It opened while it was still under construction, with only one wing standing, and even that wasn't completed. It was a sprawling, four-story structure built to house 2,000 guests. In Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, "Atlantic City's Godfather" Nelson Johnson describes the inspiration of Jonathan Pitney (the "Father of Atlantic City" ) to develop Atlantic City as a health resort, his efforts to convince the municipal authorities that a railroad to the beach would be beneficial, his successful alliance with Samuel Richards (entrepreneur and member of the most influential family in southern New Jersey at the time) to achieve that goal, the actual building of the railroad, and the experience of the first 600 riders, who "were chosen carefully by Samuel Richards and Jonathan Pitney": Īfter arriving in Atlantic City, a second train brought the visitors to the door of the resort's first public lodging, the United States Hotel. By 1874, almost 500,000 passengers a year were coming to Atlantic City by rail. That same year, construction of the Absecon Lighthouse, designed by George Meade of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, was approved, with work initiated the next year. Built on the edge of the bay, this served as the direct link of this remote parcel of land with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The city was incorporated in 1854, the same year train service began on the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. In 1853, the first commercial hotel, the Belloe House, which was built at the intersection of Massachusetts and Atlantic Avenues. īecause of its location in South Jersey, which hugs the Atlantic Ocean between marshlands and islands, Atlantic City was viewed by developers as prime real estate and a potential resort town. However, it was not until 1850 that the idea arose to develop the location into a resort town and in early 1853 the name "Atlantic City" was adopted. While the precise date of the first permanent occupation of what came to be Atlantic City by European settlers has not been precisely determined, it is commonly thought that in 1783 Jeremiah Leeds first built and occupied an all year home on the island. History Atlantic City, 1877 A High Tide at Atlantic City, a painting by William Trost Richards, now housed in Brooklyn Museum Settlement įor many years before the city's founding, the island site of the future settlement was the summer home of the Lenape Native Americans. It is located on Absecon Island and borders Absecon, Brigantine, Egg Harbor Township, Galloway Township, Pleasantville, Ventnor City, and the Atlantic Ocean. The city was incorporated on May 1, 1854, from portions of Egg Harbor Township and Galloway Township. Atlantic City, Hammonton, and the surrounding Atlantic County constitute part of the larger Philadelphia metropolitan area, the nation's seventh-largest metropolitan area as of 2020. Atlantic City and Hammonton are the two principal municipalities of the Atlantic City-Hammonton metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses those cities and all of Atlantic County for statistical purposes. Atlantic City had been the home of the Miss America pageant from 1921 to 2004, which later returned to the city from 2013 to 2018.Īs of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,497, a decline of 1,061 (−2.7%) from the 2010 census count of 39,558, which in turn reflected a decrease of 959 (−2.4%) from the 40,517 counted in the 2000 census. New Jersey voters legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City in 1976, and the first casino opened two years later. version of the board game Monopoly, which uses various Atlantic City street names and destinations in the game. Located in South Jersey on Absecon Island, the city is prominently known for its casinos, nightlife, boardwalk, and Atlantic Ocean beaches and coastline. Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S.
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