The Rise and Fall of Atlantic City - America’s Original Playground

The Rise and Fall of Atlantic City: America’s Original Playground Atlantic City was once one of America’s most famous vacation destinations. Long before casino towers dominated its skyline, millions arrived by train for enormous oceanfront hotels, amusement piers, packed beaches, rolling chairs, nightlife, conventions, and a Boardwalk that became an American icon. This video follows Atlantic City from its beginnings as a nineteenth-century seaside resort through its golden age, the rise of Steel Pier and the grand hotels, the creation of Miss America, the city’s Black tourism and entertainment history, the postwar decline, and the dramatic decision to legalize casino gambling. It also examines why the casino boom brought Atlantic City back, why that revival did not solve the city’s deeper problems, and what happened when casinos began opening much closer to Atlantic City’s traditional visitors. The story is ultimately about more than one resort town. Atlantic City changed alongside the way Americans traveled, vacationed, spent money, and entertained themselves. Railroads helped create it. Automobiles and air travel weakened its old advantages. Casinos gave it another period of exclusivity. Regional competition took much of that advantage away. More than 170 years after its founding, the Boardwalk, beach, surviving landmarks, and layers of redevelopment still reveal the many different versions of America’s original playground. Sources used for this episode: Library of Congress — “Atlantic City Boardwalk” / Today in History History of Atlantic City’s founding, railroad connection, the first Boardwalk in 1870, salt water taffy, and the development of the resort. Library of Congress: Atlantic City Boardwalk Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey — Atlantic City Boardwalk Historical documentation of the Boardwalk’s construction, expansion, physical development, and role in the resort. Library of Congress: Atlantic City Boardwalk HABS documentation Library of Congress, Historic American Engineering Record — Steel Pier Historical and architectural documentation of Steel Pier, including its opening, construction, scale, and early entertainment facilities. Library of Congress: Steel Pier historical documentation Library of Congress — Atlantic City Boardwalk collection Documentation of the Boardwalk’s importance as Atlantic City’s commercial and recreational center. Library of Congress: Atlantic City Boardwalk collection National Park Service — African American Outdoor Recreation Theme Study Research used for Atlantic City’s segregated beach history, Chicken Bone Beach, African American recreation, and Black tourism. National Park Service: African American Outdoor Recreation study National Park Service — Liberty Hotel History of Atlantic City’s Liberty Hotel and its importance to African American travelers during segregation. National Park Service: Liberty Hotel New Jersey Historic Preservation Office — Liberty Hotel National Register documentation Research on Atlantic City’s tourism economy, the Great Depression, racial history, and the resort’s twentieth-century decline. New Jersey: Liberty Hotel historical documentation New Jersey Department of Community Affairs — Atlantic City report Historical material on Atlantic City’s postwar economic decline, population loss, poverty, employment, entertainment industry, and redevelopment. New Jersey DCA: Atlantic City report New Jersey Historic Trust — Atlantic City Convention Hall History of Convention Hall, now Boardwalk Hall, including its construction and major historical uses. New Jersey Historic Trust: Atlantic City Convention Hall New Jersey Casino Control Commission — History of Casino Gaming in New Jersey Research on the 1976 referendum, casino legalization, Resorts International, casino expansion, Borgata, the 2014 closures, and Atlantic City’s changing gaming market. New Jersey Casino Control Commission: Casino gaming history New Jersey Casino Control Commission — Gaming in New Jersey Background on the Casino Control Act and the original redevelopment objectives attached to legalized casino gambling. New Jersey Casino Control Commission: Gaming in New Jersey Topics covered: Atlantic City history, Atlantic City Boardwalk, Steel Pier, American seaside resorts, grand hotels, Miss America, Chicken Bone Beach, Black history in Atlantic City, Boardwalk Hall, American vacations, postwar tourism, Atlantic City casinos, Resorts International, Borgata, Revel, casino decline, urban redevelopment, and American nostalgia. #AtlanticCity #AmericanHistory #AmericanNostalgia #Boardwalk #AmericaRemembered