America's first boardwalk was built in Atlantic City, N.J., in 1870 with the practical aim of keeping beach-goers from tracking sand into hotel lobbies and the railroad cars that brought them home from the shore. Soon wooden walkways were added at seaside resorts around the country, and they quickly became attractions in their own right, complete with food stands, rides, carnival games and entertainment. Along the way the most popular beachside promenades have made their mark on popular culture, providing the inspiration for the 1964 Drifters' hit "Under the Boardwalk" and the setting for the current MTV reality show "Jersey Shore."
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Seaside Heights Boardwalk
Seaside Heights Boardwalk (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."
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