|
Cape May County,
New Jersey
An Escape To The Jersey
Cape: Town By Town
Cape May
County
From the sandy beaches of the Atlantic Ocean
to the natural strands along Delaware Bay, north
to south and east to west, Cape May County has
it all! Home to more than 100,000 year-round
residents, the county welcomes literally
thousands of visitors every year who enjoy the
sun and sand, the birds and butterflies, the
excitement and relaxation – and more – of a
weekend, a vacation or an extended stay in Cape
May County.
Once primarily a summer destination, the
county is quickly becoming more and more of a
year-round resort. Cape May’s Victorian Week and
winter holiday calendar extend to New Year’s
Eve. Ocean City has a varied schedule of unique
events including a First Night celebration. The
Wildwoods celebrate their Doo Wop heritage with
a rock and roll weekend every October and a
growing list of attractions at the Convention
Center draw big crowds.
Part of the county’s charm is its history. A
number of local museums and arts centers help
preserve this history that goes back to the
1600s when whalers from New England, many of
whom were descendants of the Pilgrims, followed
the whales to this area. Cape May’s Victorian
architecture, the stately colonial-era homes
along Route 9 in Cape May Court House and north
plus Wildwood’s fun and funky Doo Wop styles and
neon lights are all part of the county’s
eclectic history.
Accommodations include rentals, condos,
motels and campgrounds. Many people – perhaps
the lucky ones – have a second home here in Cape
May County so they can enjoy all that we have to
offer whenever they want. Restaurants range from
the family friendly with menu choices popular
with the youngsters to bistros and café with the
ambiance of fine dining, excellent wine, often
an ocean view and always breathtaking décor.
Many of the changes that have added to the
quality of life in Cape May County for all
residents – improved health care, higher
education opportunities and expanded shopping
facilities – are also attractions for our
visitors to enjoy.
Ocean City
In the late 1870s, a group of Methodist
clergymen, who were also astute business people,
established a Christian seashore resort on
Peck’s Beach with strict regulations against
liquor, Sunday travel and other pleasures on the
Sabbath. The first camp meeting was held in
tents on the campgrounds on what would be Ocean
City in August 1880 with an estimated one
thousand people attending services. Soon a wood
and fabric structure was built, called simply
the Auditorium, as the first permanent structure
on the island to be used as a place of worship.
In the 1950s a more modern facility was built by
the Ocean City Tabernacle Association to
accommodate the thousands of people who attend
the non-denominational services throughout the
summer. Ocean City is one of Cape May County’s
favorite resorts and a year-round home to about
15,000 residents. Located at the northern tip of
Cape May County, the city has a main shopping
district on Asbury Avenue with more businesses
establishing a presence on the avenue. Eight
miles of pristine beaches, three miles of
exciting boardwalk and a wholesome family
atmosphere that includes public tennis courts, a
12-hole golf course, arts center and a full
calendar of unique events including the county’s
only First Night celebration, add to the town’s
appeal for both residents and visitors.
The Ocean City Music Pier on the boardwalk
was built in 1928 and is home to the Ocean City
Pops Orchestra. Concerts, from classical to
rock, are held in this beautifully refurbished
music center throughout most of the year.
Eventually, some of the Sunday restrictions
and “Blue Laws” were abolished but the deed
restrictions against liquor remain, giving the
town an ambiance different than other seashore
resorts. The slogan “America’s Greatest Family
Resort” has been used to describe Ocean City for
over 85 years.
Sea Isle City
Sea Isle City, a barrier island between Ocean
City and Avalon with five miles of sandy
beaches, is not the town that Charles Landis
first envisioned on Ludlam’s Beach back in 1880.
His idea was a seaside city with elaborate
canals, fountains similar to Venice and
Italian-style piazzas decorated with art and
sculpture. Lack of reliable railroad service to
the island plus other difficulties slowed
development in Sea Isle City and by 1891 Landis
was selling his oceanfront lots for $50.
Eventually, however, the town grew and
prospered, becoming a popular resort in the
northern part Cape May County.
The Promenade that runs along the beach is
the main hub of activity for visitors who enjoy
leisurely walks, concerts, special events,
shopping, biking or just sitting and enjoying
the cool ocean breezes.
Famous for its fleet of charter and fishing
boats, Sea Isle is a fisherman's paradise with
boats leaving the docks daily on four, six and
eight-hour fishing trips. Special canyon trips
for trophy fish are also available.
Sea Isle has an abundance of clubs, hotels,
motels and special events including the popular
Skimmer Weekend and a Polar Bear Plunge in
February. It’s also conveniently located to
other county attractions including nearby
Atlantic City.
Avalon
When the Avalon Beach Development Company
purchased the island in 1887 the intent of the
investors was to make Avalon one of the most
fashionable and exclusive resorts along the
Jersey Shore.
The high dunes of Avalon have been carefully
preserved over the years and create a beautiful
natural setting for the beaches and also help
protect them from erosion. The dune areas of the
beach are covered with natural foliage and plant
life indigenous to the area with walkways at
street ends to allow beach access. The
Washingtonian magazine called Avalon beaches
“the best beach in New Jersey” for the gentle
surf, natural dunes, wide beach and good
lifeguards. The town also has a small and
well-maintained boardwalk.
Today, this community on the northern end of
Seven Mile Beach is an upscale residential area
of distinctive homes, beach cottages and boats
of all descriptions, much as the original
developers had envisioned. During the summer
months both homeowners and visitors enjoy the
beach, back bays, sailing, fishing, dining and
shopping, all of which add up to the perfect
summer vacation. Because Avalon extends into the
ocean about a mile further than nearby resorts,
the town is often said to be ”Cooler by Mile,”
an apt description for this trendy town.
Stone Harbor
Bordered on one side by the Atlantic Ocean
and on the other by the Intracoastal Waterway,
Stone Harbor is located on the southern portion
of the Seven Mile Beach Island, seven miles long
as the name implies but only three or four
blocks wide so anywhere in town is close to the
water.
Seven cottages formed the original resort in
the 1890s; today, Stone Harbor has more than
3,000 properties. Once railroad service started
and later bridges over the inland waterways were
built, the town quickly became a popular summer
destination and has remained so for decades.
In addition to miles of protected beaches,
the resort offers plenty of outdoor activities
nearby, including golf courses, the county zoo,
historic and cultural sites plus a full calendar
of art shows, craft shows and other special
events throughout the summer. Kayaking around
the back bays is especially popular and provides
an up close and personal look at some of the
town’s impressive waterfront homes.
Stone Harbor still has the only heronry
sponsored by a municipality in the United
States. The Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary, 21
acres tucked away within the resort, was
registered as a National Natural Landmark by the
National Park Service over 40 years ago. Over
the years thousands of herons of many varieties
have nested in this safe, protected sanctuary.
The Wetlands Institute on the way into town
on Stone Harbor Blvd. is a research facility
located on 6,000 acres of pristine wetlands that
also offers educational, informative and fun
programs throughout the year about nature with a
special emphasis on turtles.
Stone Harbor personifies small town charm
with a pedestrian friendly downtown area, a
quaint shopping district, exceptional
restaurants and a relaxed atmosphere.
North Wildwood
The northern tip of Five Mile Beach was first
settled around 1870 by Scandinavian fishermen,
although Native Americans had long been coming
to the island every summer. With plentiful
fishing areas offshore in Hereford Inlet, they
established a tiny hamlet called Anglesea.
Before long, however, it also started to develop
as a resort area, thanks to the railroad.
Margaret Mace who grew up in Anglesea was the
town’s first doctor when she opened her practice
in 1905 and later established a hospital.
Large hotels were built in North Wildwood and
catered to people anxious to escape the summer
heat in the city. By the 1950s, most of those
original wooden buildings were replaced with
motels along the beachfront.
Hereford Lighthouse erected in 1874, is the
focal point of the community for both residents
and visitors. Overlooking Hereford Inlet which
leads from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Intracoastal Waterway linking Maine to Florida,
the lighthouse was placed on the Department of
Interior's List of Historic Places in 1977. The
cottage gardens around the lighthouse are
especially beautiful and attract thousands of
visitors annually.
The wide, sandy beaches, gentle surf,
fun-filled boardwalk amusement rides and some of
the best salt water fishing bring vacationers
back to North Wildwood year after year.
West Wildwood
An island unto itself connected by just a
bridge to the communities on Five Mile Island,
West Wildwood is a small community where
residents and visitors know each other, chat
from deck to deck or wave while sailing by. Many
of the small vacation homes have been replaced
with multi-story houses commanding spectacular
views of the inland waterways in and around
Grassy Sound that are great for boating, jet
skiing, sailing, fishing or crabbing. An old
fashioned 4th of July celebration reinforces
that small town feeling, the reason several
hundred people live there year round and
visitors wish they could.
Wildwood
Wildwood by the Sea has been the number one
destination for fun-filled family vacations for
generations. Wildwood beaches are the widest on
the Jersey Cape and every day all summer long,
thousands of vacationers come to the Wildwood
beaches to enjoy the sun and sand.
The boardwalk, built at the turn of the
century, stretches along the beach for more than
a mile and a half. A convention center, four
incredible amusement piers, two movie theaters,
hundreds of souvenir and novelty shops and a
variety of restaurants, ethnic food stands and
salt water taffy shops line this wooden walkway.
Early morning boardwalk visitors can watch
the sun rise out of the sparkling blue sea. At
night, the lights brighten the skyline and the
boardwalk takes on a new look. The combination
of the flashing neon, mixed with lively music,
the spin of the game wheels and the enticing
aromas coming from the open air eateries create
a carnival-like atmosphere and an aura of
excitement.
Chubby Checker and Bill Haley and the Comets
– along with many other rock and roll musicians
– put Wildwood on the map in the 1950s. Clubs
from one end of the island to the other booked
name acts throughout the summer – Frankie
Avalon, Bobby Rydell, and anybody who was
somebody in the music business was here during
the doo wop days. The town pays homage to its
musical past hosting a huge doo wop weekend
every October. But it’s not all doo-wop – there
are kite festivals, the National Marble
Tournament, life guard races, movies on the
beach and so much more that makes the resort
such a popular vacation destination. The
back-bay area hosts hundreds of private, charter
and party boats for daily bay and deep sea
fishing excursions. Sight seeing and whale
watching trips as well as sailing, jet skiing
and motor boating are available from most
Wildwood docks. Wildwood is also building a
reputation as a town with some fine gourmet
restaurants that compliment a wide range of
choices that cater to every taste.
Wildwood Crest
The only Revolutionary War battle to take
place in Cape May County happened in 1776 when
the Nancy, an American brigantine carrying
supplies to Philadelphia, was blown up by her
captain as British sailors were boarding the
ship. The British chased The Nancy into Turtle
Gut near today’s Wildwood Crest and it’s
possible that the Battle of Turtle Gut helped
discouraged British plans to sail up bay to the
Delaware River.
It wasn’t until the early 1900s that Wildwood
Crest was developed after Philip Baker bought a
tract of land south of Holly Beach. Turtle Gut
Inlet was filled in and construction of a road
to Two Mile Beach helped spur real estate
development. Baker’s stately home on Pacific
Avenue is now a private residence.
Many of the island’s larger motels and hotels
line the ocean front, overlooking the town’s
three miles of clean, free, protected beaches
and providing hundreds of rooms for visitors. On
the west side of the Crest, Sunset Lake is a
protected tidal area filled with sailboats,
water skiers and sightseeing boats during the
day. At dusk it’s a favorite place to watch the
spectacular sunset and in the summer enjoy an
outdoor concert.
Charter fishing boats leave Wildwood Crest
ports daily starting in early April and run
through October. The Crest offers plenty of
family-oriented activities with the boardwalk
and nightclubs just a short distance away in
Wildwood.
Cape May
Slated for demolition in the 1970s, the
Physick Estate on Washington Street is now the
centerpiece of Cape May’s Victorian renaissance.
The estate, which dates to the 1880s, was saved,
restored and refurbished, thanks to dedicated
volunteers who founded the MidAtlantic Center
for the Arts, an organization that propelled
this once sleepy seaside community into one of
the most visited towns in the state.
Today, Cape May is a National Landmark City
and literally every street in town is lined with
Victorian homes, colorful examples of the
preferred architectural style of the late 1800s
when the town was rebuilt after the Great Fire
of 1878 that wiped out homes, hotels and
businesses.
Many of the Victorian mansions are bed and
breakfast inns, a romantic complement to the
town’s reputation as the “Restaurant Capital of
New Jersey.” Tours of the historic district and
many of the Victorian inns including the Physick
Estate are scheduled daily through the
Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts.
Often called the Nation’s Oldest Seashore
Resort, Congress Hall was the Summer White House
for several presidents and John Philip Sousa,
who composed the Congress Hall March, played
with on the ocean front sprawling lawn of the
hotel. The Chalfonte Hotel on Howard Street has
been in business for more than 125 years even
though there is no air conditioning or other
modern amenities. Cape May has year-round appeal
well beyond the summer. A Tulip Festival in the
spring celebrates the town’s Dutch heritage, a
10-day Victorian Week in October is filled with
tours, dances, workshops and more and at
Christmas, the town is a scene from a Charles
Dickens’ story with beautifully decorated homes
bathed in gas lights, horse and carriage tours
and other special events. The United States
Coast Guard Training Center – the country’s only
recruit training center - has always been an
integral part life in Cape May. Patriotic
recruit graduations and Sunset Parades held
throughout the summer are open to the public.
Cape May Point
Cape May Point, at the southern-most tip of
the Jersey Cape, is a tiny but popular community
despite the fact that the town has no
restaurants, no motels, no bars and no
amusements. Still, with its natural attractions,
serene beaches and historic sites, the town of
only a few hundred people always attracts
visitors.
Founded in 1875 as a Presbyterian community,
the town was first called Sea Grove when John
Wanamaker summered here. Wanamaker also had a
house built for President Benjamin Harrison in
1890 although it was never used as a Summer
White House.
Sea Grove originally had several large hotels
- Sea Grove House, Cape House, Centennial House
and the Shoreham Hotel were built between 1875
and 1890. The only one still in existence is the
Shoreham, now St. Mary’s by the Sea, a summer
retreat for the Sisters of St. Joseph. However,
there are many reminders of the early days of
this community including the streets that
radiate from Pavilion Circle and many of the
pre-1900 summer cottages.
The Cape May Lighthouse offers a panoramic
view of the peninsula for people willing to
climb to the top. Cape May Point State Park, the
Cape May Bird Observatory and the Higbee Beach
Wildlife Management Area are always popular
attractions. St. Peter’s by the Sea, a tiny
gingerbread-adorned church that is thought to
have been part of the Philadelphia Centennial in
1876, was moved to the Point. The picturesque
church and odd-shaped lot are frequently
photographed and painted by area artists.
Nearby at Sunset Beach, the remains of the SS
Atlantus, a concrete ship that went aground in
the 1930s are still visible just a few feet off
shore.
Inland
Communities in Cape May County
Upper Township
Upper Township was first settled in the late
1600s by whalers, fishermen and shipbuilders.
Today it’s a growing residential area, although
much of the township still has abundant open
spaces n a natural state where people can hike
through the woodlands, kayak or canoe through
the wetlands or enjoy the surroundings that are
a natural habitat for birds and butterflies.
Cape May County Park North on Route 9 in Palermo
is part of the county’s public park system plus
there are several golf courses nearby. Portions
of the Lester G. McNamara Fish and Wildlife
Management Area, Belleplain State Forest, and
the Marmora Coastal Wetlands Fish and Wildlife
Management Area are also within the township.
The tiny community of Strathmere is Upper
Township's seashore community with a pristine
beach, homes, and restaurants including the
historic Deauville Inn that dates back to about
1887 when it was called the Whelen Hotel, built
by a man who came to America from Ireland in
1862. Route 9 is lined with antique shops and
many of homes of historic vintage including the
Tuckahoe Inn on Great Egg Harbor that has been
part of the area’s history since the 1700s.
Upper Township is close enough to the excitement
of the resorts but far enough away for those
looking for quiet and solitude.
Middle Township
The recent opening of a branch campus of
Atlantic Cape Community College in Middle
Township has added an exciting new component to
life in Cape May County, Centrally located in
Cape May Court House, the college will help
provide a better trained work force for the
hospitality industry and also afford everyone –
from teenagers to senior citizens – the
opportunity to take classes, earn a degree or
participate in college-related activities.
The modern college building, one of the
newest in the area, isn’t far from some of the
oldest buildings in the county along Main Street
in Court House, buildings still in use today.
The Bellevue Tavern, a popular stop with locals
and visitors, dates to 1839 when it provided
both food and lodging. Interestingly, the famous
aviator Charles Lindbergh spent a night at the
Bellevue in 1932 while he was searching for his
kidnapped baby son.
On the northeast corner of Mechanic Street
and Route 9, a 19th century Victorian mansion
that was once a stop on the Underground Railroad
has been restored to an elegant boutique hotel,
the Doctor’s Inn. North on Route 9 is the John
Holmes House, portions of which were built about
1704, and has long been the home of the Cape May
County Historical Museum with extensive and
varied exhibits from the 17th to 20th centuries.
The Cape May County Park and Zoo is one of
the most popular places for both residents and
visitors to the county. With 80 acres and almost
200 different species of mammals, birds,
amphibians and retiles, the zoo is open 364 days
a year and admission is free. The African
Savanna is a natural environment of 57 acres
where giraffes, lemurs and bongos roam and
graze.
The township covers approximately 75 square
miles and is comprised of 15 communities. A
large portion of the township along Delaware Bay
provides an abundance of wetlands and salt marsh
that is a natural habitat for shore and
migratory birds.
Cape May Court House is the county seat and
the old Court House is on the National Registers
and is still used today for community events and
meetings.
Lower Township
Settled by whalers from New England and Long
Island around 1635, this area of the county
along Delaware Bay is often referred to as the
“Birth Place of South Jersey.” The early
settlements on the bay – now hundreds of feet
out into the water – were called New England
Town, Portsmouth and later Town Bank. One of the
first people to arrive was Hannah Gorham, the
granddaughter of John Howland who sailed to the
New World aboard the Mayflower.
For years, the township was a rural, farming
community until the late 1940s when a developer
saw the potential to build modest homes for
returning veterans. Many of the streets were
named after families and things associated with
the early settlers including Mayflower Circle,
Gorham Avenue and Pilgrim Plaza. Much has
changed since the 1950s. Lower Township is now
the largest municipality in the county with a
population of about 23,000 people. Located at
the southern tip of the state, the township is
bordered by the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic
Ocean along the township’s Diamond Beach
section, an area developed over the past 20
years with upscale condominiums. The small
bungalows that once lined the Delaware Bay
shoreline have been replaced with huge,
multi-story new homes with spectacular views of
the water and sunsets that rival Key West.
The fishing industry continues to be an
important economic factor in the township as
well as nearby areas and the Port of Cape May is
one of the top fishing ports on the East Coast.
The Cape May Canal provides boating enthusiasts
with a convenient and scenic route to Cape May
and the Intracoastal Waterway and the Cape
May-Lewes Ferry crosses the bay from its
terminal in Lower Township to Lewes, Delaware on
a daily basis.
Recently, an 18-hole golf course along the
bay was converted to a wildlife management area
and is already a popular spot for birding
watching, hiking and other activities.
Historic Cold Spring Village, a recreated
farm village of the 1850s with many original
buildings from around the county, helps preserve
the area’s agricultural and social history. Cold
Spring Presbyterian Church across from the
Village traces it beginnings to 1718 when a log
cabin was built there. “Old Brick,” the present
church, was built in 1823 and is a National
Historic Landmark Site and many of the Mayflower
descendants are buried in the adjoining
cemetery.
Wildwood Naval Air Station at the County
Airport is a museum dedicated to World War II
pilots who died while training at the facility
and houses an impressive collection of vintage
aircraft.
Dennis Township
Bordering the Delaware Bay, Dennis Township
was a flourishing shipbuilding center from the
early 1700's until the early 1900s. Early
settlers in the area also harvested cedar logs
from the Great Cedar Swamp and made them into
shingles that were shipped to other parts of the
country including Philadelphia where they were
used on Independence Hall.
Rich in history, the village of Dennisville
in the township is included as an historic
district on the National and State Registers of
Historic Places with 69 structures. The Joseph
Falkenburg House, dating from about 1806, is the
oldest and one of only three pre-1860 brick
houses in Cape May County. The house is also
important for its association with the Ludlam,
Falkenburg(e), and Leaming families, all related
and leaders in the 18th and early 19th century
development of South Jersey. The friendly,
family communities that make up Dennis Township
offer visitors great freshwater and saltwater
fishing opportunities and a variety of
full-service camping facilities. Popular with
nature enthusiasts, this area is home to
Belleplain State Forest, the largest tract of
woodlands found on the Jersey Cape for people
who enjoy hiking, birding, canoeing and related
activities in a pristine, natural setting amid
thousands of acres of untouched woodlands.
Woodbine
Woodbine, a rural community in the
northwestern corner of Cape May County, was
settled in the 1880s by Jewish immigrants
escaping persecution in Europe. The Baron de
Hirsch Foundation purchased over 5,000 acres of
land and helped over 600 Jewish refugees
establish themselves in America where many of
them farmed or established businesses that
brought economic prosperity to the area for
years. The community also started the Baron de
Hirsch Agricultural College in 1894, a school
that was a model of progressive education until
it closed in 1917. Later the college site became
the Woodbine Developmental Center, a state
facility for mentally handicapped men and the
largest employer in Cape May County. Between
1893 and 1896 the residents built the Woodbine
Brotherhood Synagogue, the center of their
community life. Eventually many of the founding
families moved away and new residents, primarily
from the American South and Caribbean have
settled in Woodbine, creating a vibrant,
multi-ethnic community.
Around 2000, the closed synagogue was
purchased by Michael Azeez. After an extensive
refurbishing effort he opened the synagogue as
the Sam Azeez Museum of Woodbine Heritage to
honor the memory of his father, a longtime
resident of Woodbine and a member of the
synagogue, and to chronicle the heritage and
history of the town. The building is also listed
on the National Register of Historic Places.
Still a rural area, Woodbine is a favorite
destination for people who enjoy camping and all
outdoor activities.
|
