Historical Time Line

1. The first recorded owner of Absecon Island (now known as Atlantic City) was Thomas Budd, an Englishman, who arrived in Atlantic County in late 1670's.
2. Jeremiah Leeds, was the first person to build a permanent structure on the island in 1785 at what is now Arctic and Arkansas Ave.
3. Atlantic City was first incorporated in 1854. Chalkey S. Leeds, born in Atlantic City in 1824, became the city's first mayor in 1854.
4. FIRST : ** In 1870, and costing half the towns tax revenue that year, an eight foot wide wooden foot walk was built from the beach into town. This was the first Boardwalk in the nation. It was replaced with a more permanent larger structure in 1880.
5. The First Railroad was formally opened on June 16, 1880.
6. Lucy the Elephant was built in 1881 is now located in Margate, NJ which was at that time was called “South Atlantic City”.
7. The Atlantic City Water Works gave the town it's first “running water” in June 1882.
8. The first recorded use of electricity in Atlantic City was in July of 1882, when Atlantic City Gas and Water Company turn on the street lights, the first of which was in front of Keuhnle's Hotel, on Atlantic and South Carolina Aves.
9. Salt Water Taffy was invented during the summer of 1883, in a Boardwalk shop at St. James Place by David Bradley.
10. The first Pier was erected in 1886. It was erected on iron pilings and went out into the ocean from the end of Massachusetts Ave. It opened on April 25, 1886 and was name “Iron Pier”.
11. The City ok'd the use of “Rolling Chairs” on the Boardwalk in 1886.
12. FIRST : ** Atlantic City was first in the nation to install an electric fire alarm system in 1889.
13. The Famous Steel Pier, at Virginia Ave. & the Beach, first opened up for the season of 1889
14. FIRST : ** Atlantic City's Beach Patrol was the first established in the nation in 1891.
15. FIRST : ** The Ferris Wheel was first erected on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City in 1893 by Williams Somers. It was made of wood. The first steel Ferris wheel was erected at the World's Fair in Chicago the next year by a Mr. Ferris. Which is why it's called a Ferris Wheel today.
16. The Press Club of Atlantic City was founded in 1900, which was later named, "The Press of Atlantic City".
17. The Atlantic City Public Library first opened on January 31, 1900 in the Rochford Sanitorium. It became a Free Public Library in 1901 after City Council was urged by a group of citizens to put it up for vote and was adopted by a vote of 6062 to 30. Dedication of the Andrew Carnegie Free Public Library took place January 2, 1905.
18. In June, 1904, The National Tuberculosis Association was founded in Atlantic City.
19. FIRST : ** The very first electric sign that moved was erected on Atlantic City Boardwalk in 1905 by the Gillette Safety Razor Company.
20. The Million Dollar Pier, on the boardwalk at Arkansas Avenue first open for the season of 1906.
21. Rail Transprotation in 1909 was very dependable and according to the timetable for "The Reading".