I suppose it's human nature that after you call a place something for a long time, that name gets stuck in your mind. And even if that place or business changes its name, you still call it by its original label.

I seem to do this all the time. People ask me where something is and I will refer to it by, or give directions using, something it hasn't been called in years. This is particularly annoying to people that aren't from around here. Imagine the confused look when someone is in Mays Landing and they're trying to get to Atlantic City -- I tell them to go past the Shore Mall, past where that big electric company building used to be, go up to where Two Guys was by the high school, and just keep going straight.

With that in mind, I put together a list of things that have relatively new names in South Jersey but you probably still call them by what they originally were.


  • 1

    Harbor Square

    Ah, yes... the old Shore Mall. The Shore Mall opened in the late 60s as Searstown and then sometime in the mid 70s it became the Shore Mall. Everything was fine until the Hamilton Mall opened in 1987 and began pulling stores and shoppers away. About five years ago, the mall part of the Shore Mall was demolished and what was left was renamed Harbor Square.

  • 2

    Manco & Manco

    A staple on the Ocean City Boardwalk for as long as anyone can remember, Manco & Manco Pizza was originally Mack & Manco. The Mack & Manco name ended on the last day of 2011 when it became Manco & Manco. Almost six years later, I'm not the only person who still calls it Mack & Manco's.

    And while we're at it, I'm still going to call their new location at 9th & the Boardwalk "the Strand."

  • 3

    BB&T Pavillion

    Right in the middle of Camden sits a huge amphitheater that has seen countless name changes over the years. When it opened in 1995, it was the Sony Blockbuster Entertainment Center (or sometimes just "The E-Center"). In 2001, it became the Tweeter Center. About 7 years later, the name changed again to the Susquehanna Bank Center. In 2015, the BB&T Pavilion name took over.

    Now, while no one still calls it the "Sony Blockbuster Entertainment Center," not too many refer to it now as the BB&T Pavilion. Whether it was 1995 or 2017, most people just say they're goin' to a concert in Camden.

  • 4

    Adventure Aquarium

    While we're in Camden, let's talk about the aquarium. When it opened in 1992, it was officially called the New Jersey State Aquarium at Camden -- or, locally, "the Camden Aquarium" or just, "the aquarium." If you recall, it opened to a lot of fanfare but that excitement quickly went away as many people complained that it was an ugly grey building filled with ugly brown fish (the aquarium originally only featured fish native to New Jersey... most of them are brown and, well, ugly). Following a series of renovations over the years, its name was changed to Adventure Aquarium but many still call it "the Camden Aquarium."

  • 5

    Former Atlantic City Casinos

    We're going to lump all of the old casino names together for this one... we're not about to divvy-up the name changes between the original Golden Nugget, the Atlantic City Hilton, ACH, The Atlantic Club, Trump Plaza, Trump Taj Mahal, Taj Mahal sans-Trump, Trump Marina, and Revel -- although we're thinking Revel (if/when it ever reopens) will have the toughest time shaking its original name going forward.

  • 6

    Playground Pier

    This one is a little more obscure, but I'm guilty of it quite a bit -- I still sometimes refer to Playground Pier on the Atlantic City Boardwalk as the Ocean One Mall. And if you aren't calling it Ocean One Mall, you're probably still calling it The Pier Shops.

    Ocean One Mall opened in the mid 80s at the site of the old Million Dollar Pier. The mall faded away almost 15 years ago and then The Pier at Caesars opened. In 2015, The Pier was renamed Playground Pier.