“Scenes Surpassing those in the Orient, Here in Atlantic City, N.J” (c. 1930). Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Riverton.
Every summer, thousands of tourists flock to Atlantic City to enjoy its beaches, waterfront restaurants, and entertainment events. For locals like me, the transformation is almost magical, seemingly transforming the cityscape overnight. By Memorial Day Weekend, the city comes alive: the once empty streets are dotted with blooming flower boxes, filled with tourists dragging their beach chairs and coolers to the beach, and seemingly never-ending traffic. As a child, I thought all cities must look and operate like Atlantic City, with its routine shifting from quiet winter months to bustling summer seasons. But what differentiates the city from most others is the strong role that its nine casinos have played in redeveloping the cityscape. Prophesied as Atlantic City’s saviors, the casinos tower over the rest of the city and dominate its economy, employing thousands of people and bringing in millions of dollars in tax revenues. However, all that glitters is not gold; the casinos have played such a large role that they have seemingly overwritten the city’s history and have forever altered its trajectory. But we can pull back the veil to refocus on Atlantic City’s true history as a regional and cultural hub.
Atlantic City emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a vibrant coastal town and cultural hub, perfectly situated mere hours away from the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia and New York City. Lavishly ornate beachfront hotels spanned the boardwalk, allowing their patrons to easily take advantage of the beach and its full health benefits. In 1921, the city hosted its first Miss America pageant at Boardwalk Hall: a weeklong celebration that was always kicked off by the “Show Us Your Shoes Parade”. At the same time, Atlantic City’s motto of “The World’s Playground” took on a new meaning as the City experienced a boom in bootlegging and gambling thanks to Mayor Enoch “Nucky” Johnson’s failure to enforce Prohibition laws. By 1935, the city had become so popular that it was used as the basis for the Monopoly board game.
From the 1940s to the 1960s, venues like the Steel Pier, Boardwalk Hall, and Club Harlem had become synonymous with the city’s music scene and were frequented by stars like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Nat King Cole. Such venues allowed these artists to try out new material before they went to perform to larger audiences in New York. Kentucky Avenue became a thriving corridor of Black-owned businesses and jazz clubs, attracting visitors from all over the world. New York Avenue was the epicenter of the city’s queer life, home to some of the country’s oldest gay bars at the time and a vibrant nightclub scene. The city even hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1964, where civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer delivered her powerful testimony on the abuse she faced when she tried to vote for the first time.
Yet if you were to ask New Jersey residents about their perceptions of Atlantic City today, you likely would not hear about its early history and success. Instead, you would hear about the city’s decline. Many attribute Atlantic City’s change in fortunes to the legalization of casino gambling in the 1970s, which many perceive to have sucked the life out of the city. Sleepy, two-story bungalows were torn down in droves to clear land for the casinos, properties fell into disrepair with the hopes of being bought out by the casinos, and mom and pop businesses were slowly put out of business. You would hear about the economic devastation that occurred a decade ago when four major casinos closed and cost the area over 5,000 jobs. The Miss America pageant is no longer held in Atlantic City (having moved to Las Vegas), and the vibrant entertainment scene once enjoyed on Kentucky Avenue is no more. Headlines from the local paper within the last three months have mentioned the indictment of the current mayor over witness tampering charges and the Housing Authority’s ongoing battle to provide affordable housing despite the city’s outdated and dilapidated housing stock. Older news articles describe the city as a ghost town, a wasteland, or as one of America’s fallen cities. Google searches result in event pages for the various casinos, a series of negative news headlines, and websites for the city’s school district. Simply put: the city’s history is no longer of pressing concern to mainstream audiences.
Why is it that a city is more likely to be remembered and defined by its failures than its successes? Is it a simple marketing issue? Is it easier to hold on to a city’s shortcomings than it is to celebrate its wins? Or is it that society romanticizes the story of an underdog as it falls from grace and attempts to build itself up again?
While many may assume that Atlantic City is still holding tight to the casinos as a form of economic revitalization, the city is actively pursuing locally-driven initiatives to diversify the economy. Over the past decade, Atlantic City has seen countless ribbon-cutting events as new development projects have broken ground and non-profits have completed various revitalization projects. Community development corporations have emerged across the city, tackling neighborhood-wide initiatives ranging from neighborhood clean-ups to homebuying classes and cultural events. Stockton University completed its Atlantic City campus developments seven years ago, bringing thousands of students to the area and creating dozens of jobs. Above all, the City has received an influx of funding from the State of New Jersey, using it to repurpose vacant buildings as cultural and food cooperative hubs. Yet, the legacy of casinos still hangs over the city like a cloud, muddying public perception and disguising Atlantic City’s rich cultural history. Long-standing businesses are few and far between, and street signage is all that remains to memorialize past city establishments.
Ultimately, I believe that at its core, the city is a cultural hub. It always has and always will be – and I know I am not the only one who believes this. Across the city, countless organizations have been pouring money into public art campaigns, efforts to preserve historic buildings, and smaller theater venues to keep them afloat. A renaissance is only inevitable; the city is poised to fully embrace its roots as a cultural hotspot once more. Yet for this renaissance to be fully successful, the city must pair investments in arts and cultural institutions with equitable reinvestment in its communities that have suffered as a result of redlining, urban renewal, and subsequent disinvestment. None of this work will be easy, but I believe the disguise is lifting. We just have to be willing to see through the veil.