Atlantic City hasn't always been the Queen of Glitz and Gambling. Casinos weren't legalized until 1976, and the city has been a tourist attraction since the first railroad arrived in 1854 - a grueling two and one- half hour trip from Camden, on the mainland across the river from Philadelphia.

That railroad was the brainchild of Dr. Jonathan Pitney, a physician from Absecon, and Richard Osborne, a civil engineer from Philadelphia. The purpose was to improve access to the island, because Pitney wanted to make it into a health resort. Osborne named the city and Pitney decided on the street names and placements. Those running parallel to the ocean were named after the world's great bodies of water, while those running east to west were named after the States.

Visitors also arrived by sea, and the increase in ocean traffic sometimes led to tragedy. In 1854 the POWHATTAN sank offshore, killing 311 German immigrants. Dr. Pitney urged that a lighthouse be built; originally at the edge of the ocean, it now stands over 1/2 mile (.8 kilometer) from the shore.

The city's growth was phenomenal. The first road from the mainland was completed in 1870 (with a $.30 toll), and a second railroad line to Philadelphia was added. Grand hotels lined the beaches, offering the most modern amenities and luxuries of the day. The boardwalk was built to keep the sand on the beach and out of the buildings. The city's piers were a major draw. But the season ended with the passing of summer.

A 16-year-old girl from Washington provided the solution to extending the season. She was the first Miss America, and the pageant became synonymous with Atlantic City when it moved there permanently in 1940.