Pleasantville City Hall is located at 18 North First Street, Pleasantville, NJ 08232.
Phone: 609‑677‑4925.
Beginnings [1]
Located in Atlantic County in southeastern New Jersey, the City of Pleasantville was originally settled in the 1700s by European fishermen as a series of small villages located around the Great Egg Harbor River and Lakes Bay. Whalers and shell-fishers, moving to the region from Cape May congregated in hamlets such as Adamstown, Risleytown, Lakestown and Smith's Landing.
Spurred by their location as the gateway to Atlantic City, these separate villages grew until they became a unified community in the latter-half of the 19th century. During this period, railroads—and to a lesser extent (stagecoach) roadways—brought passengers and freight through Pleasantville on the way from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. On December 18th, 1888, Risleyville, Pleasantville, Mt. Pleasant and Smith's Landing consolidated into the Borough of Pleasantville.
Pleasantville's economy continued to prosper with the advent of regional trolley service in 1903. As passenger transit lines linked Absecon to Somers Point and the 'Mainland' to Atlantic City, Pleasantville's Main Street began to grow. Soon schools, banks and stores lined the streets and public institutions (firehouse, post office, etc.) were built. Shoppers came from throughout the region to buy vegetables and fruits from farmers who sold their goods in the City.
This growth continued through the early 1920s, when the City's population doubled from 5,887 to over 12,000. What was once a former pass-through on the way to Atlantic City became the hub of commerce for the Mainland. Unfortunately, this prosperity was not to last.
Nearby Towns: Absecon City • Egg Harbor Twp • Linwood City • Longport Boro • Margate City • Northfield City • Somers Point City • Ventnor City •