Ocean House
York Beach, Maine
by
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About the Book
Before Ocean House there was only sandy scrub land with a few small cottages and boarding houses on the Union Bluff and Concordville ends of Short Sands Beach. The arrival of the Ellis Family marked the beginning of York Beach as a premier summer resort. Starting in 1883 they purchased, developed, donated, or sold what became the heart of downtown York Beach. After 1932 the Camp family operated the Ocean House hotel during the summer seasons, along with a sister hotel in Gulfport, Florida (until 1970) during the winter seasons. In 1977 family health concerns necessitated the sale of the Ocean House hotel with its motel units and cabins. After 1977 a group of men calling themselves Orbust, Inc. struggled to run the Ocean House as a hotel, later marketed timeshares, and finally attempted to develop a condominium and retail complex. In 1985 Seabury Housing Associates took over, creating a legal entity in 1986 called “The Ocean House, a Condominium Residence” and in 1990 turning over management of the complex to the Ocean House Condominium Association. This is the story of how it all began, how it evolved, and where it stands today.
About the Author
A resident of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Fred Merriam has become passionate about preserving vintage images and making local history accessible to everyone. As a member of the town’s Historical Commission he published History of Chelmsford 1910-1970; as a board member of the Historical Society published Images of America, Chelmsford Revisited, and is responsible for the websites of both organizations. He and his wife Carol have been summer residents of York, Maine since 2007, having purchased a unit in the Ocean House Condominiums facing Short Sands Beach. Naturally curious about the origins of Ocean House and Ellis Park, they gathered postcards and publications with bits and pieces of information and tantalizing photos. With Carol’s encouragement, Merriam decided it was time to apply his talents to tell the entire story of Ocean House and its offspring, Ellis Park.