Cape Island

  1. Cape Island Creek flowing by the Lobster House.

    Where is Cape Island?

    Text by | Published May 1st, 2011 in Cape Island • Cape May

    Cape Island received its name because it was separated from the mainland by a small creek. An island is, by definition, a tract of land completely surrounded by water, but not large enough to be called a continent.

  2. EntertainingPC

    Vintage Cape May Postcards

    Text by | Published October 6th, 2010 in Cape Island • Cape May • Then and Now

    Ah, a postcard from Cape May. Is there anything that makes you more jealous? Visitors to Cape May have been sending postcards for decades. Feast your eyes on these vintage postcards dating from 1908 to 1914.

  3. Click to enlarge.

    The Passing of the Christian Admiral

    Text by | Published July 1st, 2010 in Architecture • Cape Island • Cape May • Hotels • Restoration

    From the beginning, the Hotel Cape May was doomed. It opened in 1908, several years behind schedule and 100 percent over budget – its final cost of $1 million was nearly unimaginable in those days.

  4. Jackson’s Club House: A little controversy at Columbia and Stockton

    Text by | Published March 1st, 2009 in B&Bs • Cape Island • Cape May • Innkeeping

    The gambling, prostitution, heavy drinking and carousing male visitors the clubhouse hosted were just the sort of activities Cape May was hoping to attract during the Victorian era. Or not.

  5. 150 Years of Firefighting

    Text by | Published November 1st, 2004 in Architecture • Cape Island • Cape May • Hotels

    If any one ever tells you that history doesn’t make a difference, tell them to come to Cape May. Yes, it would have been a seaside resort no matter what, given it’s proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, but who knew [...]

  6. Which house is the oldest house on Cape Island?

    Text by | Published October 1st, 2004 in Architecture • Cape Island • Cape May

    Which house is the oldest house on Cape Island? Is it the house at 653½ Washington Street, also known as The Colonial House? Or is it the old “Whilldin-Miller House” at 416 South Broadway where Daniels on Broadway Restaurant currently [...]

  7. Cape May on Fire

    Text by | Published November 1st, 2003 in Cape Island • Cape May

    Cape Island, NJ, Nov. 9, 1878 — Fire broke out yesterday morning in the summer city of Cape May around 7 a.m. in the attic of the new wing at Ocean House on Perry Street. By the time the flames [...]

  8. What if it all burned again?

    Text by | Published November 1st, 2003 in Accommodations • Cape Island • Cape May

    The fire that started on November 8, 1878 and spread from the Ocean House on Perry Street to engulf 40 acres of hotels, stores and houses in flames was one of the most devastating and furious fires of the era. [...]

  9. The Abbey: Gurney Street and Columbia Avenue

    Text by | Published February 1st, 2002 in Accommodations • Architecture • B&Bs • Cape Island • Cape May • Restoration

    If Senator John McCreary were somehow to return to Cape May today, he wouldn’t have much trouble recognizing his summer residence. Standing proudly at the corner of Gurney Street and Columbia Avenue, his home, in its most recent incarnation [...]

  10. At Mother Nature’s Mercy

    Text by | Published October 1st, 2000 in Cape Island • Cape May • Weather

    There have been hundreds of hurricane watches and warnings throughout the centuries yet Cape Island has never felt the truth wrath of a full-fledged hurricane. Northeastern Atlantic coastal storms, however, locally known as ‘nor’easters’ have wreaked havoc on her coast [...]

  11. The Chalfonte Saga Continues

    Text by | Published August 1st, 2000 in Architecture • Cape Island • Cape May • Historic Figures • Hotels

    What began as a simple boarding house soon grew into a reputable hotel under the direction of Colonel Henry Sawyer. He was a local hero — it was said that every man, woman and child in Cape May could recite [...]

  12. The Chalfonte Hotel: The Beginning

    Text by | Published July 1st, 2000 in Cape Island • Cape May • Historic Figures • Hotels

    A simple carpenter stares death in the eye, and lives to build one of Cape May’s living treasures. A story rooted in American history, the tale of Henry Washington Sawyer is one of courage, strength and pride.

  13. The March King in Cape May

    Text by | Published June 1st, 2000 in Cape Island • Cape May

    During his Cape May visit, Sousa, later dubbed “The March King,” left behind one composition and a noteworthy concert that formed the seeds of what later would be the greatest example of military marches written in America. His most rousing [...]

  14. A Feeling of Community Revisited: Cape Island’s African-American Heritage

    Text by | Published February 1st, 2000 in Cape Island • Cape May • Historic Figures

    People and events which go beyond tales of Victoriana and visiting presidents. Ancestry dating to colonial days. Remembrances of community life during the last century. Stories of life, love and loss — stories that never made the history books.

    This is [...]

  15. Searching for Henry Sawyer, the Past Comes Alive

    Text by | Published October 1st, 1999 in Cape Island • Cape May • Cape May County • Ghosts and Spirits

    Through the years rumors of sightings have persisted. Donlin knows a man claiming to have seen Sawyer himself 27 years ago standing at the top of the stair case. The man was 13 years old at the time, and never [...]

  16. Watching History Go Away: The Christian Admiral Hotel

    Text by | Published July 1st, 1998 in Architecture • Cape Island • Cape May • Hotels

    In a town whose very existence depends on its historic buildings, the loss of one from fire, much less demolition, is felt intensely. The Christian Admiral Hotel was like a living, breathing member of the community and her passing was [...]