Trimper's Rides & Amusements

According to the National Amusement Park Historical Association Trimper's Rides & Amusements in Ocean City is the oldest continuously owned amusement park in the United States. Trimper's opened in 1890. Trimper's Rides is open again this summer but the future of Trimper's is in doubt. As Ocean City has exploded into a megaresort, property taxes have soared for Trimper's, which operates on the last chunk of undeveloped land on the town's three-mile boardwalk. In the past three years, Trimper family members report that their assessed property tax assessment increased by 163 percent from $29 million to nearly $80 million. As a result, taxes on the property increased from $387,000 in 2004 to a staggering $914,000 in 2007. In addition to property taxes, insurance and energy costs are up. So the Trimpers are facing reality and making the decision each year whether to continue operating the historic amusement park. They are probably holding on because there are efforts to turn the amusement park into a historic district. That would have the effect of freezing the tax assessment at the 2004 rate.