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A boardwalk is a place, most typically in beachfront communities, where a wooden path for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles runs along a beach or overlooking and close to a beach. Although boardwalks can be found around the world, they are especially common along the East Coast of the United States in North America. The first boardwalk was designed in New Jersey and opened June 26, 1870, in Atlantic City. //memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun26.html
Famous boardwalks
- Atlantic City, New Jersey - The Boardwalk starts at Absecon Inlet and runs along the beach for four miles (six kilometers) to the city limit. An additional one and one half miles (two kilometers) of the Boardwalk extend into Ventnor City. Casino/hotels front the boardwalk, as well as retail stores, restaurants, and amusements. Several piers extend the boardwalk over the Atlantic Ocean. Garden Pier houses the Atlantic City Historical Museum and the Atlantic City Art Center. The four story "Pier at Caesars" entertainment complex opened in July 2006. This boardwalk gained notoriety due to the board game Monopoly, which was based upon the trading and dealing of real estate in Atlantic City; in the game, Boardwalk is the most expensive property to purchase and develop, but also yields the greatest rent payoffs to its owner.
- Wildwood, New Jersey - The 2 mile (3 kilometer) long boardwalk has a total of five amusement piers plus a myriad of other carnival games, souvenir shops, food stands, waterparks, and world-class roller coasters. The Boardwalk started out as a mere 150 feet (45 meters). It has actually been moved closer to the ocean twice. Today, the boardwalk stretches from 16th Ave in North Wildwood to Cresse Ave in Wildwood Crest. The Wildwood Boardwalk is said to have more rides than Disneyland. Kiddie rides include a convoy of airplanes, trucks, dune buggies, boats, and trains. Flying elephants, teacups, bouncing giraffes, mini-erris wheels, and a traditional carousel round out the mix. Children are said to line up for their chance to sit in the driver's seat of the bumper car ride.
- Ocean City, New Jersey - The 4 kilometer (2.5 mile) boardwalk in Ocean City has classic attractions and many newer additions. The 140-foot (42 meter) Ferris Wheel can be seen from miles (kilometers) around, with views of Ocean City and the surrounding communities from the top. Other rides include rollercoasters, bumper cars, water rides, and tens of miniature golf courses. Shops sell souvenirs and snacks, such as cotton candy, popcorn, pizza, and ice cream. Other boardwalk activities include enjoying the sunrise with a leisurely walk, a brisk jog, a bike tour, a ride on a surrey cart, or a meal at one of the many ocean front cafes.
- Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York - Riegelmann Boardwalk, located along the southern shore of Brooklyn along the Atlantic Ocean, Coney Island is known for the amusement parks along the boardwalk. Many of its most famous parks no longer exist, but the boardwalk still hosts the Cyclone roller coaster and the Wonder Wheel ferris wheel, as well as the New York Aquarium. A recent addition to the boardwalk is KeySpan Park, home of the minor-league Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team.
- Asbury Park's boardwalk is in the process of revitalization and has recently been connected to the neighboring town of Ocean Grove, New Jersey.
- Hampton Beach, New Hampshire - This boardwalk is largely a tourist attraction. In fact, it is widely used for common shops where it is possible for tourists to purchase souvenirs and trinkets to remember their trip.
- Sandwich, Massachusetts - This boardwalk does not, strictly speaking, lead along the beach. Instead, it begins in a parking lot and leads through the salt marshes and out to the beach. It was destroyed in a powerful storm and was then rebuilt through donations made by the townspeople. In turn, family names were carved into the planks of the boardwalk, and it is still used to this day.
- Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, California - This boardwalk is the oldest amusement park in California and is the home to two national historic landmarks - the Looff Carousel and the Giant Dipper roller coaster. The boardwalk was opened in 1907.
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada - The Beaches neighbourhood has a boardwalk along its scenic Lake Ontario shoreline. It runs 3 kilometers from Ashbridge's Bay in the west to the R.C. Harris Filtration Plant in the east. *
- Venice Beach, California - This 2.5 kilometer boardwalk has a bike path, rollerskaters and skateboard ramps, restaurants, sunglasses, and plenty of tourists. Venice beach is famous for muscle beach, where body builders work out. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger worked out on Muscle Beach and made Gold's Gym famous in the 1980s.
- Keansburg, New Jersey's boardwalk houses one of America's oldest amusement parks, which houses vintage rides dating back to the 1920s.
Other boardwalks
- Eskimo villages of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska - Today, 10 foot (3 meter) wide heavy-duty boardwalks are common in villages throughout this part of Bush Alaska. Tuntutuliak was the first village to receive them in the mid 1990s by way of a government funded program to determine whether they would be a worthwhile investment elsewhere. Before the existence of these boardwalks, a much narrower, lower, and less extensive system of boards and boardwalks served delta villages. *
See also
External links
"Boardwalk"