Postcard:Boardwalk view from Million Dollar Pier, Atlantic City, N.J.

Visitors first arrived at Atlantic City in 1854, welcomed by small boarding houses perched along the beach. Because Atlantic City sat conveniently between New York and Philadelphia, residents of both cities enjoyed a change of scenery and entertainment without traveling a great distance. In 1870, developers constructed the first boardwalk along a small stretch of beach to keep sand out of hotel lobbies. As crowds and attractions continued to grow, so did the boardwalk, reaching a historic length of seven miles. A hurricane destroyed the boardwalk in 1944.