[1][2] In 1900, Josiah White III bought a parcel of land between Ohio Avenue and Park Place on the Boardwalk, and built the Queen Anne style Marlborough House.

[8] They intended to spend $35 million on renovations, preserving the Blenheim wing, while razing the Marlborough to make way for a modern casino hotel.

[10] On October 25, 1977, Josiah White IV, grandson of the Marlborough-Blenheim's founder, presided over the closure of the hotel, locking its front door.

For the Blenheim the company hired Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) and Winzinger Incorporated of Hainesport New Jersey, which had taken down the Traymore Hotel, to implode the structure.

A preservation group which had sought historic status for the building won a stay of execution for the Blenheim's rotunda portion on the Boardwalk.

The hotel, here renamed the "Essex-Carlton", features prominently in the 1972 Bob Rafelson film The King of Marvin Gardens, starring Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern and Ellen Burstyn.

A clip of the demolition of the main dome of the hotel is featured in the video for Bruce Springsteen's song "Atlantic City."