As Riverboat Closes, Alcohol Still Has Presence In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, NJ — A private club that found a loophole in Ocean City’s liquor laws is closing.

The Riverboat Club is closing because it failed a fire inspection, and it would be too expensive to leave the club open, according to nj.com.

The men’s club opened on Eighth and Wesley in the 1960’s, and recently saw a dwindling membership, according to the report.

However, even as the Riverboat closes, there are still places to find an alcoholic drink in Ocean City, according to The Press of Atlantic City.

This includes the Foodies Dinner Club, which has 500 members, in the south end of town, according to the report.

Four Methodist ministers founded Ocean City in 1879, and one of the religious principles they founded the resort on was that no alcohol should be allowed on the island.

Nearly 140 years later, Ocean City remains a highly religious resort. This was evident in 2012, when voters defeated a proposal to allow patrons to bring their own alcohol to restaurants by a 2-1 margin.