October 29, 2012
A look back...
The first iteration of the Atlantic City boardwalk opened in 1870 and it was the first boardwalk in the United States.. No commerce of any kind was allowed within thirty feet of the boardwalk and for the first several years, the boardwalk was taken apart and stored during the off-season.
The boardwalk experienced several overhauls, each larger and longer, until an 1889 hurricane brought about the 24-foot wide, 10-foot high, and nearly 4 miles long boardwalk with railings on both sides. It was improved and expanded in 1896 and is (was?) currently the longest boardwalk in the world.
Atlantic City, early 1900s
Early Thomas Edison film of people walking along the boardwalk, 1904
Rolling chairs on the boardwalk, between 1905 and 1920
"Keep Smiling" 1906
1912
Lucky Strike, 1925
Atlantic City Inter-City Beauty Contest, 1926
The New York Times in 1929: “A magnificent proof of America’s newly found wealth and leisure. It is an iridescent bubble on the surface of our fabulous prosperity.”