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In the 1880s and 1890s, the new town of Ocean City, New Jersey advertised itself as “A Christian Resort” and “A Moral Seaside Resort; Not Excelled as a Health Restorer.” Since Ocean City had recently been founded by Methodist ministers, the slogans were quite fitting.

Known as Peck’s Beach when the ministers arrived, the beauty and serenity of the area beguiled them, as did the knowledge that the island’s seclusion made it perfect for their aims. With the island having only one resident family and few stakeholders, the men knew that getting title to the land was within their reach. For while they dreamed of a beautiful Christian seaside community, they also were businessmen who knew that here they could make their fortunes.

They planned to create a year-round community, with schools, businesses, and a thriving population. However, they had another reason for wanting to obtain title to all of the land: they intended to tightly restrict all commerce and recreation on Sundays, and be sure that liquor and gambling would be banned forever. By deed restriction, they ensured that no “spirituous malt, intoxicating or vinous liquors . . . shall be manufactured, bought, sold, or kept for sale.” Nor could any building be used as “a house of prostitution, bawdy-house, or house of ill fame or dance or gambling house.” Except for the Sunday restrictions, their land deeds covered it all; specific ordinances banned sales of any kind, driving, ocean bathing, or other amusements on Sunday and also listed strict codes of dress for beach and public wear.

As time went on, Ocean City changed, and some of the Founders lived to see the relaxing of the Sunday restrictions. But the deed restrictions remain, giving a different feel to Ocean City than to most seashore resorts. The slogans changed as well from “The Ideal Summer Resort,” “The Greatest Cottage Seaside Resort in America,” and finally, in 1920, to “America’s Greatest Family Resort,” which has endured for over 80 years.

The Ocean City of today [is] a community of year-round residents, non-resident landowners, and summer vacationers. This community actively seeks the involvement of its citizens, with churches, schools, and year-round and seasonal businesses, still a place of beauty and worship, just as the founding ministers had envisioned.

On September 10, 1879, Methodist ministers Ezra B. Lake, S. Wesley Lake, James E. Lake, and William H. Burrell sailed from Pleasantville to examine the barrier island of Peck’s Beach that they were considering buying in order to establish a religious resort community. The Lakes’ cousin William had surveyed the island a few years earlier and recommended it as an ideal place for the venture. The men landed near what is now Second Street, but they found a direct route from the bay to the ocean impassible because of meadowlands, sand dunes, and roaming wild cattle. They followed the water’s edge around the north point of the beach looking over the land. On the way back to their boat, they stopped and knelt beneath a cedar tree and prayed for guidance. They dedicated the island as a Christian seaside resort.

While sailing home that afternoon, the men discussed their plans for the future. Their main concern was obtaining money to finance the building of the community. They decided to enlist the support of Simon, the Lake brothers’ father, a prosperous farmer and state legislator. After discussing their plans, Simon agreed to mortgage his Pleasantville farm to raise the $10,000 needed to purchase the land.

“Being entirely separated from the main land, and surrounded by water, perfect control of the situation on the day of the Lord is assured,” promised William B. Wood in his 1881 report to the Ocean City Association. “Christian people will thus have exemption from various annoyances, and especially Sabbath desecration, characterizing fashionable watering places. It will be the aim of the managers to afford all residents within the precincts of the city by the sea as complete Sabbath rest as can well be enjoyed.” Two years later, his report noted that New Jersey laws provided “ample legal protection” for Sunday closings.

These words set in motion the notorious “Sunday Blue Laws,” which were as much a part of Ocean City as the sand and the sea. The people behind this movement were extremely zealous, and it took court rulings in 1985 and 1986 and a vote by residents to end the closing restrictions that had prevailed in one form or another since the city’s beginning.

Ezra entered the Methodist ministry where he held many posts as pastor. He was a familiar figure around town. In cold weather, he was usually seen wearing a black frock coat and a high silk hat. On warmer days, he wore a lightweight gray frock coat and a dark brown hard-brimmed straw hat. In all seasons, regardless of the weather, he carried a white-handled, neatly-rolled umbrella.

Ezra and his wife Alice built their home in the city right across the street from the land set aside for the Tabernacle and the Camp Meeting. They used this house for a number of years, and then it was used as a manse for the First Presbyterian Church. Later, a group of local doctors purchased the house and turned it into a hospital. Many local people were born there. During the Great Depression, these doctors moved their hospital to a building in Somers Point, which was the start of the present Shore Memorial Hospital serving the seashore area today. At some point, Ezra’s house was purchased by two women from Scotland who used it as a convalescent home. Early in World War II, the Coast Guard bought it, planning to use it as a barracks, but never occupied it. A local resident had always admired the building, so when the Coast Guard put it up for sale, he bought it and made it into a rooming house. He later decided to open a restaurant instead, naming it Scotch Hall, which was open for at least 40 years. Now, Ezra’s house has come full circle back to a private residence.

The Lakes were shrewd businessmen as well as ordained ministers. During their first summer on the island, in 1880, they arranged for two auction sales of building lots. Mostly by word-of-mouth, they managed to persuade hundreds of prospective investors to come to Ocean City. They had fixed minimum prices for lots at $25, but at the first sale on May 25, 1880, the bid prices ranged from $30 to $37.50 per lot. By the second year, the average lot price had risen to $340. At the end of 1880, 500 lots had been sold, bringing in a total of $85,000 to the Association.

The founders knew that for the resort to grow it would have to be accessible and, by 1880, they had organized the Pleasantville and Ocean City Rail Road Company and built a railroad from Pleasantville to Somers Point. A steamboat purchased by the Ocean City Association ferried passengers across the bay to the wharf at Fourth Street. Daily service began in late October 1880.

The first Camp Meeting was held in tents on the campgrounds from August 6 to 16, 1880. It was estimated that at least 1,000 people attended all or part of the meetings. That same summer, the campground saw a five-day National Temperance Convention and another a few years later. The Temperance Society members were very welcome guests in Ocean City. The Association soon built 22 small cottages a few blocks from the campgrounds for rent to visitors attending camp meetings.

The large fabric and wood structure, which the Ocean City Association had built for summer services, became known as the Auditorium. Guest speakers from all denominations were welcome to preach there. The association sold land to churches for just $1, and from early years, groups began to organize and build their own churches. St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church was begun in 1894, and the first building dedicated in 1895 seated about 200 worshipers. By 1908, this congregation had doubled in size and a much larger brick church was erected in mid-town. Another Catholic church, Our Lady of Good Counsel, was located in the southern part of the island in the 1950s. The First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1896 with a building completed that following year. 1895 also saw the organization of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church on Central Avenue, and although the members purchased a lot at the corner of 11^th Street and Central Avenue, they did not build their church there until 1907. In 1974, they moved to a new, larger building at 30^th Street and Bay Avenue. The Baptists built a church, the First Baptist, in the spring of 1899; in 1927, the present brick building at 10^th Street and Wesley Avenue was completed, and it has also been enlarged and remodeled several times. Other early churches include the Macedonia Methodist, the Tabernacle Baptist, St. John’s Lutheran, and the First Church of Christ, Scientist, all of which continue to operate today.

The United States Post Office in Ocean City opened on March 2, 1881, with William H. Burrell appointed the city’s first postmaster. Reverend Burrell arranged to have the mail brought over from the Linwood post office and frequently carried it himself to Sea Isle City and back, walking across the bridge being built at Corson’s Inlet.

In 1904, hundreds of people took part in a Founder’s Day Celebration for Ocean City’s Silver Jubilee. The main event was a special morning service held in the Auditorium. President of the Ocean City Association Reverend S. Wesley Lake spoke about the founding of the city, its progress, and its future, as well as the importance of Temperance on the community. His daughter Louella gave a vocal presentation. There was an afternoon service memorializing the deceased members of the association held in the Young People’s Temple on the campgrounds, an anniversary surf meeting held on the beach in the early evening, and a praise meeting held back in the Auditorium to end the evening.

After World War II and the Korean conflict, Ocean City was ready for some rest, relaxation, and growth. An all-time record crowd of 125,000 frolicked on the beach over the 1955 Fourth of July weekend, and more continued to pour into the city through the entire summer.

Crowds also continued to attend the non-denominational church services held by the Ocean City Tabernacle Association in their old building, prompting the decision to rebuild. Work then began to demolish the 75-year-old Tabernacle to make way for a new $300,000 structure. The original building, the Auditorium, was the first permanent structure on the island to be used as a place of worship. By 1957, the new Tabernacle was ready to be formally dedicated by Bishop Fred Pierce Corson, resident bishop of the Philadelphia Methodist Church. With a seating capacity of 1,400, the building had extra facilities for 400 more people and was constructed of concrete, brick, and glass. Most of the cost was financed through a legacy left to the association by a resident, the late Charles Stilwell. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Tabernacle President Ralph G. Luff hailed the occasion as “The dawn of a new era for the Association.”