Biohazard and Pathogen Disinfection in Ocean City, NJ

Ocean City is a city in Cape May County and the principal city of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, which covers all of Cape May County.

Ocean City was founded on September 10, 1879, when four Methodist ministers — Ezra B. Lake, James Lake, S. Wesley Lake and William Burrell — chose the barrier island as the site of a Christian retreat and camp meeting modeled on Ocean Grove.

The cedar tree the four founders met beneath in 1879 still stands today, preserved in the lobby of the Ocean City Tabernacle.

Before its founding, the island was known as Peck's Beach, believed to be named for the whaler John Peck, and it was used for whale storage and cattle grazing; Parker Miller became its first permanent resident in 1859.

Ocean City was incorporated as a borough on May 3, 1884, from portions of Upper Township, and it was incorporated as a city on March 25, 1897.

The city's slogan, 'America's Greatest Family Resort,' was adopted by the Chamber of Commerce in 1920.

Ocean City has not allowed the sale of alcohol since its founding in 1879: blue laws were passed in 1881, the manufacture and sale of alcohol were banned in 1909, public consumption was banned in 1958, and in May 2012 voters rejected a bring-your-own-bottle initiative with 68.8% voting against.

The Ocean City boardwalk stretches for 2.5 miles along the beach; after a 1927 fire caused $1.5 million in damage, the boardwalk was rebuilt closer to the ocean.

The ship Sindia wrecked on Ocean City's beach on December 15, 1901, while sailing from Kobe, Japan, to New York, and its remains gradually sank beneath the sand.

The 2020 United States census counted 11,229 year-round residents in 5,454 households in Ocean City, but the summer population swells to an estimated 115,000 to 130,000 people.