You Won’t Believe The Crazy History Behind Monopoly

Today, this combination residential and commercial property — one block from the beach — will cost you $750,000. Atlantic Avenue is the longest street on Absecon Island. “Trolley tracks wound through Atlantic; indeed, the breadth of the street was intended to provide sufficient space between trollies and skittish horses pulling carriages,” according to the book “Monopoly: The Story Behind the World’s Best-Selling Game.”

This stately 5-bedroom, 4-1/2 bath single family home with an extra large kitchen will set you back $750,000 — but it also comes with a new indoor heated pool and hot tub. Back in the day, this street was famous for large summer homes in the part of the city closest to neighboring city Ventnor.

For $165,000, you can own a 2-bedroom, 2-bath condo in Bella Condominiums — with a view of the Absecon Lighthouse — at the northern end of the island. “By the 1880s, large beautiful homes marked Pacific, but soon they were converted to, or replaced by, guest cottages,” according to the book “Monopoly: The Story Behind the World’s Best-Selling Game.” Now the road is lined with casinos and hotels. (Trulia.com photo)

Now, you can buy a 4-story, multi-family home — close to Resorts Casino Hotel and half a mile to the beach — for less than $300,000. North Carolina Avenue was one of the “high-class streets in the 1920s and ’30s, and stood up well to Atlantic City’s decline four decades later,” according to the book “Monopoly: The Story Behind the World’s Best-Selling Game.”

Own a 4-bedroom, 4-bath penthouse condo with marble floors and wrap-around balconies which feature panoramic views of the ocean, bay, and marina — for a mere $2.15 million. The Boardwalk was always a part of the high-rent district in Atlantic City, and it still is. (Trulia.com photo)

For vintage photos of Atlantic City streets represented in the Monopoly board game, check out this photo gallery: Historic photos of Atlantic City. (Photo courtesy Atlantic City Heritage Collections, Atlantic City Free Public Library)