Ocean City Boardwalk Traditions: Plim Plaza Hotel

The Plim Plaza Hotel (originally the Plimhimmon Hotel) has been a landmark on the Ocean City, Maryland, Boardwalk since 1893. The hotel, located at 2nd Street, is the most beautiful building on the Boardwalk, in my opinion.

In a resort that showcases the evolution of vacation buildings from the late 19th century through the present, the Plim Plaza exemplifies the hospitality and architecture of a more civil and stylish era.

Today, storefronts line the valuable Boardwalk frontage of the remaining old hotels and the newer hotels and condo buildings. Fewer than a handful of old hotels still feature a graceful veranda. In a few months, when the hotels have reopened and the sunlight is better, I'll post some pictures of the remaining hotel verandas and their rocking chairs.

The Plimhimmon was founded in 1893 by Rosalie Tilghman Shreve and named after her family's Talbot County estate. Mary Corddry tells the life story of Mrs. Shreve in some detail in City on the Sand: Ocean City, Maryland, and the People Who Built It.

The original hotel with its additions burned in 1962. It was rebuilt following the style of the original, including its signature tower. City on the Sand also has a neat account of how the young Harrison brothers, Hale Harrison and John Harrison, later bought the hotel and renamed it the Plim Plaza.