Fun Facts
Photo by Chris Willis
By Scot Meyer
SwitchYard Media, Inc. - contact | website
Designed and produced by Lang Kirchheimer
SwitchYard Media, Inc. - contact | website
A production of SwitchYard Media, Inc.
Mark Skrobola
Seaside Heights, New Jersey
Seaside Heights, N.J., where "Jersey Shore" is filmed, has had this kind of moment in the sun before. Back in 1997 and 2002 it was the home of the MTV Summer Beach House. Before that, in 1985, the New Jersey rock band Bon Jovi shot a music video for "In and Out of Love" on the mile-long local boardwalk, which is packed with pizza shops, sausage stands and cotton candy machines. Visitors (the local population swells from about 3,100 to more than 30,000 in summer) also crowd the Funtown and Casino piers, two amusement parks on the boardwalk.
The first boardwalk at Seaside Heights was built between 1917 and 1921. But the community was a popular beach destination even before then, and it bills itself as "your home for family fun since 1913."
LENGTH:
Seaside Heights boardwalk is about one mile long, with two piers featuring amusement parks on either end. The Casino Pier is home to a circa 1913 merry-go-round.
Atlantic City Convention Authority
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, which pioneered the concept and is now the site of the nation's longest boardwalk, is located just a little more than an hour's drive down the coast from Seaside Heights. The iconic beach resort began attracting crowds of city dwellers in 1854, when the railroad arrived to provide easy access to the shore for residents of Philadelphia and Camden, N.J.
A train conductor with the appropriate name of Alexander Boardman is credited with the idea of building a wooden walkway between the beach and the growing resort town. The first boardwalk, which opened in 1870, was only eight feet wide and about a mile long, ran perpendicular to the shoreline, and could be taken down and stored during the winter.
By the late 1880s, salt water taffy had arrived on the scene, and people who tired of strolling on the planks could opt to recline in special rolling chairs, which were the only vehicles allowed on the boardwalk. The first Miss America was crowned in Atlantic City in 1921, and by the 1930s vaudeville entertainers and Hollywood stars headlined stages at the resort's piers.
Today the Atlantic City boardwalk is 40 feet wide and stretches 5.75 miles along the ocean. Las Vegas-style casinos, a fixture since gambling in the city was legalized by New Jersey voters in 1976, line the promenade. But visitors who can tear themselves away from the blackjack tables will find plenty of other attractions, including rides and midway games at Steel Pier, a mini-golf course, countless beach bars, and the Atlantic City Historical Museum on the Garden Pier. Plus the boardwalk still has rolling chairs and salt water taffy.
HISTORY:
The first boardwalk was built in 1870.
LENGTH:
Before a 1944 hurricane washed much of it away, the boardwalk spanned about 7 miles. Today, it is 4.12 miles long and 60 feet wide, reinforced with steel and concrete. The combined length of the Atlantic City and Ventnor boardwalks is about 5.75 miles, the longest in the world.
Tony
Coney Island, New York
Coney Island, N.Y., is another seaside hotspot that owes its early success to a rail link that gave sweltering city dwellers easy access to the ocean and its breezes. A streetcar line brought large numbers of New Yorkers to this Brooklyn beach beginning in the 1860s, and entrepreneurs quickly built hotels, racetracks, amusement parks and other attractions to separate those new visitors from their money.
The first carousel was installed in 1876, the original Nathan's Famous hot dog stand debuted in 1916, the Wonder Wheel Ferris wheel opened in 1920 and the Cyclone roller coaster was built in 1927. Work on Coney Island's Riegelmann boardwalk began in 1921 and was completed in 1923. Rebuilt many times since, the walkway known as "Coney Island's Fifth Avenue" now extends for 2.7 miles and is 80 feet wide.
The opulent amusement parks that made Coney Island famous in the first half of the 20th Century are gone now, although landmarks such as the Cyclone and Wonder Wheel remain, along with the boardwalk, the Freakshow Hall of Fame and the Parachute Jump, which is inactive as a ride and now serves as Brooklyn's answer to the Eiffel Tower. And to capitalize on the crowds that still turn up every summer, the latest redevelopment plans for Coney Island call for the opening of a new amusement park at the storied seaside mecca.
OPENED:
Coney Island's Fifth Avenue" opened with great fanfare on May 15, 1923. It has been reconstructed many times since.
LENGTH / WIDTH:
The boardwalk stretches and was originally as wide as 80 feet across. Parts of the boardwalk are 14 feet above the sand.
Michael Marfell
Santa Cruz, California
New rides already grace the boardwalk at Santa Cruz, Calif., which celebrated its Centennial in 2007. The boardwalk, dubbed the "Coney Island of the West," is home to two rides that are National Historic Landmarks -- the Looff Carousel, which opened in 1911, and the Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster, which was built in 1924. The entire property, which has been named the "world's best seaside amusement park" by an industry group for three straight years, is also a California Historic Landmark.
But despite its numerous retro attractions, the Santa Cruz Boardwalk also boasts modern thrill rides, including Sea Swings, a cross between a carousel and a giant swing set that opened in 2009, and a 125-foot tower ride called the Boardwalk Double Shot.
OPENED:
1907
NOTABLE:
Home to the Looff Carousel and the Giant Dipper roller coaster, both of which are national historic landmarks.
TRIVIA:
The entire boardwalk is now made of concrete.
Jean Chatoff
Venice Beach, California
About 370 miles south of Santa Cruz, Venice Beach had its beginnings in a uniquely Californian take on the beach resort town. Founded by tobacco millionaire Albert Kinney in 1905, Venice of America (as it was originally known), emulated its Italian namesake with canals and gondola rides, but also had a beach and a pier with a dance hall, auditorium and restaurant. Today Venice Beach comprises the beach and the promenade that runs parallel to it (known as Ocean Front Walk or just the boardwalk) and the residences and businesses that line it, as well as Muscle Beach, Skate Dancing plaza, numerous handball, paddle tennis, basketball and beach volleyball courts.
Venice Beach's proximity to Los Angeles and the film industry has made it a popular location for movies (from the 1914 Charlie Chaplin film "Kid Auto Races at Venice" to 2009's "I Love You, Man") and a number of stars have called the area home, including Julia Roberts, Kate Beckinsale and Robert Downey Jr., who had an apartment on the boardwalk during the 1990s.
NOTABLE:
Venice Beach is know for its famous "Muscle Beach," where Arnold Schwarzenegger worked out.
LENGTH:
It stretches about 1.5 miles and has room for bikers, skaters and lots of local characters.
visithollywoodfl.org
Hollywood Beach, Florida
You won't find that kind of star power in Hollywood Beach, Fla., located between Miami and Fort Lauderdale on Florida's Atlantic coast. What you will find is a two-mile promenade called the Broadwalk, a pedestrian thoroughfare that runs alongside the beach and is lined on one side by ocean-facing restaurants, cafes, shops and boutique hotels.
The Broadwalk dates back to the 1920s, but was recently renovated and now includes a bike path. Bikers can cruise along the beach or ride into the 1,500-acre West Lake Nature Preserve, located nearby, which offers a hint at what this part of Florida looked like before all the tourists showed up.
HISTORY:
The promenade was built in the 1920s and currently stretches more than two miles. It features a brick-lined pedestrian walkway and plenty of room for bikers and joggers.
Town of Ocean City
Ocean City, Maryland
The final stop on our boardwalk tour is Ocean City, Md. (not to be confused with Ocean City, N.J., which has a famous boardwalk of its own).
The boardwalk in the Maryland version dates back to 1902, when the owners of several oceanfront hotels built a wooden walkway for the convenience of their guests. That first version would be rolled up and stored on hotel porches during high tides. A permanent walkway was built around 1910, expanded during the 1920s and leveled by a storm in 1962. The current boardwalk is built from 100-year-old oak and stretches for 2.5 miles; one of its highlights is the two-tiered Trimper's Carousel, which opened in 1912 and is the oldest continuously operating carousel in the country.
Each year Ocean City plays host to recently graduated high school seniors who come from Maryland and surrounding states to celebrate Senior Week. An independent 2008 film called "The Graduates," which depicts such a celebration, was shot entirely in Ocean City.
HISTORY:
The boardwalk dates back to 1902, beginning life as a wooden walkway that was rolled up at high tide. It's officially known as Atlantic Avenue.
NOTABLE:
The boardwalk was leveled in a 1962 storm and was rebuilt to its current 2.5 mile length.