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News from the Jersey Cape
Cape May County’s History Spans More Than Four Centuries

Henry Hudson sailed his ship, the Half Moon, into Delaware Bay, Cornelius Mey gave his Dutch name to the southern tip of the peninsula, descendants of the Pilgrims left Plymouth to resettle here and Captain Kidd’s buried treasure is still waiting to be found!

How’s that for a glimpse of Cape May County’s history that spans more than four centuries – actually far more than 400 years if the Lenni Lenape native tribes who first lived here are included.

Early settlers along the southern most part of what would become New Jersey were descendants of those who had arrived aboard the Mayflower, including Hannah Gorham, granddaughter of John Howland, the Pilgrim. Leaving New England and Long Island in search of whales, they established Portsmouth along the Delaware Bay in the late 1600s, often referred to as Town Bank, a community that exists today, albeit much further inland.

Cape May County was formally created in 1692 from land originally owned by Daniel Coxe, an English court physician who had supposedly been given the land by Charles II. The county was divided into Upper, Middle and Lower Precincts, three of today’s townships. In 1745, Cape May Court House in Middle Township became the county seat.

After the whales disappeared from the bay, the hearty residents turned to farming and fishing, making a life for themselves and their families. The term whaler yeoman is still used today to name the early families who settled here and the cemetery at "Old Brick" Presbyterian Church – itself dating to 1718– is the final resting place for more Mayflower descendants than any place outside of Massachusetts. The oldest marked grave is that of Sarah Eldridge Spicer who died in 1742.

Like their New England relatives, Cape May County residents were eager to break with King George III. As colonists moved toward independence from England, local men formed a county militia in 1775 and maintained a lookout to observe British naval movements. Only one skirmish occurred in Cape May County during the Revolutionary War – in 1776, at Turtle Gut Inlet, now Wildwood Crest.

During the War of 1812 British warships blockaded the mouth of Delaware Bay and raiding parties came ashore for provisions from local farms and fresh water from Lily Lake in Cape May Point. To thwart the British, patriotic residents dug a ditch from the lake to the sea, spoiling the lake water for drinking.

Long before the Civil War, Cape Island – later Cape May – had become a popular summer destination for visitors from the Philadelphia area and points south, including Richmond, Baltimore and other southern cities. Huge hotels were built to accommodate thousands of guests who enjoyed casinos, gambling and the cool ocean breezes. A huge fire in 1878 destroyed most of the city but the town was quickly rebuilt with dozens of cottages, mansions, businesses and homes, all in the Victorian architectural style of the day.

The barrier islands to the north of Cape May – Five Mile Beach, Seven Mile Beach and Ocean City – were settled in the late 1880s, primarily as summer resorts. The Wildwoods prospered, especially after World War II with the advent of the family car, motels and a two-week vacation at the shore. During the late 1950s, Wildwood hosted some of the biggest names in the entertainment business in clubs around the island, including Billy Haley and Chubby Checker during era of doo wop and rock and roll.

In 1879, four Methodist ministers established Ocean City, a Christian retreat and camp meeting site, and laid out streets for development, with deed restrictions to prohibit the sale and consumption of alcohol. The Tabernacle was built in 1881 and stood until 1957 when it was replaced with the building that stands today. Religious services are still held every Sunday through the summer.

Development of Avalon and Stone Harbor on Seven Mile Island dates to the 1890s; once railroad service started and later bridges over the inland waterways were built, these towns, as well as other barrier island communities, quickly became popular summer destinations.

Inland, Dennis Township was a flourishing shipbuilding center in the 1700s, where residents 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. The Joseph Falkenburg House, built about 1806, is the oldest and one of only three pre-1860 brick houses in Cape May County. Woodbine was established in the late 1800s as an agricultural community by the Baron de Hirsch Fund as a haven for European Jews escaping persecution. The residents built the Woodbine Brotherhood Synagogue, the center of their community life, in the late 1800s; today the synagogue is a museum devoted to the preservation of the town’s unique history.

Now, well over three centuries after the Cape May County was first settled by whaler yeomen, the county still depends on fishing, farming and tourism as its major assets. The Port of Cape May/Wildwood is among the largest in the United States and the Garden State nickname is due in large measure to the farms in the southern part of the state.

The completion of the Garden State Parkway into Cape May County in the ;mid-1950s and the beginning of ferry service between Cape May and Lewes, Delaware in 1964 have helped solidify the county’s reputation has a popular vacation destination.

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