Lots of American seaside resorts lay claim to being the prettiest, the coolest, the best-beachiest. Okay, that’s not a word, but you get the idea. There’s a lot of competition between Carmel and Cannon Beach, Ocracoke and Ogunquit, San Clemente and Sanibel Island. But here’s something you CAN’T argue about… Cape May is the oldest seaside resort in the country. We could (and will) make an argument that it’s also the prettiest, coolest and… has some of the best beaches. But it’s definitely the oldest.
Visitors started rolling up here for recreation in the 1760s, though the Revolutionary War put a dampener on tourism for a couple decades (those pesky Brits).
In 1801, Cape May tavern owner Ellis Hughes placed an ad in the Philadelphia Aurora, which created quite the buzz. Hughes described Cape May thusly, “The situation is beautiful, just on the confluence of Delaware Bay with the Ocean, in sight of the Lighthouse, and affords a view of the shipping which enters and leaves the Delaware: Carriages may be driven along the margin of the Ocean for miles, and the wheels will scarcely make any impression upon the sand, the slope of the shore is so regular that persons may wade out a great distance. It is the most delightful spot the citizens can retire to in the hot season.”
Philly responded then as it does now… with droves of people escaping the heat of the city for the cooling ocean breezes of the Cape.
Random, fun factoids …
• The second-largest cataloged collection of Victorian homes in America, behind San Francisco.
• One of the world’s best birdwatching spots, due to its popularity as a stop-off point for migrating birds. Every May, the World Series of Birding is held here.
• Home to the country’s only US Coast Guard training base.
• One of the east coast’s most lucrative commercial fishing spots, aka Scallop Central.
• The New York Times once crowned it the Culinary Capital of New Jersey.
• It was named for Dutch captain, Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, who discovered it in 1639, but due to a mis-spelling on the original paperwork, it became Cape May. Bummer for the Mey family.
• Played a pivotal role in the fight to end slavery. In 1852, Harriet Tubman, the force behind the Underground Railroad, worked as a cook in Cape May and reportedly escorted 360 slaves to safety. The Harriet Tubman Museum is a four-minute walk from the Boarding House.
No, this isn't Cape May in the winter. This is visitors in the early 1800s displaying their modesty.
Inside the circle of this 1885 beach scene is the Light of Asia, a wooden elephant built to promote a real estate development. Sadly, she's long gone.
The Devine family enjoyed the rare benefit of a private bath house in 1865.
The Mount Vernon was the world's largest hotel when built in 1856, but burned to the ground before it opened.
Henry Ford racing Louis Chevrolet on the beach in 1905 to promote development in East Cape May.
The first German U-boat to surrender to US forces, off the coast of Cape May, on May 14, 1945.
The crew of the German U-boat disembark. Its commanding officer would later return to Cape May to discuss his experience.
The legendary Concrete Ship (the SS Atlantus) as it used to look at Sunset Beach. Not so much left of it now!
Before the US Army Corps of Engineers began beach replenishment, the Cape May strand was a lot smaller (and rockier).
The worst storm to hit Cape May (so far) was the nor'easter of March 1962. The boardwalk (and Convention Hall) were destroyed.
Life before the Washington Street Mall, completed in 1971... note the Ugly Mug on the left, still thriving today.
The ghostly train tracks at Higbee's Beach appear when the weather and tidal conditions conspire.