Because of its location in South Jersey, hugging the Atlantic Ocean between marshlands and islands, Atlantic City presented itself as prime real estate and a potential resort town for developers. 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. The first boardwalk was built in 1870, along a portion of the beach to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies. Because of its effectiveness and popularity the boardwalk was expanded and modified several times in the following years. The historic length of the boardwalk, before the 1944 hurricane, was about 7 miles (11 km) and it extended from Atlantic City to Longport, through Ventnor and Margate.
The first official road from the mainland to the island was completed in 1870, after 17 years of construction. The road, which ran from Pleasantville, had a $0.30 toll. The first free road was Albany Avenue, constructed over the meadows from Pleasantville.
By 1878 because of the growing popularity of the city, one railroad line could no longer keep up with demand. Soon, the Philadelphia-Atlantic City railroad and the Reading railroad were constructed to transport tourists to Atlantic City. At this point massive hotels like The United States and the Surf House, as well as smaller rooming houses, had sprung up all over town. The United States Hotel took up a full city block between Atlantic, Pacific, Delaware, and Maryland Avenues. These hotels were not only impressive in size, but featured the most updated amenities, and were considered quite luxurious for their time. On Wednesday June 16, 1880, Atlantic City was formally opened.
In the 1920s, with tourism at its peak, many historians consider this decade Atlantic City's golden age. During prohibition, liquor flowed freely and gambling regularly took place in the back rooms of nightclubs and restaurants. This era in the city's history has inspired the HBO Original Series Boardwalk Empire.
original content by wikipedia.org
