80th Anniversy of the OC Inlet

[RavensDfense]

Really interesting article that appeared in the Salisbury Daily Times today about the formation of the OC inlet. Worth a read and some thought the next time you drive over the 50 bridge or fish the area. Life (and fishing) down here would be unrecognizable without it.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/2...ricane-of-1933

[rob-kayak]

Thanks for the post RD
And some nostalgia from my notes over the years....


From an Army Corps of Engineers website about 10+ years ago...





And then well... there were some... that fished OC... before the great storm !

"Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann
Before the Inlet brought ocean tides and changing the salinity of the bay, anglers fished the brackish Sinepuxent Bay in wooden boats known as Chincoteague scows. Captain Charles R. Bunting built Ocean City’s first dock at the foot of Talbot Street in 1918 and rented boats for $1 a day.
In the shallow bay, fish, including trout and spot, were caught using split bamboo rods with peeler crab for bait. Captains Levin Bunting, Ward Gray, Turner F. Cropper and Harry Bunting were some of the local men who guided fishing parties in that era.
The creation of the Inlet on Aug. 23, 1933 signaled a change in Ocean City’s sport fishing industry. The first white marlin was caught offshore in 1934 and the Inlet became the gateway to deep sea fishing from that point onward.
Photo courtesy Josh Bunting family"

[RavensDfense]

Cool stuff, man. Love seeing the old fishing pics.

[zeebyrd]

Thank you for the link to the article. It's nice to learn something new (to me) about the state in which I was not born and raised. But, having lived here more than half my life, I guess I am more Marylander than anything else now.

[RockFlag&Eagle37]

If you're interested in Ocean City history there's a book called "City on the Sand: Ocean City and the People Who Built It." It's fascinating. You'd be amazed at how much history is still right there under your nose and you'd have no idea otherwise. You'll also be surprised at how populated Assateague once was. If you hike some of their sand dune trails, you can still see the remnants of Coastal Highway on Assateague. The public bus depot down near the Inlet is actually one of the old train stations, and if you look toward the bay, you can get an idea of where the railroad bridge used to be. The two white caution buoys in the inlet mark old rail cars that fell off in the same storm this thread is based on. It's way more then just a tourist town if you do some research. Enjoy!