Atlantic City

Atlantic City was founded in 1793 as the first town on Absecon Island. The island was frequented by the Lenni Lenape tribe and also by hunters and early settlers. One settler, Jeremiah Leeds, built the first permanent structure on the island, now known as Arctic and Arkansas Ave.

In the 1800’s, Dr. Jonathan Pitney, the town physician, started a business venture to create a resort on the island. By 1854, the engineer Richard Osborne designed and named Atlantic City.

With the newly built railroad, people enjoyed to ease of transport and the town quickly became a tourist attraction. The city was also reachable by seaport, bringing more settlers to the area.

With all of the elegant buildings and restaurants being erected, the businessmen were having a problem with the sand. In 1870, Alexander Boardman, a conductor on the Atlantic City-Camden Railroad, was asked to think up a way to keep the sand out of the hotels and rail cars. Boardman invented the world’s first Boardwalk as a means to separate the attractions from the beach.

The city officially opened to tourists in 1880 and included several amusement parks and nightclubs. Everyone could find entertainment to satisfy their needs including the Diving Horse and marathon dance contests. By the 1920’s the city had become a place where the rich and famous frequented. Profits began to soar but one problem still remained, how to keep tourism after Labor Day. The answer was the first Miss America Pageant, held in 1921. The pageant has since become a staple of Atlantic City.

When national airline travel began to rise in the mid 1900’s, tourists began going elsewhere (the Caribbean and Florida) and the city was hit hard economically. To save the city, state voters decided to allow casino gambling as a way to revitalize the city. The first casino, Resorts International, opened in 1978.

Atlantic City has since created thousands of jobs and has become the playground for America and an East Coast alternative to Vegas. The town is home to twelve casinos and hundreds of clubs, restaurants and shops.

For more South Jersey History, visit our South Jersey History page.

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: Melissa Samuelson