THE OPPORTUNITY

As a Certified Local Government, the City of Atlantic City received grant funding to conduct an intensive-level survey of historic architecture in Atlantic City’s Northside, the city’s historically Black neighborhoods. A highly segregated city for the first half of the twentieth century, Atlantic City’s Northside includes many historically significant Black heritage sites.

THE CHALLENGE

World famous as a resort destination, Atlantic City’s rich history has produced an abundance of historic buildings that have not previously been surveyed. The Northside survey is the first step in recognizing and protecting Atlantic City’s Black heritage sites. Without an initial survey or list as a basis, this survey required both the identification and evaluation of historic resources. PS&S’s challenge was to present the city’s complex history as a context for the evaluation of a broad range of architectural types while providing photo documentation and other contextual information according to a rigorous format dictated by state requirements for an Intensive-Level Historic Architectural Survey.

THE PS&S SOLUTION

Working closely with city leaders and community representatives, PS&S conducted a reconnaissance survey to identify a list of 50 properties within the Northside to be surveyed at the intensive level. Additional properties outside the survey boundary that have significant associations with Black heritage in Atlantic City were also included in the survey. The survey identified 24 properties whose associations with the city’s history qualify them for listing in the National and State Register of Historic Places, opening new opportunities for many of the city’s important historic buildings.