Like Atlantic City history? This hotel and casino timeline has some of the pivotal dates in the city’s past. You can learn all about the significance of these dates–and much more–in Boardwalk Playground.

US Hotel
The United States Hotel was Atlantic City’s first major resort

1854: Atlantic City founded; Chalkey Leeds elected first mayor

1854: United States Hotel opens

1860: Dennis Cottage opens

1869: Shelburne opens

1870: First Boardwalk built

1876: Brighton Cottage opens

1879: Traymore opens

1880: Second Boardwalk built

1884: Third Boardwalk built

1884: Applegate’s Pier opens (today Central Pier)

1890: Fourth Boardwalk built

1892: Dennis Hotel expands to 250 rooms

1896: Fifth Boardwalk built

1898: United States Hotel closes

Traymore
The Traymore stood for decades

1898: Traymore enlarged to 450 rooms

1898: Steel Pier opens

1902: Marlborough House opens

1906: Blenheim opens

1906: Million Dollar Pier opens

1911: Dennis Hotel is 450 rooms

1913: Garden Pier opens

1915: Concrete Traymore opens

From pier
A view of the classic skyline from Million Dollar Pier

1927: Knife and Fork restaurant opens

1929: Convention (Boardwalk) Hall opens

1930: Claridge opens

1935: Club Harlem opens

1936: 500 Club opens

1940: Captain Starn’s restaurant opens

1946: White House Subs opens

1973: 500 Club burns, is never reopened

November 5, 1974: First New Jersey casino legalization referendum is defeated

1976: Ram’s Head Inn opens

Campaign button
The 1976 referendum was a success

November 2, 1976: Second New Jersey casino legalization referendum is approved

1978: Shelburne Hotel closes

May 26, 1978: Resorts International opens

1979: Captain Starn’s closes

June 26, 1979: Caesars Boardwalk Regency opens

December 27, 1979: Bally’s Park Place (Atlantic City) opens

August 13, 1980: Brighton (Sands) opens

November 23, 1980: Harrah’s Marina (Atlantic City) opens

December 12, 1980: Golden Nugget (Bally’s Grand, Atlantic City Hilton, Atlantic Club) opens

Blenheim explosion
The Blenheim was one of the classic AC hotels imploded to clear space for casinos.

April 14, 1981: Elsinore’s Playboy (Atlantis, Trump Regency, Trump World’s Fair) opens

July 23, 1981: Claridge opens

November 26, 1981: Tropicana opens

May 26, 1984: Harrah’s at Trump Plaza opens

June 19, 1985: Trump Castle (Trump Marina, Golden Nugget) opens

1986: Club Harlem closes

April 2, 1987: Showboat opens

May 22, 1989: Elsinore’s Atlantis closes

April 4, 1990: Trump Taj Mahal opens

May 5, 1996: Trump World’s Fair opens in former Regency/Atlantis

July 2, 1997: Bally’s Wild Wild West Casino opens

1998: Harrah’s Entertainment purchases the Showboat

October 3, 1999: Trump World’s Fair closes

Golden Nugget
Steve Wynn changed Atlantic City with the Golden Nugget

May 31, 2001: Park Place Entertainment buys the Claridge, merges it with Bally’s

July 3, 2003: Borgata opens

April 26, 2005: Caesars Entertainment sells the Atlantic City Hilton to Colony Capital, LLC

June 13, 2005: Harrah’s Entertainment acquires Caesars Entertainment , making it the owner of Bally’s, Caesars, the Showboat, and Harrah’s casinos

November 11, 2006: Sands closes

February 7, 2012: Claridge casino closed

April 2, 2012: Revel opens

February 24, 2014: TJM Properties buys the Claridge from Caesars Entertainment, runs it as a non-gaming hotel

January 13, 2014: Atlantic Club closes

August 31, 2014: Showboat closes

Boardwalk
The Boardwalk continues to entertain

September 2, 2014: Revel closes

September 16, 2014: Trump Plaza closes

October 10, 2016: Trump Taj Mahal closes

March 1, 2017: Trump Taj Mahal sold to Hard Rock International