Atlantic City, the best known - and by some the most decried - seaside resort on the Atlantic coast of New Jersey, founded in the 1850s, offers visitors its long sandy beaches and an immense range of entertainments and amusements which has earned it the name of the "Las Vegas of the East". It now has innumerable revue theatres which put on shows
round the clock. Atlantic City is annually the scene of boxing matches for large purses and the election of Miss America.
Most of the places of entertainment, restaurants and boutiques are on the Boardwalk, a 5 mile/8km long seafront promenade 60ft/18m wide. The history of the city is traced in the Historic Museum, with particular reference to famous visitors and stars of the night.
Atlantic City began as a quiet fishing village at the north end of Absecon Island until the Camden & Atlantic Railroad laid track and promoted the area. The area blossomed into a leading resort by the late-1800s. The five-mile boardwalk was laid in 1870 and remains the city's enduring trademark. Today, attractions from stores to hotels line the boardwalk.
The emergence of the car ushered in Atlantic City's decline, as people began to travel further abroad.
Since then, palaces such as Donald Trump's $1 billion Trump Taj Mahal, have sprung up by the seaside. Today, Atlantic City is America's foremost tourist destination with 37 million people spending upwards of $4 billion at its attractions.
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