Sistas On The Sand

It's a pretty slow news week at the beach.  St. Patrick's day was a complete wash-out with a canceled parade and lots of rain and damp, green-clad visitors.  There's not much going on in any of the resort towns this weekend (except for the Merchant's Attic Garage Sale at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center).   Therefore, I'm going to share a bit of Ocean City, MD history:

Rosalie Tilghman Shreve

Today, I am going to tell you the story of Rosalie Tilghman Shreve.  Rosalie was a generals daughter whose prominent family owned a plantation near Oxford, MD.  Her father owned the Maryland and Delaware railroad and she married a track hand employed by her father.  Two years later, her husband died and, since the Tilghman family were Southern sympathizers, she and her family lost all of their slave labor and they had to file bankruptcy, leaving huge debts and a rather large property to care for.  Rumor has it that poor Mrs. Shreve was reduced to milking her own cows!

Fast forward to 1890 - Rosalie finds herself operating a Baltimore boarding house in the winters and running a cottage in Ocean City, MD during the summer.  Back in those days, the only way to get to Ocean City from Baltimore was to take a steam ship across the Chesapeake Bay, then take a train across Eastern Maryland.  This journey took 6.5 hours!

Rosalie was so encouraged by her success, she built the oceanfront Plimhimmon Hotel in OCMD in 1894 at the age of 50.  She ran the hotel until her death in 1920.  In 1962, the Plimhimmon Hotel burned to the ground and was replaced by the Plim Plaza, which remains on the site today.

1890s Swimwear

So - the next time you're strolling the boards in OC, think of Rosalie and how she must have had to endure hot summers dressed in layers and layers of clothing as she slaved away at the cottages she ran and the hotel she owned.

I hear that snow is expected in the Wilmington/Philly area this weekend, so I'm heading back to the beach tomorrow night to avoid it.  Have a great weekend!