Atlantic City Boardwalk Turns 150 Years Old

The great wooden way in the World's Play Ground officially opened 150 years ago last week.

According to the Atlantic City Free Public Library, a petition was presented to City Council on April 25, 1870, for the construction of a footwalk on the beach. $5,000 was allocated for construction ($5,000 in 1870 is about $100,000 in today's world).

The footwalk officially opened to the public on June 26, 1870. It was eight feet wide, one mile long, and stood approximately one foot above the beach.

It wasn't until around 1895 that "Boardwalk" became an official street name in the city.

In 1916, the planks on the Boardwalk were installed in its famous herringbone pattern, which you can still see today.

It's amazing to think of Atlantic City when the footwalk/Boardwalk was first opened: the Absecon Lighthouse had only been open for 13 years in 1870, the first Miss America wouldn't be crowned for another half-century, and you would be waiting well over a century to walk from the Boardwalk into an Atlantic City casino.