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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
The MODEL AMERICAN VILLAGE, on the Boardwalk between Bellevue and Texas Aves., displays three houses, set at various angles to the "Highway," on a large semicircular lawn. One house is Tudor in design, constructed of masonry; another is a frame Cape Cod Colonial; the third is a frame and stucco modern type. The number of rooms varies from 7 to 12, and the cost of the houses from $5,000 to $15,000. Each is furnished and equipped in accordance with the period and price. In the rear is a town hall with stores on the ground floor and a village green in front. The exhibit is sponsored and equipped by a hundred leading manufacturers and builders of the country.
The CONVENTION HALL AND MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM (tours with official guides hourly, 25¢), on the Boardwalk between Georgia and Mississippi Aves., is said to be the largest of its kind in the world. Its auditorium seats 41,000 persons; the ballroom accommodates 5,000.
An organ with 32,000 pipes, also a world's record, has been built into the structure. During the year the auditorium is transformed alternately into an ice-skating rink, a football gridiron, a polo and horse-show field and a steeplechase course. RADIO STATION WPG maintains its studio on the upper floor.
MILLION DOLLAR PIER, Boardwalk and Arkansas Ave. (one admission price for all attractions), is 1,700 ft. long and the second largest pier in the city. It was named by its original owner, Capt. John L. Young, now deceased, as soon as a million dollars had been spent on the still uncompleted structure in 19o6. In 1938 the name was changed to Hamid's I Million Dollar Pier. The captain's former home (open) on the pier, beyond the beach line, had the unusual post office address of No. 1 Atlantic Ocean. The house is three stories high, and is equipped with a conservatory. Shrubbery and flowers grow in the surrounding garden. From the ocean end of the pier a fish net haul is made twice daily, at noon and 4 p.m. Species of fish which find their way into the big net include shark, tarpon, drumfish, barracuda, ray, sea robin, and others.
The CENTRAL PIER (free), Boardwalk and Tennessee Ave., has in recent years concentrated on commercial exhibits. Once the city's longest pier (2,700 ft.), it has been destroyed three times by fire and is now less than one-third of its original length. The chief current exhibits include those of the Texas Company, the Beechnut Company, the Atlantic City Convention Bureau, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and the Bicycle Trades Exhibit. There is also an arcade of small shops.
The STEEPLECHASE PIER (free), Boardwalk and Pennsylvania Ave., caters to children with swings, merry-go-rounds, and other juvenile amusement. It was built 800 ft. long in 1890, destroyed by fire in 1932, and rebuilt to 1,500 ft. to serve as a fishing and yachting center. It was originally George Tilyou's "Funny Place" where Coney Island oddities were burlesqued.
The STEEL PIER (one admission price for all attractions), Boardwalk and Virginia Ave., is 2,000 ft. long, the largest of all. Among its novelties are three diving horses that, four times a day, gallop up a runway 45 ft. high and dive into a pool of water, a girl rider perched on each back. The late Dr. W. F. Carver, an Indian scout, originated this spectacular entertainment 50 years ago. His daughter now trains the horses. Other attractions are two movie houses and a zoo for baby animals.
The GARDEN PIER (free), Boardwalk and New Jersey Ave., looks like the oldest but is actually the youngest pier on the boardwalk. It was built in 1915 and its incongruous Spanish architecture is somewhat atoned for by its fireproof construction. Garden Pier specializes in public entertainment; it provides bimonthly boxing and wrestling and semi-profesional basketball in the winter, and stage shows and occasionally opera in the summer.
The HEINZ PIER (free), Boardwalk and Massachusetts Ave., is the bighbrow of the boardwalk. Operated since 1898 by the canned-food producer, it features art exhibits, lectures, and educational-promotional displays. A series of eight model kitchens includes the little Dutch Kitchen, the English, the Spanish of Don Quixote's time, the American of the time of Evangeline, the Civil War, and the modern dietary laboratory.
The ABSECON LIGHTHOUSE (not open), Pacific and Rhode Island Aves., is the Eiffel Tower of Atlantic City-wherever the visitor looks he sees the 167-ft- structure, much like an oversize factory chimney with a glass cage perched on top. When erected in 1854 it stood 1,300 ft. from the water front. Within the next few years the Atlantic began to encroach on the shore line until the waves broke within 75 ft. of the lighthouse. Massive stone jetties were built to protect it, and as a result the ocean retreated until now it is two long blocks away. The light was abandoned in 1932.
The MASONIC TEMPLE, NE. corner Hartford and Ventnor Aves., is a square four-story building of Byzantine architecture, constructed of limestone and marble. The facade is adorned with six massive engaged columns. The cornerstone was cut from marble brought from the legendary quarries of King Solomon.
The WORLD WAR MEMORIAL, corner Albany and Ventnor Aves., is an open circular cella, with surrounding peristyle of Doric columns, designed by Carrere and Hastings. The marble walls are pierced with four doors; in the center is a heroic bronze monument, Liberty in Distress. The work of Frederick W. MacMonnies, it is a reproduction of the sculptor's work at Varredes, France, commemorating the first battle of the Marne. Liberty, naked but for knotted garments hanging from her elbows, her feet mired in writhen corpses, supports an inert male figure across her right thigh. Her distress is the one matter about which there is no question whatever.
STANLEY S. HOLMES VILLAGE (open), Illinois and Baltic Aves., is the first slum clearance project attempted in New Jersey, and alleviates to a slight degree the housing conditions of Atlantic City's Negroes. Continuous structures of red brick, two and three stories high, contain 277 apartments and cover three square blocks. The buildings have large windows with steel frames, a central heating plant, and entrances that lead to the street and to spacious courts in the rear. The average rental (including gas, electricity, heat and janitor service) is $8.08 per month for each room. Tenants are selected from self-sustaining families only.
The village has been loo percent occupied since one month after its opening on April 16, 1937. Considered one of the most successful projects in the country, it returned more than 1o percent over the cost of operation during its first 141/2 months. Rental arrears amounting to $117.49 in June 1938 have since been paid up.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
Somers Mansion, 18.7 m. (see Tour 18); Batsto, 30 m., Pleasant Mills, 30.3 m. (see Side Tour 23A); pine and cedar swamps, 32.9 m. (see Tour 35).
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