The Steel Pier

Opened in 1898. Once known as the ‘Showplace of the Nation.”  In 1904 it was partially washed away by a storm and in 1924 it burned down. Each time it was rebuilt. In its heyday, the Steel Pier included movie theaters, a concert hall, and a water show featuring a diving horse. As a child I saw Bill Haley and the Comets there in 1955.

Another fire, in 1969, resulted in the pier being shortened by about a third. Due to its deteriorating condition, the pier was closed for much of the 80’s. It reopened in 1992 as an amusement park. It remains an amusement park to this day. The current Steel Pier has 24 rides, a helicopter station and an arcade. The Ferris wheel in the picture was added in 2017.

Boardwalk Hall

Built in 1929, Boardwalk Hall claimed to be the nation’s first convention center. It was the home of the Miss America Pageant from 1940 to 2004. It hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1964, the one that nominated Lyndon B. Johnson. Performers who have played there include Judy Garland, the Beatles, the Rollling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen. It underwent a $90 million renovation in 2001 and since has been the home, however briefly, to a number of minor league hockey, basketball and arena football teams. It hosts the Mid-Atlantic Conference basketball championships and is a regular stop on the Harlem Globetrotters tour.

The Claridge

The Claridge Hotel is the building with the gold dome. Though it is now dwarfed by Bally’s, it was once known as the “Skyscraper by the Sea.” That was in 1930 when it opened. It offered guests both fresh and saltwater, hot and cold.

During World War II it was one of several building taken over by the government. It housed the Air Force. In 1943 it was the site of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation World Conference, attended by Franklin’s Delano Roosevelt and representatives from 44 countries.

Over its nearly a century of existence as a hotel it has hosted Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Mantle, Bob Hope, Martin Luther King Jr., Frank Sinatra and Princess Grace of Monaco.

There has been numerous changes of ownership. It opened a casino in 1981. That closed in 2012. The Claridge continues today as a non-casino hotel. No slot machines or betting tables, but it does have a High Roller Cannabis Dispensary. 

Resorts

Resorts was Atlantic City’s first casino, the first casino in the U.S. outside the state of Nevada. It opened in 1978 in a building that was previously Chalfonte-Haddon Hall, a 100 room hotel that dated back to the 1920’s.

Resorts was once the subject of a bidding war between Donald Trump and Merve Griffin. They ended up dividing the spoils. Griffin got the Resorts Casino and Trump got the in-development Taj Mahal. That would become one of the two AC casinos Trump bankrupted. Griffin put $90 million dollars into renovating Resorts and later sold it to Sun International.

It is notable as a casino resort that at one time actively marketed itself to LGBTQ+  patrons. Resorts opened a gay night club in 2011 called Prohibition. It has since closed.

Absecon Lighthouse

Standing 171 feet high, the Absecon Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey. It is named after the Absecon Inlet which it overlooks.

According to the web site U.S. Ghost Adventures, “Absecon Lighthouse has probably been haunted since day one, and the sands around the lighthouse surely have spirits rooming at night.” Apparently one of the lighthouse keepers claims to have seen none other than the Jersey Devil himself parked atop the tower.

You can check that out yourself since it’s open to the public and you can climb to the top.  It’s 228 steps. The lighthouse was first lit in 1857. It has been deactivated since 1933, although it is still lit at night. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

(Photos taken aboard a tour boat operated by Atlantic City Cruises.)