Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, a major resort city in the northeast known for its casinos, boardwalk and beach and is the home of the Miss America Pageant. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 39,558, reflecting a decline of 959 (-2.4%) from the 40,517 counted in the 2000 U.S. Census, which had in turn increased by 2,531 (+6.7%) from the 37,986 counted in the 1990 U.S. Census.
Atlantic City served as the inspiration for the original version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
There were 274,549 people living in the Atlantic City–Hammonton Metropolitan Statistical Area as of the 2010 Census.
Atlantic City was incorporated on May 1, 1854, from portions of Egg Harbor Township and Galloway Township.
Because of its location in South Jersey, hugging the Atlantic Ocean between marshlands and islands, Atlantic City was viewed by developers as prime real estate and a potential resort town. In 1853, the first commercial hotel, The Belloe House, located at Massachusetts and Atlantic Avenue, was built.
The city was incorporated in 1854, the same year in which the Camden and Atlantic Railroad train service began. Built on the edge of the bay, this served as the direct link of this remote parcel of land with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By 1874, almost 500,000 passengers a year were coming to Atlantic City by rail. In Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, "Atlantic City's Godfather" Nelson Johnson describes the inspiration of Dr. 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":
After arriving in Atlantic City, a second train brought the visitors to the door of the resort's first public lodging, the United States Hotel. The hotel was owned by the railroad. It was a sprawling, four-story structure built to house 2,000 guests. It opened while it was still under construction, with only one wing standing, and even that wasn't completed. By year's end, when it was fully constructed, the United States Hotel was not only the first hotel in Atlantic City but also the largest in the nation. Its rooms totaled more than 600, and its grounds covered some 14 acres.
The first boardwalk was built in 1870 along a portion of the beach in an effort to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies. Businesses were restricted and the boardwalk was removed each year at the end of the peak season. Because of its effectiveness and popularity, the boardwalk was expanded in length and width, and modified several times in subsequent years. The historic length of the boardwalk, before the destructive 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane, was about 7 miles (11 km) and it extended from Atlantic City to Longport, through Ventnor and Margate.
The first road connecting the city to the mainland at Pleasantville was completed in 1870 and charged a 30-cent toll. Albany Avenue was the first road to the mainland that was available without a toll.
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