Alexander Blaufelden was a reclusive tycoon who took over a small beach on a northern end of what would become Atlantic City, building a mansion there some time after the founding of the township in 1854. The section of beach would later come to be named after his family.
He was a cultist whose grand vision was about blurring lines between dimensions and tapping into “the eternal engines” which he believed would be a power source that could conquer the world. On his land, he built a strange machine to extract that power. The machine is described as having a similar vibe/appearance to Cornelia Parker's 1991 piece 'Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View'. As he built it, he began to have strange dreams of other places and times, other versions of the beach he lived on. He was haunted by these dreams for the rest of his life, and was a major factor in him becoming a recluse.
Unfortunately, it cost more power than it produced and people began to call him a phony. His granddaughter and great-great grandson would both later find his machine and use it for their own ends.