The future location of Atlantic City was populated by seven houses in 1852, and the only boarding house was run by "Aunt Millie" Leeds. Two years later, on July 4, 1854, the Camden and Atlantic Railroad began regular service between Camden, New Jersey and Absecon Island. Within a year, entrepreneurs built several large hotels to accommodate passengers, including the Surf House, the United States, the Mansion, and Congress Hall.
During the 1860's, all of the major hotels and most of the boarding houses were located close to the railroad station on Atlantic Avenue. Except for bathhouses, some small cottages, and the lighthouse, there were few structures near the seashore. The map changed forever when a disgruntled train conductor and innkeeper suggested building a "board walk" to keep sand out of his passenger cars and hotel rooms.
Atlantic City Builds the World’s First Boardwalk
Coincidentally, the man most responsible for the Boardwalk was named Alexander Boardman. A train conductor on the Camden & Atlantic Railroad and owner of the Ocean House hotel, Boardman mentioned the idea of a wooden walkway to the editor of the Camden Republic newspaper. The editorial that followed got the attention of Jacob Keim, a county official and owner of another Atlantic City hotel, the Chester County House.
Keim contacted Boardman, and they held a meeting with some prominent New Jersey citizens at Keim's hotel to discuss the construction of a wooden walkway. Boardman gave a convincing speech, and soon petitions were circulating around town for signatures.
Jacob Keim presented the petition to the town Council on April 25, 1870. Boardman and Keim estimated the cost would be $5,000 for a boardwalk from Massachusetts Avenue to the Sea View Excursion House on Missouri Avenue, a distance of approximately 1 mile. After some initial and well-founded opposition that the walkway would pull customers away from the Atlantic Avenue business district, the Council authorized the construction of the boardwalk on May 9. The Council specified that no buildings could be constructed within 30 feet of the new boardwalk, most likely as a concession to skeptical business owners on Atlantic Avenue.
Construction began almost immediately, and Atlantic City opened the first boardwalk to pedestrians on June 26, 1870. The wooden walkway was eight feet wide, approximately one mile long, and built in 12-foot sections. Elevated about one foot above the beach, the first boardwalk did not have any side railings to prevent distracted pedestrians from falling off. At the end of each summer season, the walkway was dismantled and the boards were stored away until the next summer.
Atlantic City Grows with the Boardwalk
The new boardwalk attracted thousands of visitors to Atlantic City. The town experienced a construction boom and population explosion. New businesses, such as the Traymore hotel, were constructed closer to the boardwalk than to the train stations. Existing hotels, like the Dennis, Chalfonte and Haddon Hall, were moved and expanded towards the new walkway.
The boardwalk was crowded every summer, but never more than on Easter Sunday in 1876. The first Easter Parade was so popular that the boardwalk was not large enough to accommodate everyone who wanted to participate. Three years later, the old boardwalk was worn out. Before the 1880 summer season began, Atlantic City had built a new version that was four feet wider. Businesses were now allowed to build within 10 feet of the wooden walkway and by 1883, directly adjacent to the boardwalk.
A winter storm in 1884 severely damaged the popular walkway. The third version of the boardwalk opened before the summer season began and was now 20-feet wide, two miles long, with wooden pilings that held the walkway five feet above the waves, to inhibit future storm damage. There were still no railings, and people continued to fall off occasionally. The first rolling chairs made their appearance during the summer season of 1884.
The new boardwalk was destroyed by a hurricane in September 1889. The fourth version opened on May 10, 1890 and was 24-feet wide, ten feet above the beach, and almost four miles long. As a safety measure, they finally added railings on both sides. A fifth Boardwalk was built starting on April 24, 1896 and completed on July 8. This version, built on steel pilings, was up to sixty-feet wide and spanned the entire 4¼ miles of Atlantic City coastline, from the Inlet to the town of Ventnor. The final modifications were added in 1916, when the boards were placed in a herringbone pattern with steel pilings and beams supporting them.
The Atlantic City Boardwalk Today
Over the years, Atlantic City’s defense against sand in their trains and hotels has been known by many names, including board walk, plank walk, promenade, esplanade, wooden way, and boardwalk. In 1895, the city officially declared that it was a street, so Boardwalk has been spelled with a capital "B" ever since.
Now that gaming has been legalized, Atlantic City and Boardwalk are experiencing a new resurgence. Although it will never be as popular as it was during the Roaring Twenties, Boardwalk is once again lined by luxury seaside resorts and enjoyed by thousands of residents and visitors every year.
Sources:
- Alantic City Convention and Visitors Authority, Atlantic City Boardwalk: A Stroll on the Wooden Way is Steeped in History, 2010, atlanticcitynj.com
- A.L. English, History of Atlantic City, New Jersey, (Philadelphia: Dickson & Gilling, 1884), archive.org
- John F. Hall, The Daily Union History of Atlantic City, N.J., (Atlantic City, NJ: Daily Union, 1899), archive.org
Ronald Campbell - Ronald T. Campbell of Hampton, New Hampshire is a professional writer and photographer whose lifelong hobby is studying history. He has ...
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