The Henry Hotel

By Brian Shane
Staff Writer
(July 25, 2025) Modern-day stewards of Ocean City’s historic Henry Hotel plan to use new grant funding to track down former guests who stayed at the property in the mid-tolate 20th Century. In an era of segregation, the hotel on the corner of South Division Street and Baltimore Avenue famously was one of the few establishments in Ocean City that provided rooms for Black guests. Now, using old guestbooks once owned by longtime proprietor Pearl Bonner, the Henry Hotel Foundation now hopes to find lodgers from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. They’ll put to use a $27,000 state grant for heritage tourism organizations to conduct the search, according to foundation board member Nancy Howard.

“The story of the Henry Hotel needs to be told and hopefully we will find some of the people to tell that story,” she said. “These people were the very backbone of the hospitality industry; they worked in hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, etc. but were not allowed to take advantage of any of these establishments.” Grant funding will flow from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, which awarded 91 matching grants for nonprofits, local jurisdictions, and heritage tourism organizations. Totaling more than $4.6 million, the awards will support the development of heritage-related, place-based projects across Maryland that promote economic growth through tourism and community enhancement, the governor’s office announced July 11. Overall, organizations receiving awards include museums, parks, arts organizations, historic sites, schools and other educational institutions. On the Lower Eastern Shore counties of Worcester, Wicomico, and Somerset, six grants were issued, totaling $286,700. The largest grant goes to the Beach to Bay Heritage Area. The Berlinbased nonprofit will get both a $100,000 management grant and a $25,000 block grant. The agency is tasked with preserving, protecting, and promoting the Lower Shore’s cultural, natural and historical heritage, according to its website. Another $50,000 each will be awarded to both the City of Salisbury and the Crisfield chamber of commerce.

Salisbury’s funding is for its Maryland Folklife Stage, and Crisfield will use the money to enhance its annual Hard Craby Derby. Also in Salisbury, a $34,700 grant was awarded to Salisbury University for a program called Her Common Thread: Women and the Fiber Arts. “History is an active force for promoting economic development and building strength in our communities,” Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement. “Projects funded through our Heritage Grant Awards will make Maryland more competitive, support a diverse array of new partnerships, and enrich the lives of thousands of people.” The Maryland Heritage Areas Authority is an independent unit of government chaired by the Maryland Department of Planning and is administered by the Maryland Historical Trust. Since 1997, the authority has awarded more than $74 million dollars in grants to hundreds of organizations. These grants have generated over $175 million in non-state matching funds for heritage tourism projects and activities in the state’s 13 heritage areas. Several projects being awarded money are connected to honoring Maryland’s role in the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday, or semiquincentennial, according to Rebecca L. Flora, the state’s Secretary of the Department of Planning and chair of the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.