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Wildwood, New Jersey
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Wildwood is a city in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 5,436 during the off-season, but it can swell to 250,000 during the summer months.
Wildwood was originally incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 1, 1895, from portions of Middle Township, based on the results of a referendum held the previous day, and was reincorporated on April 30, 1895.
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Encyclopedia
Wildwood is a city in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 5,436 during the off-season, but it can swell to 250,000 during the summer months.
Wildwood was originally incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 1, 1895, from portions of Middle Township, based on the results of a referendum held the previous day, and was reincorporated on April 30, 1895. On January 1, 1912, Wildwood was incorporated as a city, replacing both Wildwood borough and Holly Beach City.
Wildwood is also used as a collective term referring to the four communities with Wildwood comprising part of the municipality name specifically the Borough of Wildwood Crest, City of Wildwood, Borough of West Wildwood and the City of North Wildwood together with Diamond Beach, a portion of Lower Township situated on the island. Collectively, these communities are known as "The Wildwoods."
Wildwood is a resort city that is very popular with vacationers and tourists mostly from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware and even nearby parts of Canada during the summer months. Its most notable features are its beach and 1.8-mile boardwalk, home to the Morey's Piers amusement complex and Raging Waters, a 2-location waterpark complex owned by Morey's Piers. The boardwalk features a trolley called the "Tramcar", which runs from end to end. It is also home to Splash Zone Water Park. Built in 1999, Splash Zone features the world's highest dumping bucket and the biggest family raft ride on the east coast, The Beast of the East. Its famous Doo-Wop-style motels and hotels have been designated as endangered historical places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It was ranked the best beach in New Jersey in the 2008 Top 10 Beaches Contest sponsored by the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium.
Rock Around the Clock, often credited as the first rock and roll record, was first performed on Memorial Day weekend in 1954 at the HofBrau Hotel in Wildwood by Bill Haley & His Comets. The song's status as one of the first rock and roll hits has given rise to the city's claim as "the birthplace of rock and roll".
Wildwood is home to an annual co-ed beach Ultimate Frisbee tournament drawing teams from all over the country.
Geography
Wildwood is located at (38.988969, -74.819863). It is situated on a barrier island facing the Atlantic Ocean and comprises five separate municipalities: Wildwood, North Wildwood, West Wildwood, Wildwood Crest and Diamond Beach, a place in Lower Township. Collectively, these communities form "The Wildwoods" resort.
Wildwood also borders Middle Township.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.6 kmē), of which, 1.3 square miles (3.3 kmē) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 kmē) of it (6.52%) is water.
Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District
Wildwood houses over 200 motels, built during the Doo-Wop era of the 1950s and 1960s, in an area recognized by the State of New Jersey as the known as the Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District. The term doo-wop was coined by Cape May's Mid-Atlantic Center For The Arts in the early 1990s to describe the unique, space-age architectural style, which is also referred to as the Googie or populuxe style.
The motels are unique in appearance with Vegas-like neon signs and fantastic architecture. New construction in the area however has seen the demise of many older motels being demolished so bigger condominiums may take up residence. The Wildwood Doo Wop Preservation League has taken action to help save and restore these historic buildings but construction of far larger hotels may overtake the area in the next few years. A 1950s Doo Wop museum has recently been built which contains property from demolished motels like neon signs and furniture. Neo-Doo Wop buildings in the area feature a neon lit Wawa, Subway Sandwich Shop, and a 1950s styled Acme Supermarket.
Many of Wildwoods Doo-Wop motels were built by Lou Morey, who specialized in such designs. His Ebb Tide Motel, built in 1957 and demolished in 2003, is credited as the first Doo-Wop motel in Wildwood Crest.
Wildwood's high-rise hotel district now has guidelines to encourage the use of "Doo Wop" design in new construction.
New Jersey State Firemen's Convention
Since the early 1970s the Wildwoods have been home to the annual . It moved to the Wildwoods from Atlantic City in the early 1970s. The convention had been held in Atlantic City for many years prior to the building of the big casinos of today. When the City began to change the council refused to allow the visiting firefighters to parade their apparatus through the streets. This was one of the reasons for the move along with the rising crime rate. The Wildwoods welcomed the convention with open arms and allowed for the parade which every year runs the length of New Jersey Ave. from Wildwood Crest through Wildwood to North Wildwood.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,436 people, 2,333 households, and 1,273 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,212.6 people per square mile (1,627.0/kmē). There were 6,488 housing units at an average density of 5,027.9/sq mi (1,941.9/kmē). The racial makeup of the city was 70.55% White, 16.65% African American, 0.39% Native American, 0.48% Asian, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 8.85% from other races, and 2.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.62% of the population. Downtown Wildwood has a large Mexican community.
There were 2,333 households out of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.2% were married couples living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.4% were non-families. 38.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $23,981, and the median income for a family was $28,288. Males had a median income of $30,787 versus $23,320 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,682. About 20.2% of families and 26.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39.7% of those under age 18 and 21.9% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Local government
Wildwood is governed by a three-member commission under the Walsh Act Commissioner form of municipal government.
Wildwood's commission consists of Mayor Ernest Troiano, Jr., Gary S. DeMarzo and William Davenport, Jr.
Federal, state and county representation
Wildwood City is in the Second Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 1st Legislative District.
Education
The Wildwood Public School District serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are
(K-5; 394 students),
(6-8; 173 students) and
Wildwood High School (9-12; 284 students).
Students from West Wildwood attend the district's schools as part of a sending/receiving relationship for grades K-12. For grades 9-12, students from North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest attend Wildwood High School as part of sending/receiving relationships.
There are also two Catholic schools on the island: St. Ann's Elementary in Wildwood, and Wildwood Catholic High School in North Wildwood. North Wildwood also has the public school Margaret Mace Elementary.
Commerce
Portions of Wildwood are part of an Urban Enterprise Zone in The Wildwoods. In addition to other benefits to encourage employment within the Zone, shoppers can take advantage of a reduced 3―% sales tax rate (versus the 7% rate charged statewide).
Points of interest
- Boardwalk Chapel is a summertime Christian Gospel outreach on the boardwalk, sandwiched between a pizzeria and a gift shop. Its wide entrance offers thousands of board walkers the opportunity to move freely in and out of any one of its 77 consecutive evening services held during June, July, and August.
Popular culture
- Wildwood is home to the beverage known as the "Lime Rickey".
- WWE Raw Came to the Wildwood Convention Center late summer of 2005. WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to the Wildwood Convention Center late summer of 2006. WWE Raw broke an attendance record at the Wildwood convention center, August 10, 2007.
- The song Wildwood Days by Bobby Rydell is about the shore town.
- Eddie Florano wrote a song called Wildwood.
- The video for Jason Aldean's song Laughed Until We Cried is set in Wildwood.
- In the 1987 movie Wall Street, when Charlie Sheen's character tells Daryl Hannah's character she could have bought a beach house for four hundred thousand dollars (the value of a painting they were looking at) she sardonically replies, "Sure you could, in Wildwood New Jersey".
Noted residents
Notable current and former residents of Wildwood include:
- J. Thompson Baker (1847-1919), represented New Jersey's 2nd congressional district from 1913 to 1915, and was the first mayor of the consolidated city of Wildwood.
- Randy Beverly (born 1944), former professional football player, New York Jets.
- Greg Fulginiti (born 1951), recording and mastering engineer, Elektra Records, Sterling Sound, Artisan Sound Recorders, Masterdisk.
- Remy Hamilton (born 1974), Arena Football League player, Los Angeles Avengers.
- Joy Bright Hancock (1898-1986), one of first female U.S. Navy officers.
- Joseph Magliano, professional wrestler.
- Jon Runyan (born 1973), offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles.
- Rick Vito (born 1949), guitarist, Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall, Roger McGuinn, Bonnie Raitt.
External links
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