A resort before casinos
The Library of Congress dates the opening of Atlantic City’s first Boardwalk section to 26 June 1870. Historical photographs show a substantial seaside visitor economy long before legal casino gambling arrived. The shore, hotels and promenade supplied the physical and cultural setting into which casinos would later move.
This older history matters because casinos were proposed as a way to revive an existing resort. Atlantic City did not begin as a casino settlement. Its redevelopment debate concerned the future of a city with established businesses, residents and a long-standing tourism identity.
Section sources: [1] Library of Congress
Two referendums, different proposals
New Jersey’s Casino Control Commission records the defeat of a 1974 referendum that would have permitted a wider framework for casino gambling. A second proposal in 1976 limited casinos to Atlantic City and passed. The Casino Control Act followed in June 1977.
The difference between the proposals is central to the story. Voters were considering where gambling could operate and what public purpose it should serve. A history focused only on opening nights misses that argument over geography and redevelopment.
Section sources: [2] New Jersey Casino Control Commission
Building a regulatory system
Resorts opened on 26 May 1978 in the converted Chalfonte-Haddon Hall property. The commission’s institutional history describes the urgent work of preparing regulations and the use of a temporary permit while licensing investigations continued. The regulatory apparatus had to be assembled alongside the physical casino.
Atlantic City is therefore a useful case study in implementation. Legislation, the renovation of hotel space and the practical work of licensing moved on different timetables. The result should be assessed through those interacting processes, rather than the assumption that permission to open a casino automatically resolves a city’s economic problems.
Section sources: [3] New Jersey Casino Control Commission
Expansion did not settle the redevelopment question
The commission’s 2022 anniversary chronology records further openings in 1979 and 1980. It also identifies the 1983 increase in the casino gambling age from 18 to 21 and the 1984 creation of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. These changes show that the initial settlement continued to evolve after the first opening.
The creation of a reinvestment authority is particularly relevant to a history of urban redevelopment. It demonstrates that the relationship between casino revenue and the surrounding city required institutions of its own. Evaluating the experiment consequently involves more than counting casino openings: it requires asking which public objectives were attached to the industry and how government tried to carry them into practice.
Section sources: [4] New Jersey Casino Control Commission, [3] New Jersey Casino Control Commission
Sources & further reading
Source links support the historical details in the sections indicated. Interpretive passages are labelled separately. Corporate histories are used for dated events, not recommendations.
- Library of Congress — Under the Boardwalk ↗
Archive introduction identifying 26 June 1870 as the opening of the first boardwalk section.
- New Jersey Casino Control Commission — Casino gaming in New Jersey ↗
Official account of the 1974 and 1976 referendums and the 1977 Casino Control Act.
- New Jersey Casino Control Commission — A brief history ↗
Institutional account of regulation and the opening of Resorts in 1978.
- New Jersey Casino Control Commission — 2022 annual report ↗
Dated chronology of casino openings and changes to the regulatory system.
Links and historical details reviewed on 21 October 2026. A source may contain older figures or promotional language; neither is treated as current advice here.
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