Cape May, N.J.: The nation’s only historic landmark city
While Cape May, N.J., may have started its reign as a seaside resort more than 200 years ago, it has continued to keep pace with the times and tastes of 21st-century visitors.
Situated at the southern tip of New Jersey, Cape May is not only the nation’s oldest seashore resort but has the distinction of being the country’s only national historic landmark city, said Kacie Rattigan, director of civic affairs, recreation, tourism, and marketing.
The town, which was originally called Cape Island, was incorporated in 1851 and renamed in 1869 for Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, a Dutch explorer who landed there in 1621. Settlers purchased land from the earliest inhabitants, the Kechemeche Indians of the Lenni-Lenape tribe in the 1630s, and a thriving fishing and whaling economy was born. In the late 17th century, farming was introduced by English colonists from Connecticut and Massachusetts.
It was about that time that visitors from Philadelphia began to arrive in wagons and stagecoaches on land and on sloops and schooners by sea, taking in the salt air and fresh seafood and staying in public houses, taverns and private homes.
The early 1800s continued the boom in the tourist economy with the construction of six boarding houses, including the now-famous Congress Hall, along with music pavilions and ballrooms.
By 1852, construction had begun on the world’s largest hotel, the Mount Vernon. It would house 3,500 patrons. During construction, while already accommodating 2,100 guests, the hotel was destroyed by fire.
When the railroad came to town in 1863, a new era of development began. The land was parceled into lots for Philadelphia families to build their own summer cottages.
While hurricanes and nor’easters often threatened the New Jersey coastline, fire made a particular mark on the resort town – with the wooden structures of hotels and boarding houses particularly vulnerable. The most devastating fire was in 1878 when 35 acres from Congress Hall to Ocean Street were destroyed.
Congress Hall was quickly reconstructed out of bricks, and the town took on a slightly different flavor with the construction of the familiar Victorian seaside cottages that today make Cape May unique along the Jersey Shore.
During World War I, the Navy used one of the large hotels for a hospital and acquired land to construct a base, which was taken over by the Coast Guard in 1925. Today, the U.S. Coast Guard remains an important part of the Cape May economy. Training Center Cape May is the fifth largest base in the Coast Guard.
Tourism from the south and west brought new visitors once the Cape May County Bridge Commission and Delaware River and Bay Authority opened the Cape May-Lewes ferry on July 1, 1974. For the last 50 years, ferries carrying passengers and their vehicles have plied the 17-mile stretch of water between Cape May and neighboring Lewes, Del.
The town-city ranges from 3,000 residents in the off-season to 2023’s summer population of 50,000. It boasts more than 600 Victorian-style houses including vacation rentals, 45 hotels and 1,905 rooms for visitors, according to Rattigan. She credited Cape May’s Historic Preservation Commission with updating the standards for the beauty and safety of its historic buildings.
Cape May and its surrounding environs offer an abundance of activities and amusements to engage people of all ages. “You can’t go wrong in Cape May,” Rattigan said.
She said recently there has been an influx of young families adding to the vibrant vacation population. “We’re seeing mostly generations of families coming.” Perhaps it has to do with Cape May’s appearance on USA Today’s top 10 lists in the last few years, including being eighth on the Best Coastal Small Towns list and 10th on the Best Small Town Food Scene in the U.S. list.
In addition to the numerous beaches that border the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay, Rattigan said, the town has a variety of attractions like trolley tours, ghost and mystery tours, and the Emlen Physick Estate, where visitors can learn about life and architecture in Victorian Cape May. There is the Harriet Tubman Museum, theaters such as Cape May Stage and East Lynne Theater Company, and the Cape May Jazz Festival takes place in May and October.
Concerts are performed at Convention Hall. The famous Cape May lighthouse stands in nearby Cape May Point, in addition to a free zoo and 200-acre park not far away at the Cape May Courthouse. Nature lovers can enjoy natural beaches, a nature center, and rail biking along decommissioned railroad tracks.
National Geographic rated Cape May as a “World’s Best Destination for Birding.”
One of the latest additions to the city’s beaches, Rattigan noted, are features that make them accessible to people who have mobility issues. Ramps between the paved promenade and the beach are available at numerous locations, and beach mats extend over the sand at all beach entrances. A limited number of Beach and Surf Wheelchairs are free of charge and are available on a first-come, first-served basis at several locations. There are also several accessible bathrooms as well as free handicapped parking.
“We’ve also become a very popular wedding destination, mostly in the spring and fall,” Rattigan noted. “We’re really a year-round, family-friendly environment.”
Those year-round attractions include the quaint and unique shops along the Washington Street Mall, restaurants that stay open throughout the year, and Christmas events such as holiday concerts, horse and carriage rides, and candlelight tours that have Cape May decked out like a Hallmark movie set. Throughout the winter, the Convention Hall also becomes an indoor roller rink.
“The secret’s out,” Rattigan said. “Cape May is the place to be.”
For more information about Cape May and its events, go to capemaycity.com.
Visitors to the Cape May Lighthouse can climb the 199 steps up the original, cast-iron spiral staircase. The site features staggering views of Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean and is surrounded by nature trails of Cape May Point State Park. (Photo provided by city of Cape May) 
Cape May, N.J., is populated by iconic, Victorian-style homes. (Photo provided by city of Cape May) 
With a healthy tourism industry, Cape May, N.J., offers plenty of hotels to choose from – many featuring Victorian architecture. (Photo provide by city of Cape May) 
Sunsets are even more beautiful from the beach. Cape May is home to about 3,000 year-round residents, but during the summer, its population can boom to 50,000. (Photo provided by city of Cape May)
