Ocean City is a town 70 percent built by women and run by women—and the men are all henpecked.”
Elizabeth Harper Hearne
When Elizabeth Harper Hearne and her husband, Dr. Thomas Hearne, decided to relocate to Ocean City from Bishopville in 1896, they never guessed that their new home would attract countless friends and family members who would initially overstay their welcome. But with surprising business-minded gumption, Elizabeth came up with an enterprising solution—she transformed her home into the Belmont Hotel and even started charging various room fees. That got everyone’s attention and even started a prosperous trend, which benefitted her after she was widowed in 1902 with a daughter to raise on her own. She also went on to acquire other properties throughout the downtown area in addition.
Susan Madora Dickerson Mason
Another fiercely independent lady (who also happened to be deaf) was Susan Madora Dickerson Mason. Originally from Parksley, Virginia, she came to Ocean City for a new start. Her past was checkered by her husband—a school teacher turned shiftless horse trader. Although she never divorced him, she did take her four children (and the family cow) and high-tailed it to Ocean City via a small boat in 1909.
By 1919, she even became the proud new owner of Mount Pleasant Hotel. Located on the Boardwalk between North Division and First Streets, the Mount Pleasant had been built more than a decade earlier by another pioneering woman on the Ocean City scene—Margaret Campbell Buell.
Josephine Richardson Hastings
Josephine Hastings helped to shape the Ocean City scene in many ways, most notably by building quite a few area hotels. There was the New Avalon (Del-Mar-Va Hotel) on Baltimore Avenue between North Division Street and North 1st Street, which she built in 1903, and then her namesake inn, the Hastings Hotel in 1916, on the Boardwalk between 2nd and 3rd Streets. Later, in 1923, she opened the Shoreham, also on the Boardwalk.
Mary Quillen
Mary Quillen is most notable for having built the Lankford Hotel on the Boardwalk in 1926. But the hotel wasn’t her sole contribution to the resort town. She also did a lot in expanding business in the area surrounding her Boardwalk-based establishment as well.
Ethel Griffin Kelley
This prominent lady had more than one hotel to her credit. She was also, quite notably, the mother of Harry Kelley, who would go on to become the Mayor of Ocean City in 1970. One of the hotels she built was the 38-unit Royalton on the Boardwalk back in 1927. Then there was the famed 132-room Beach Plaza Hotel in 1953.
Ann Lockhart Showell
One of the later pioneering ladies to keep up the trend of entrepreneurship in Ocean City was Ann Lockhart Showell who, along with her husband John, purchased land on 37th Street back in 1958, which became the site of the Castle in the Sand Motel two years later. In its day, it was a more novel high-end approach to lodging, featuring in-room kitchens and even balconies.
In addition to her success in hotel operations, Ann’s other attributes throughout her life in the community included serving as a director of Atlantic National Bank in Ocean City and being a member of the American Legion Auxilliary-Ocean City, the Dunes Club, National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Thelma Conner
Another to continue the legacy of lady business owners was Thelma Conner, founder of Dunes Manor Hotel. In 1965 the family purchased the Dunes Motel and then opened the Dunes Manor in 1987. In addition to hotel operations, Thelma became president of the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce in 1974. She was also the first woman to serve on the Ocean City Town Council between 1976 and 1984. In 1985 she was even named the Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Citizen of the Year and served as the president of the Hotel Motel Restaurant Association that same year.
In addition to the ladies highlighted here, there were many, many others. But through the examples of these powerful and pioneering women, you can now understand a little better just why Ocean City truly was the Ladies Resort to the Sea.