Atlantic City Hotels

Pre 20th Century History
Founded in 1793, the site of Atlantic City was the first town settled on Absecon Island. Fifty years later, Dr Jonathan Pitney led a group of businessmen in a venture to develop a bathing village and health resort on the island. The deal was sealed with a charter to operate a railroad from the boomtown of Camden, and by 1854 engineer Richard Osborne had designed and named Atlantic City. Thousands of city dwellers from surrounding states took advantage of the inexpensive rail transport and flocked to the new town. City dwellers came to escape the summer heat and enjoy the seaside. With this influx of tourists, the city changed by developing amusement areas to maintain the interest of passing visitors. The world's first boardwalk was built in Atlantic City, and before too long amusement parks and nightclubs grew up along the stretches of wooden planks.

Modern History
In the 1920s the resorts were the playground of the rich and famous; it became a pre-Broadway stop on the theatre route. The city's popularity was confirmed by the first Miss America Pageant, staged here from 1921 to 2005 and cunningly held in September to extend the tourist season beyond the Labor Day weekend. By the 1930s, the population totalled 66,000, and local nightclubs attracted the nation's top talents - Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman to name a few - to the Steel Pier, which was dubbed 'the showplace of a nation'. The rise of jet travel to vacation spots in Florida, the Caribbean and Europe led to the city's decline after WWII. Until the 1970s the city faced severe economic hardship, with a drop in tourism translating into rampant unemployment, drug abuse and crime. The 1964 Democratic Convention highlighted the city's woes; there was such a shortage of support services for delegates that it was clear the city could no longer accommodate an event of this magnitude. In a hard-fought campaign, state voters were convinced that by allowing casino gambling the city could be revitalised. In 1978 the Resorts International casino opened its doors, attracting long lines at its blackjack tables and slot machines. By the 1980s, gambling was an around-the-clock business and the rail line with Philadelphia was resumed.

Recent History
Today the city still has social problems and even more difficulty marketing itself as a family destination. While the casino industry has created 45,000 jobs and experienced record profits, little of this money has benefited the town, despite the many promises of prosperity made some 20 years ago. Local officials are lobbying for more attractions unrelated to gambling and the New Jersey legislature has redrafted casino law in order to force casinos to re-invest portions of their profits back into the city. Much like Las Vegas, Atlantic City is targeting a younger crowd with amusements, rides and outrageous architecture in its new developments.