How It All Goes Down
Jonathan Pitney's Beach Village
- Born in 1797, Jonathan Pitney is your average dude. Not one to be deterred by ordinary beginnings, though, he grows up to become a doctor, obsessed with finding a "path to wealth and prestige" (1.1).
- New Jersey isn't much to look at in these days. And besides Cape May, a popular vacation spot, the southern part of the state is as bare as a baby's bottom.
- When he was younger, Pitney visited a small barrier island there called Absecon Island. Once a home-away-from-home for local Native Americans, the isolated (and barren) island is now home to the Reeds, a family descended from a famous Revolutionary War soldier.
- Pitney becomes convinced of the healing power of the ocean air, believing that it's his destiny is to transform this barren place into a "'city by the sea'" (1.12). Before this can happen, however, he'll need to get a railroad built to the island—otherwise, nobody will be able to reach it.
- So the dude starts hounding newspapers and politicians to garner support for his proposed railroad. He gets laughed out of every building he enters.
- Down but not out, Pitney turns to Samuel Richards. Richards comes from a super-rich and popular family that is "among the largest landholders in the Eastern United States" (1.26). Fancy.
- Richards gives Pitney his support, but not for the reasons you might expect. Though he doesn't care about Pitney's little health resort, he loves the idea of a new railroad being built through his land. That's big money, y'all.
- It's crazy how much easier it is to deal with politicians when you have a rich dude on your side. Funny how that works. In 1851, the pair receives the official charter for the newly-dubbed Camden-Atlantic Railroad.
- Pitney and Richards go about buying up as much land on Absecon Island as they can. A man named Richard Osborne helps them plan out the new town and coins its name—Atlantic City.
- The railroad officially opens in 1854. Although the line isn't finished yet (visitors have to take a boat to Atlantic City), Pitney's dream finally seems to be coming true…
- Or not. The first few years are disastrous: In 1858, "a plague of insects [...] nearly closed the resort down" (1.52), plus there's not even any fresh water on the island.
- After about twenty years, though, Atlantic City seems to have "gained a foothold" (1.59). Still, railroad fare is still too expensive for most people to afford the trip.
- Seeing this problem, Richards opens a new railroad that's half the price of the Camden-Atlantic line. Now that fare is affordable for the masses, Atlantic City is overrun with tourists—most of them working class folk from Philly.