Nelson Johnson - Boardwalk Empire - The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City

Prologue

The vignette of the housewife/summer laundress and her visit with Nucky in his suite at the Ritz is based upon an interview with Mary Ill, long-time Atlantic City resident, active in local politics and charity groups, before the Great Depression and the social welfare programs that it spawned. Mrs. Ill’s story was confirmed and recounted by several other persons with tales of similar incidents.

Chapter 1: Jonathan Pitney’s Beach Village

The “early” history of Atlantic City was fun to research. There are surprisingly good sources available at the Heston Room of the Atlantic City Library and at the Atlantic County Historical Museum in Somers Point.

1 enjoy civil and religious liberty… taken from a biographical sketch written by Allen Brown entitled, Jonathan Pitney, M.D.: Fifty Years of Progress on the Coast of New Jersey (Daily Advertiser Printing Company, 1848).

2 The description of “ Further Island ” found at pp. 2–3 relies, in large part, on the work of Sarah W.R. Ewing and Robert McMullin, Along Absecon Creek: A History of Early Absecon, New Jersey (C.O.W.A.N. Printing, 1965) and William McMahon’s work in So Young … So Gay! , (South Jersey Publishing Company, 1970).

5 “ Railroad to Nowhere” was a term used many times contemporaneously with Pitney’s efforts and by several historians. See S.W.R. Ewing and R. McMullin, Ibid., and Arthur D. Pierce’s work on the Richards Family, which was a powerhouse in South Jersey for several generations, Family Empire in Jersey Iron: The Richards’ Enterprises in the Pine Barrens (Rutgers University Press, 1964). The chapter entitled “Railroad to Nowhere” pp. 225–240 is an excellent recount of Samuel Richards’s efforts in making Jonathan Pitney’s dream a reality.

7 … looked like a bank president …A.D. Pierce, Family Empire, p. 226.

8 The initial investors in the Camden and Atlantic Railroad are discussed by A.D. Pierce, Ibid., p. 228.

9 … a weird, wild look, a veritable desert …These first-hand observations are of Richard Osborne, the civil engineer who laid out the Camden and Atlantic Railroad, speaking at its 25th anniversary dinner in June 1879. S.W.R. Ewing and R. McMullin, Ibid., p. 135.

10 The profits made on early land sales are detailed by John F. Hall in The Daily Union History of Atlantic City and County, New Jersey (Daily Union Printing Company, 1900) p. 187.

11 A terrible Northeast storm …S.W.R. Ewing and R. McMullin, Ibid., p. 142.

11 manifest destiny …W. McMahon, Ibid., p. 38.

11 … Finally, a bit after 9 A.M. …A.D. Pierce, Ibid., p. 230.

12 desolate succession of pine trees …S.W.R. Ewing and R. McMullin, Ibid., p. 145.

13 When I wanted to stop the train …S.W.R. Ewing and R. McMullin, Ibid., p. 145.

13 greenhead flies …A.L. English, History of Atlantic City, New Jersey , (Dickson & Gilling, 1884) pp. 70–72.

14 Prior to 1864 …A.L. English, Ibid., p.75.

15 Unpropitious times…S.W.R. Ewing and R. McMullin, Ibid., p. 179.

16 … brought in by ships from Baltimore …A.D. Pierce, Ibid., p. 236.

Chapter 2: The Grand Illusion

20 The fare was …A.L. English, Ibid., p. 154.

22 … swiftness in constructing new hotels …W. McMahon, Ibid., Chapter V, “Hotels of the Boardwalk” pp. 117–152.

23 … many establishments used the term “cottage” …An analysis of boardinghouses versus hotels is found in the work of Charles E. Funnell, By the Beautiful Sea, The Rise and High Times of That Great American Resort, Atlantic City (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1975) pp. 34–35. Despite its limited focus, Funnell’s book is an excellent work. I recommend it to anyone interested in early Atlantic City. Notwithstanding the fact that it was originally a doctoral dissertation, it is more accessible to the reader (and more accurate) than some of the earlier histories. Funnell’s work is one of the first serious histories of the resort, written without rose-colored glasses. Mr. Funnell died while still a young man. It would have been interesting to learn his thoughts on Atlantic City today.

24 … Perfect health …W. McMahon, Ibid., p. 57.

25 … endless panorama …Alfred M. Heston was Atlantic City’s all-time cheerleader. He wrote a series of “hand-books” spanning 1887 to past the beginning of the 20th century and beyond. The handbooks were entitled, Illustrated Hand-Book of Atlantic City, New Jersey , published by A.M. Heston and Company. Heston’s handbooks were widely circulated by the railroads throughout the entire country.

25 … absence of art!Quote from letter written by Walt Whitman in 1879.

25 … No snow on the Boardwalk …W. McMahon, Ibid., p. 80.

26 Boardman opened the meeting …W. McMahon, Ibid., pp. 70–74.

28 … something colossal about its vulgarity. The New Baedeker: “Casual Notes of an Irresponsible Traveler,” September 1909.

30 … envy of his customers …The career of Captain John Lake Young is discussed at length by W. McMahon, Ibid., pp. 159–166.

31 President Ulysses S. Grant. Grant’s visit to the resort was recalled by Mary Ill in an interview conducted by the author. She quoted her father’s friend, Al.

Chapter 3: A Plantation by the Sea

Pulling together the pieces for a coherent history of Atlantic City’s African-American community was a challenge. In my opinion, it was a story that cried out for proper treatment. I hope I succeeded. I realize that there may be some who will be offended by the title of this chapter. I consider it an apt description of the way things were.

Understanding the African-American experience in Atlantic City is critical if one is to have a true picture of the resort. Without the Black community, Atlantic City, as we know it, would never have come to be. The resort was founded at a point in time when Philadelphia was emerging as a major industrial power. For a decade and more before the American Civil War, and for two to three generations thereafter, Philadelphia boomed as an industrial employment center. It may be hard to grasp today, but at the time, Philadelphia’s factories gobbled up nearly every available able-bodied White worker who wasn’t a farmer in the region.

Late 19th-century hoteliers within the orbit of Philadelphia’s economy had no choice but to recruit Black workers from the South. Without newly freed slaves from the Upper South, there would have been no one to service hotel patrons. Remove the affordable labor of African-Americans from early Atlantic City and it would have remained a beach village.

I have high regard for the excellent work and thorough research of Professor Herbert James Foster and relied heavily on his work. I believe the African-American experience in Atlantic City warrants a book unto itself. Hopefully, that will occur.

35 … cooly told them …Herbert James Foster, The Urban Experience of Blacks in Atlantic City, New Jersey: 1850–1915. (Written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for doctor of philosophy, graduate program in History, Rutgers University, 1981). See p. 38, citing U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor, Federal Writers Project.