The Steel Pier closed its doors on Labor Day Weekend for the final time. The smell of the ocean, sea air, cotton candy, popcorn and hot dogs is gone forever. The Pier extended into the Atlantic Ocean – almost 1,000 feet.

In the 1940s, the place to go in Atlantic City was the Steel Pier. The Pier opened in 1898. In its most popular period, entertainers flocked to the Pier to entertain visitors especially on Labor Day Weekend. Charlie Chaplin, the Three Stooges, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra were a few of the fabulous entertainers who thrilled the crowds. Everyone knew about the Diving Horse. The horse and rider leaped approximately forty feet into the ocean.

Well, times change and progress is here. The Pier is being replaced for new development. Shops, stores and condominiums will replace the rides on the boardwalk. Children will miss the pier most. While adults gambled in the casinos, the children, who were not allowed into the casino floor, were entertained on the Steel Pier in an appropriate environment.

The music of the carousel, made in Italy and hand painted with scenes from old Atlantic City, could be heard mixed with the laughter and screams of the children while rock music pulsed from the other end of the Pier.

I find it sad that progress has eliminated another landmark which is irreplaceable. After one hundred and eight years, the pier is now silent waiting for the wrecking balls to decimate it. I have been privileged to know and love the Steel Pier as a child and can share this memory with my grandchildren in the future.