We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Bridge -History of OCNJ Bridges
NO HISTORY of Ocean City would be complete without mentioning the many bridges that helped make this barrier island “America’s Greatest Family Resort.”
On June 15, 1883 Ocean City’s first land route to the mainland was completed at 34th Street. Rev. William B. Wood, president of the Ocean City Association, reported, “It is a little over two miles in length, connecting Ocean City with the shore road leading from Beesley’s Point to Cape May City. The thoroughfare is spanned by a good bridge containing a draw, at which is erected a suitable house for the accommodation of the toll-keeper.” The charges were 10 cents for horse and wagon and five cents for pedestrians.
Trains make their way to OCNJ
The next two bridges were built by railroad companies to get their trains into Ocean City. In 1884, the West Jersey Railroad built a bridge over Corson’s Inlet entering Ocean City at 52nd Street.
On July 1, 1907, the first Shore Fast Line trolley came over a trestle bridge from Somers Point entering Ocean City at 8th Street.
On April 11, 1914, the Ocean City Automobile Company opened the causeway and four bridges connecting Ocean City and Somers Point. The trip across the Great Egg Harbor Bay cost 25 cents for the driver and automobile and five cents for each passenger. The toll was ended on August 15, 1922 when the causeway was sold to the State of New Jersey.
On May 15, 1914, Reuben W. Edwards and John P. Fox, Ocean City residents and Cape May County Freeholders, led the ceremony officially opening the new bridge at 34th Street. This replaced the city’s first bridge to the mainland built in 1883.
In 1917, the Cape May County Board of Freeholders authorized a bond issue of $134,000 for the building of automobile bridges over Corson’s Inlet and Middle Thoroughfare to connect Ocean City and Strathmere. These bridges were rebuilt in the fall of 1933.
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A new bridge for the north end of the island
The Ocean City-Longport Bridge was dedicated on October 25, 1928. Congressman Isaac Bacharach and Mayor Joseph G. Champion cut a ribbon formally opening the bridge. It cost $1,250,000 and was built in only ten months. The toll for automobiles was 25 cents. A strip of five tickets cost $1.
Alfred R. Smith, World War veteran and former captain of the Ocean City lifeguards, was the grand marshal of the parade at the August 19, 1933 dedication of the new 9th Street bridge. The modern structure replaced the automobile causeway built in 1914. Mayor Harry Headley said, “This is the most magnificent entrance of any resort along the New Jersey coast.”
In 1948, a new bridge was built over Corson’s Inlet replacing the 1933 bridge.
On July 4, 1962, the new 1,625 foot-long Roosevelt Boulevard Bridge connecting Ocean City with Marmora at 34th Street opened.
On March 4, 1991, a new bridge over Middle Thoroughfare was dedicated to the memory of Rush Chattin. Chattin, who died on January 19, 1982, was a longtime city employee and avid fisherman. The bridge was built with a wide platform running along both sides of the bridge to provide safe areas for those fishing from the bridge.
Looking to the future
On July 19, 2002, over 1,000 people participated in the dedication ceremony of the new $55 million Ocean City-Longport Bridge.
On October 27, 2006, Governor Jon S. Corzine, Mayor Sal Perillo and local citizens celebrated the start of construction on the new Route 52 causeway (also known as the 9th Street Bridge, Howard S. Stainton Memorial Causeway) the major link between Ocean City and Somers Point.
Governor Corzine reported the two-and-a-half-mile-long causeway will consist of two high-level fixed bridges, four wide lanes, an emergency shoulder, a separate walking and bike path, a fishing pier, boat ramps, parking lots, and beautiful new Roy Gillian Welcome Center. The entire project was completed in 2012. Mayor Jay Gillian led the dedication ceremony on May 24, 2012.
The causeway between Ocean City and Somers Point was on many postcards from 1933 to 2012.
