Picture of the Day No. 4 – the Great Atlantic Storm of September 1944

No. 4 

This first snapshot shows the aftermath of the Great Atlantic Storm of September 1944.  The Stone Harbor boardwalk and fishing pier were utterly destroyed and this image attests to the devastating damage.  The person who snapped this photo wrote the following information on the reverse side of this historic black and white photo…

“This is looking up the beach from 106th St.  The pilings are broken off at the line of the sand where the pier and apts. used to be.  The remnants of the boardwalk show and the pile of debris lies up on the bulk-head above 105th St.”

Notice in the distant background a prominent building that was built on the boardwalk, the Ocean View Hotel or later known as the Ocean View Apartments, that actually survived.  This well-known structure would remain open for another 18 years when it too finally succumbed to the destructive forces of the Great Storm of March 1962.  Surely some of our readers will remember that particular weather event.

This concluding second photo taken from a somewhat elevated position is yet another stark reminder of the fury of the ocean and just how extensive that 1944 storm damage really was!