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The Atlantic City

Boardwalk

A Wooden Walkway to the Sea
by Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher

Atlantic City Boardwalk, 1920s

tlantic City, New Jersey This first Atlantic City Boardwalk was dedicated on June 26, 1870,
is home to one of the and was quickly embraced by visitors and welcomed by commerce. Yet
Amost famous and oldest it would be years before the idea of turning the walkway into a tourist
boardwalks in America. This ini- destination was put into motion. For now, it was nothing more than a
tially mile-long wooden walkway practical solution and public conveyance for walking along the beach
from the beach into the town was without walking on the sand. No commerce of any kind was allowed
erected in 1870 to solve a problem within thirty feet of the walk for the next decade.
not anticipated by the Town’s
developers in the building of this Mother Nature Changes Everything
seaside resort and tourist destina- Fast forward 10 years later, and the issue of the Boardwalk was once
tion: beach sand. Wealthy visitors again in front of the city council. This time it was about the need to
could walk out of their posh resort replace and enhance the weathered and splintered but highly popular
hotel with ocean views and onto walkway. Building a replacement boardwalk presented an opportunity
the beach but they didn’t want to for developers to re-imagine the walkway as a more integral part of the
take off their shoes and walk on Atlantic City vacation experience.
the sand.
Hoteliers on the beach were
Atlantic City Boardwalk, 1904 tired of guests dragging sand into
their lobbies and guest rooms.
Even train operators complained of sand in their cars after an Atlantic
City run. It was a problem that needed to be managed for the sake of
the tourist trade.
1922 postcard
saying Lora is
already feeling
much better

The idea of
a temporary
wooden “walk-
way” on top
of the sand
was pitched to
the town by 2012 Hurricane Sandy effects on the Atlantic City Boardwalk
Alexander
Boardman, a The next iteration was built four feet wider (14’) and much longer.
railroad conductor, and Jacob Keim, a hotelier. With the support of the The Council also gave the “green light” for commerce to move within
hotels, developers, and rail lines, the Town spent five thousand dollars ten feet of the walkway. Within a few short years, the 10’ foot
to build a mile-long, 10-foot-wide walkway constructed from wooden ordinance was “tossed to sea” and by 1883, almost one hundred stores,
planks in sections of 12 feet, arranged in rectangular patterns known as stalls, and stands had Boardwalk addresses. Now, there was more to see
a herringbone pattern. It was also designed to be dismantled after the and do while on the Boardwalk than just watching the waves roll in.
“season” and then stored during the winter months.

16 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles