Absecon's earliest European settlers were English who earned their living clamming and oystering. Land there was bought not for farming but for control of the waterways. The name Absecon came from the word "Absegami" or little water, named by the Native Americans living along Absecon Creek. In 1695, Thomas Budd purchased 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land in what later became Atlantic County. He paid 4 cents an acre ($9.88/km2) for land on which Atlantic City now stands. It was called Further Island (further from Absecon) and later called Absecon Beach and finally became Atlantic City.

The original habitants of Absecon Island, on which Atlantic City rests, were the Lenni-Lenape Indians. The Lenni-Lenapes would travel over the old Indian trail from the mainland to the island to spend the summer months. For the next hundred years, the Absecon Island would be visited by not only the Indians, but also hunters and some of the early mainland settlers. Among these settlers was Jeremiah Leads, a lieutenant in the colonial Army, who built the permanent structure on the Island in 1785. He came from Leeds Point to Absecon Island when it was a complete wilderness. He built a cabin of cedar logs and cleared a field where the Atlantic City Expressway now ends in Atlantic City. The block called Columbus Plaza was part of the Leeds farm. Most of the homes in Atlantic City until 1854 were built by descendants of Jeremiah Leeds. Soon after his death, his family played an important role in making the Island what it is today, Robert B. Leeds became the first postmaster and Chalkey S. Leeds became the city's first mayor.

A prominent physician who lived in Absecon, Dr. Jonathan Pitney set up his medical practice on the island. He felt that the island had much to offer and even had ideas of making the island a health resort, but access to the island had to be improved. That's when Pitney, along with Richard Osbourne a civil engineer from Philadelphia, had the idea to bring a railroad to the island.

In 1852, construction began on the Camden-Atlantic City Railroad. On July 5, 1854, the first train arrived from Camden after a grueling 21/2 hour trip, and the invasion of the tourists had begun. In 1870, the first rail road was built after 17 years of construction. The road, which ran from Pleasantville, had a $.30 toll. The first free road was Albany Ave., constructed over the meadows from Pleasantville.

Osborne has been given credit with naming the city, while his friend Dr. Pitney thought up the plan for the names and placements of the city streets which remains today. Streets running parallel to the ocean would be named after the world's great bodies of water, Pacific, Atlantic, Baltic, Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Arctic, while the streets which ran east to west would be named after the States.

On June 16, 1880, Atlantic City was formally opened. With beautiful hotels, elegant restaurants, and convenient transportation, Atlantic City became the place to go. While Atlantic City enjoyed an early lead in tourism, the other shore towns had been gearing up to compete. A.C.'s overcrowded beach and boardwalk turned many to the less-expensive and more accessible offerings of neighboring Wildwoods. Almost everyone took a page from A.C.'s development, and had built boardwalks of their own. Air travel made travel to resorts in Florida and the Caribbean more desirable destinations. By the end of the 1950's nobody - poor or rich - was going to Atlantic City anymore. It became Skid Row by the Sea.

In 1976, the "Atlantic City Gamble" was launched when New Jersey voters approved a referendum legalizing gambling in Atlantic City, but not elsewhere in the state. While many critics questioned the wisdom of using legalized gambling as a tool for urban development, many others were convinced casinos would provide the resources needed to rebuild the city and its tourist trade. The first casino, Resorts International, opened in 1978, and no one could have predicted the rapid growth of the gaming industry in Atlantic City, or the tremendous impact it would have on the city, the region and the state. By 1988, a dozen casinos were open and the number of annual visitors had grown from 700,000 in 1978, to over 33 million. By the year 2000, the city's tax base had skyrocketed to more than $6.7 billion, up from $316 million in 1976. The positive impact on Atlantic City residents can be seen in revitalized neighborhoods, new housing projects and public service facilities and in economic, social and cultural programs.

It took gambling to reinstate the fortunes of the city and its famous boardwalk. Hundreds of chintzy souvenir shops were swept away, replaced by glittering casinos and high-end nosh shops. Offering visitors a wide range of attractions is considered the key to a successful future - a formula that surely proved itself in the past when Atlantic City claimed the title "Queen of Resorts" and continues as Atlantic City advertises that it is "Always Turned On."