Volume 10, Issue 3 July 2010 The Beac0n A Collaboration Between

The Margate City Historical Society and The Margate Public Library

How the Railroads came to Margate The Railroad Years The Railroads Shape the Development of Absecon Island

 1854 July 4. Cam‐ Railroad companies en‐ gineered the blossoming of Ab‐ den & Atlantic RR opened public service secon Island. Before the railroad from Camden to At‐ only a few settlers eked out a lantic City. living from the sandy soil, and then with the advent of rail‐  1876 Philadelphia & roads, everything changed. Cars Atlantic City RR opens were not mass produced in service from Camden America until around 1900; Pennsylvania Railroad’s steam engine model HC1 to Atlantic City. traveled from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. This trains arrived on Absecon Island photo dated June 22, 1919. Photo: Pennsylvania RR  1879 West Jersey & in 1854, offering a dependable, Technical and Historical Society. Atlantic RR (organized economical modality for land develop the Island, and the advertising to by the PA RR built a travel that put the popularize it as a destination. For a hundred line off of the Cape shore within reach of what is now years, railroads dominated Absecon Island, May line). considered nearby Philadelphia. and they made it what it is today. 1881 South Atlantic The railroad companies were the Dr. Jonathan Pitney, who first recommended City Branch of the first developers of the island. Be‐ Absecon Island as a health resort, was so sure Camden & Atlantic RR yond laying the track and build‐ of himself that he took it upon himself to estab‐ Built to modern‐day ing the engines, the Camden & lish The Camden and Atlantic Railroad Com‐ Margate. Atlantic Railroad provided the pany on June 4, 1852. The Camden & Atlantic vast capital that was needed to  1884 Track ex‐ (Continued on page 6) tended to Longport. Trolley Tracks in Margate  1888 Rapid Transit The same railroad companies the city that would become Margate. Frank “steam motors” replace that defined and developed Atlan‐ Tiemann writes that “The Camden and At‐ tic City were also foundational to RR mules in AC. lantic Land Company bought [what is now] Ventnor and the upper half of Margate from  1889 Electric Street Mark Reed for the sum of $1,680.00 in cars to Atlantic Ave in 1853.” (Frank Tiemann) In 1861, the Railroad was “authorized to build to the lower end of AC. the Absecon Island. [modern Mar‐ gate]” (Hamilton & Francis, 1951, pg. 4) (Continued on page 2) Page 2 The Beac0n

A map of the Shore Fast Line as it Ran at the peak of service during the 1920s and 1930s.

Trolley Tracks in Margate

(Continued from page 1) and Atlantic Railroad to This persisted until May  1926 Boardwalk & Vir‐ extend tracks to (now 10, 1889.) (Hamilton & ginia Avenue to Margate However, Camden and Margate) later in 1881. Francis, 1951, pg. 5) service ended. Atlantic did not take imme‐ (Frank Tiemann) The The iconic cars of diate advantage of this au‐ Camden & Atlantic Rail‐ the Margate rails were  1933 & AC thorization. At the time, road came under the con‐ undoubtedly the “Open RR (owned by Reading RR) there were few residents on trol of the Pennsylvania Cars” that debuted in and West Jersey Seashore the southern end of the Is‐ Railroad in 1883. They 1890. In 1893, the South RR (PRR owned) consolidi‐ land, and hence, little rea‐ built farther, to Longport Atlantic City branch was ated into PRR Seashore son to extend rail service in 1884. South Atlantic converted from steam to Lines. beyond Atlantic City. City and Longport were electric service. (Hamilton Perhaps the most first served weekly on & Francis, 1951, pg. 5)  1936 Last summer of important early resident of Sundays by full‐sized The year 1896 saw the be‐ daily service of the open car Margate was Lucy the Ele‐ steam engines. So‐called ginning of corporate con‐ on Atlantic Ave in Margate phant. Lucy the , “rapid transit” followed in solidations on the South and Longport. as a good Margate history 1888. (Hamilton & Fran‐ Jersey rail infrastructure.  1944 Great Atlantic Hur‐ buff will know, was the cis, 1951, pg. 4‐5) These The Camden & Atlantic, brainchild of a Philadelphia Baldwin locomotives were The West Jersey Railroad, ricane Disrupts services on developer named James V. also steam engines which and The West Jersey & rail lines. Lafferty. Lafferty con‐ operated from Tennessee Atlantic came together to  1945 Atlantic City Trans‐ structed the “Elephant Ho‐ Avenue in Atlantic City to form the West Jersey and portation Company takes tel,” as it was then known, Longport. They stopped Seashore lines. In 1907 in 1881 in an attempt to only at specified stations. service from Atlantic City over trolleys. increase the desirability (In Atlantic City, local tran was extended across the  1955 End of Trolley Ser‐ and property values south ‐sit was still accomplished Meadows, via Somer’s of Atlantic City. His suc‐ by street cars on tracks Point and across great Egg vice in Margate. cess prompted The Camden pulled by mules or horses! (Continued on page 5) Volume 10, Issue 3 Page 3 Walt Whitman Rides the Rails to the Sea

Facts are the backbone of our historical record, but the flesh of history is in primary sources. Writings from the past (rather than about the past) enrich our human connection to our predecessors. The great American writer and humanist Walt Whit‐ man made his home in South Jersey. He wrote a lyrical first‐hand account of his experience riding the new rails from his home in Camden to Absecon Island in 1879. The entire piece can be found on pages 145‐151 in the excellent collection Shore Chronicles: diaries and traveler’s tales from the 1764‐1955, edited by Margaret Thomas Buchholz, avail‐ able at the Margate Public Library. Below is an excerpted portion. Whitman had suffered a stroke at the time of his trip.

Right: Portrait of the poet Walt Whit‐ Walking slowing, or rather hob‐ man by the painter Thomas Eakins bling (my paralysis, though partial from 1887, after the stroke that left seems permanent), the hundred Whitman partially paralyzed. Whit‐ rods to the little platform and man is said to have approved of the portrait, thinking it quite realistic. shanty bearing the big name of “Pennsylvania Junction,” were not point, being one hundred and without enjoyment to me, in this eighty feet above the sea. Here is pleasant mixture of cold and sun‐ what is called by the engineer, “the beams… divide,” the water on the west flow‐ From the car‐windows a view of ing to the Delaware, and on the East the country, in its winter garb. to the Ocean. These farms are mostly devoted to The soil has now become sandy and market truck, and are generally well thin, and continues so for the ensu‐ cultivated. Passing the little station in the distances, and a little branch ing forty miles; flat, thin, bare gray‐ of Glenwood and Collingswood— railroad to May’s Landing; then white, yet not without agreeable then stopping at old, beautiful, rich Pomona, and then another lively features—pines, cedars, scrub oaks and quite populous Haddonfield, town, Absecon, and old and quite plenty—patches of clear fields, but with its fine tree‐lined main street good‐sized settlement, 52 miles from much larger patches of pines and (Revolutionary, military reminis‐ Philadelphia… sand… cences too—a tradition that the Passing right through five or six …The whole route (at any rate from Continental Congress itself held a miles (I could have journeyed with Haddonfield to the Seashore) has session here)... delight for a hundred of these ordor‐ been literally made and opened up Five miles from Kirkwood we strike ous sea prairies we come to the to growth by the Camden and At‐ the thrifty town of Berlin (old name end—the Camden and Atlantic de‐ lantic Railroad. That has furnished Long‐a‐Coming, which they had pot, within good gun‐shot of the spine to a section previously with‐ much better kept). We reach Atco, beach. I no sooner land from the out any… three miles further on—quite a cars than I meet impromptu with We come to Egg Harbor City, set‐ brisk settlement in the brush, with a young Mr. English (of the just men‐ tled about twenty five years ago by newspaper, some stores, and a little tioned Review newspaper), who the Germans, and now with quite a branch railroad to Williamstown. treats me with all brotherly and gen‐ reputation for grape culture and At the eighteen mile post the grade (Continued on page 4) wine‐making—scattered houses off of the railroad reaches its highest Volume 10, Issue 3 July 2010 (Continued from page 3) and through the city itself—capital ward bound steamer. More plainly, good roads everywhere, hard, ship, brigs, schooners, in sign in the tlemanly kindness, posts me up about smooth, well‐kept, a pleasure to drive distance. How silently, spiritually things, puts me on the best roads, and on them. Atlantic avenue, the princi‐ like phantoms (even in the midst of starts me right. A flat, still sandy, still pal street; Pacific Avenue, with its the bright sunshine and the objective meadow region (some old hummocks rows of choice private cottages, and world around me), they glide away with their hard sedge, in tufts, still many, many others. (I had the good off there—most of them with every remaining) an island, but good hard fortune to be driven around by Wil‐ sail set to the firm and steady wind. roads and plenty of them, really liam Biddle, a young married man—a How the main attraction and fascina‐ pleasant streets, very little show of hackman by occupation‐‐ an excellent tion are in sea and shore! How the trees, shrubbery, etc., but in lieu of companion and cicerone—(owner of soul dwells on their simplicity, eter‐ them a superb range of ocean beach— his own good team and carriage). nity, grimness, absence of art! miles and miles of it, for driving Then after dinner (as there were Although it is not generally thought walking, bathing—a real Sea Beach nearly two hours to spare) I walked of, except in connection with hot City indeed, with salt waves and off in another direction (hardly met or weather, I am not sure but Atlantic sandy shores ad libitum. saw a person), and taking possession City would suit me just as well, per‐ I have a fine and bracing drive along of what appeared to have been the haps best, for winter quarters. As to the smooth sand (the carriage wheels reception room of an old bath‐house bad weather, it is no worse than any‐ hardly made a dent in it). The bright range, had a broad expanse of view where else; and when fine, the pleas‐ sun, the sparkling waves, the foam, all to myself—quaint, refreshing, un‐ ures and characteristic attractions are the view—Brigantine Beach, a sail impeded—the dry area of sedge and inimitable… here and there in the distance—the Indian grass immediately before and The entire piece can be found on pages vital, vast, monotonous sea—all the round me—space, space, with a sort 145‐151 in the excellent collection Shore fascination of simple, uninterrupted of grimness about it—simple, unorna‐ Chronicles: diaries and traveler’s space, shore, salt atmosphere, sky mented space. In front, as far as I tales from the Jersey Shore 1764‐ (people who go there often and get could see, and right and left, plenty of 1955, edited by Margaret Thomas used to it get infatuated and won’t go beach, only broken by a few un‐ Buchholz, available at the Margate Pub‐ anywhere else), were the items of my painted houses, in piles, here and lic Library. drive. Then, after nearly two hours of there—distant vessels, and the far‐off, this shore, we trotted rapidly around just visible trailing smoke of an in‐

A Pennsylvania Railroad E6 steam engine. This model of engine served on the tracks between Camden and Atlan‐ tic City during the 1920s. (Many years after Whitman’s ride down the same tracks.) Brand New margatelibrary.org!

The Margate City Public Library is pleased to present an all‐ new margatelibrary.org. We hope you will find the new site attractive and usable. On the frontpage, we feature informa‐ tion to enrich our life as a community. We offer quick links to cutting edge electronic media such as ebooks, audiobooks, and online language learning software. The search box in the up‐ per right corner allows the user to search in the library catalog, in about thirty online databases, and on the internet with a single click! The white links along the top of the page are the main category pages for the site. There are new pages for kids and teens. Recent issues of The Beacon are now available through the Community History page of the Margate City Public Library website. You can print them, or read online! The all new Margate Library website at www.margatelibrary.org! Trolley Tracks in Margate

(Continued from page 2) 1938, and a fleet of 24 came on in 1940. The Great Atlantic Hurricane disrupted trolley service to Margate in 1944. The Harbor Bay to Ocean City on the Atlantic City Transportation company Shore Fast Line. (Hamilton & Francis, took over the line in 1945. The trolleys 1951, pg. 7‐8) lasted until 1955 when the Brilliner cars Some Margatians may still were scrapped and the right‐of‐ways remember service from the Inlet to were sold to the cities to raise money for Longport, this began in 1908. a fleet of buses. Kathryn DiGiacinto & Renée Fiore, Margate (Hamilton & Francis, 1951, pg. 9) During WWI the old Tennessee Ave. I Remember Margate… by the inlet. Her aunt’s hospitality earned to Longport service was discontin‐ This quarter featuring Mrs. Kathryn DiGia‐ her home the name of “Dew Drop Inn,” ued, and in 1921 the line from Board‐ cinto and Mrs. Renée Fiore with memories of though it was a private home, not an inn at walk‐Virginia Avenue to then Savan‐ the Margate Trolleys. all. Mrs. DiGiacinto first knew Mr. Bowl‐ nah (now Clermont) was cut back to We met Mrs. DiGiacinto and Mrs. ing as a child when she rode the trolley to the Portland avenue loop in Ventnor. Fiore for lunch at Mrs. DiGiacinto’s her aunt’s house. Later, Mrs. DiGiacinto It was extended again to Cedar Grove home in Margate. Kay DiGiacinto and rode the trolley to High School each day (Margate) in 1923 and then discontin‐ Renée Fiore have been friends for 60 for 7 cents each way. In the 1930s, they ued altogether in 1926. (Hamilton & years, but even before that Mrs. DiGia‐ remember, the jitney cost 10 cents. After Francis, 1951, pg. 10) This left only cinto knew Mrs. Fiore’s father, Mr. high school, Mrs. DiGiacinto went to work for the Radio Station then located in Con‐ the line most familiar in the Marga‐ Stanley Bowling, because starting vention Hall on the Boardwalk. She took tian popular memory: the Atlantic around 1928, Bowling began working on the trolleys as a motorman. The motor‐ the trolley then, too. Both ladies remember Avenue line. that the trolley ran from quite early in the The Great Depression man drove the trolley, while a conductor took fares and tickets. Bowling worked morning until quite late, 1 or perhaps 2 in brought further consolidation of on the trolleys until the Atlantic City the morning. The friends have fond many seashore transit services under Transportation Company sold the right‐ memories of the renowned “open” or the auspices of the Pennsylvania‐ of‐way down Atlantic Avenue to buy “summer” cars, which ran in fair weather

Reading Seashore Lines. The beloved buses in 1955. from 1890 through July 4, 1939. When the “Open Cars” that had been in service Mrs. DiGiacinto came to Absecon Is‐ trolleys lines were taken out in 1955, Mr. since 1890, served only weekends in land sometime after the death of her Bowling was still a motorman. Bowling, the summer of 1937, only 2 days in mother in 1928 when she was 7. She took whose family (like most Absecon Island 1938, and only on the July 4th in 1939. the trolley through three stages of her families at the time) had not owned a car, then got a driver’s license and began driv‐ They were scrapped in 1939. life. Starting in fourth grade, she took ing buses. “They never should have taken (Hamilton & Francis, 1951, pg. 13) A the trolley every day from Ventnor to out the trolleys,” Mrs. DiGiacinto added. new Brilliner car was purchased in visit her aunt who lived in Atlantic City (Continued from page 1) when “the first rail passengers arrived Railroad in 1883. (Hamilton & on Absecon Island July 4, Francis, 1951, pg. 4) Railroad funded The United States 1854.” (Hamilton & Francis, 1951, pg. Massive consolidation Hotel and was instrumental in the 2) began in 1896. The Camden & establishment of the Absecon Light‐ The Camden and Atlantic Atlantic, West Jersey Railroad, house. (Treese, 2006, pg. 173) It was Railroad was the first train line to run and the West Jersey & Altantic Richard Boyse Osborne (spelling dis‐ on Absecon Island, but competition Railroad consolidated to become puted) of the board of the Camden & came clickety‐clacking in. After the West Jersey and Seashore Atlantic Railroad who named Atlan‐ granting the Camden & Atlantic a Lines, which were controlled by the powerful Pennsylvania Rail‐ tic City and even chose the Oceans considerable head start, The Philadel‐ road. Mauger writes, “Many and States street names. (Mauger, phia and Atlantic City Railway laid communities can credit the rail‐ 2008, pg. 5) The map of Absecon their track from Philadelphia to At‐ roads with their development, but Island was drawn by the Camden lantic City in just 90 days, opening on no major city owes as much to and Atlantic Railroad, which then July 7, 1877. (Hamilton & Francis, them as Atlantic City. […] by built the resort to the specifications 1951, pg. 4) The fierce competition 1925, ninety‐nine trains per day of their map. prompted a price cutting war, and the were arriving in Atlantic The first step in making the younger company went bankrupt. It City.” (Hamilton & Francis, 1951, resort a reality to was to buy the land was bought by the Philadelphia and pg. 2) at the terminus of the railroad, which Reading Railway (of Monopoly fame). Steam locomotives even the railroad directors did. They After the end of the American Civil chugged down the trolley tracks made their purchases through the War, the Pennsylvania Railroad was into Margate on occasion into the Camden and Atlantic Land Com‐ the largest corporation in the world. 1940s, as many Margatians re‐ pany, which they founded in 1853. The venerable Pennsylvania Railroad member. They promoted and sold building entered the fray with a track to Atlan‐ lots. (Treese, 2006, pg. 173) This was tic City in 1879. Consolidations began the mood of development that the as the Pennsylvania Railroad took Camden and Atlantic had facilitated control of the Camden and Atlantic

Beacon Bibliography:

Buchholz, M.T. (1999). Shore Chronicles: diaries and travelers’ tales tales from the New Jersey shore 1764 ‐1955. Harvey Cedars, NJ: Down the Shore Publishing Corp.

Hamilton, W.P. & Francis, E.T. (1951). The Atlantic City Trolley Lines. The Marker, vol. 10 (no. 1), pg. 1‐16.

Mauger, E. A. (2008). Atlantic City: Then and Now. San Diego, CA: Thunder Bay Press.

Smith, S. T. (1963). A History of Ventnor City, New Jersey.

ʺPennsylvania Railroad.ʺ (1999). Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/

Treese, L. (2006). Railroads of New Jersey: fragments of the past in the Garden State landscape. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.

All issues of The Beacon are developed based on the collections of the Margate City Historical Society. Page 7 The Beac0n The Picture Page

Left: Station at Douglass Avenue Loop in 1946. Below: The much vaunted “open car” which ran in fair weather between 1890‐ 1939

Margate City Historical Society Museum

7 South Washington Avenue, Margate City

P.O. Box 3001 Margate City, New Jersey 08402

Open: Sat. 10am to Noon

Or By Appointment with

Pres. Frank Tiemann (609)822‐5658

Museum (609) 823‐6546

W H E R E K N O W L E D G E T A K E S F L I G H T.

Right: 8100 Atlantic Avenue Woman Margate, NJ 08402 disembarks Phone: (609) 822‐4700 a trolley MargateLibrary.Org bound for Lucy E. Saxon, Editor, the Doug‐ Margate City Public Library lass Ave. Loop in the Frank Tiemann, President, 1940s. Margate City Historical Society

Jim Cahill, Director, Margate City Public Library

Mail this membership form to: The Beacon and Historical Society Margate City Historical Society Membership Form P.O. Box 3001 Join the Margate City Historical Society and receive The Beacon Quarterly Time Price Margate City, N.J. 08402 Individual Society Membership 1 year $12.00 Dual Society Membership 1 year $18.00 Family Society Membership The Margate City 1 year $24.00

Historical Society proudly presents: Method of Payment Total: The Grand 41st Annual Check Cash Antique and Collectibles Show. Saturday, August 28, 2010. Name 9:00am until 3:30pm Address Jerome Avenue Ballfield If you can help on that day, please contact Laraine Cheafsky at 609‐822‐9266. Phone The Antique and Collectibles Show features pieces and dealers from all over the tri‐state area. Make sure to Signature mark your calendar early!

Margate City Historical Society P.O. Box 3001 Margate City, N.J. 08402

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