Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City is a city located in Atlantic County, New Jersey, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 40,517. It is a resort community located on Absecon Island, just off the coast of New Jersey. Other towns on the island are Ventnor, Margate, and Longport.

History

Atlantic City has always been primarily a resort town. Its location in southern New Jersey, hugging the Atlantic Ocean between marshlands and islands, presented itself as prime real estate for developers. The city was incorporated in 1854, the same year in which train service began, linking this remote parcel of land with the more populated, urban centers of New York and Philadelphia. Atlantic City became a popular beach destination because of its proximity to Philadelphia.

Related Topics:
Resort town - Atlantic Ocean - 1854 - New York - Philadelphia - Beach

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In 1870 the first boardwalk was built along a portion of the beach to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies. The idea caught on, and the boardwalk was expanded and modified several times in the following years. Today, it is several miles long and sixty feet wide, reinforced with steel and concrete.

Related Topics:
1870 - Boardwalk

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In 1964 the city hosted the Democratic National Convention which nominated Lyndon Johnson for President and Hubert Humphrey as Vice President. The ticket won in a landslide that November. The convention and the press coverage it generated, however, cast a harsh light on Atlantic City, which by then was in the midst of a long period of economic decline.

Related Topics:
1964 - Democratic National Convention - Lyndon Johnson - Hubert Humphrey

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Although a small city, it had been plagued with many large city problems, especially poverty and crime. The neighborhood known as the "inlet" was particularly impoverished. In an effort at revitalizing the city, New Jersey voters in 1976 approved casino gambling for the city of Atlantic City. Resorts International then became the first legal casino in the eastern United States when it opened on May 26, 1978. Many other casinos were opened up along the boardwalk as a result. The introduction of gambling did not, however, eliminate many of the urban problems that plagued Atlantic City. Many have argued that it only served to magnify those problems, as evidenced in the stark contrast between tourism-intensive areas and the adjacent impoverished working-class neighborhoods. In addition, Atlantic City has played second-fiddle to Las Vegas, Nevada as a gambling mecca.

Related Topics:
Poverty - Crime - 1976 - Casino - Gambling - United States - May 26 - 1978 - Las Vegas, Nevada

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It was the home of the Miss America pageant from 1921 to 2005. In August 2005, it was announced that the pageant would be held elsewhere beginning in January 2006. The streets of Atlantic City are also used in the American version of the boardgame Monopoly.

Related Topics:
Miss America - Pageant - 1921 - 2005 - American - Monopoly

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