Vintage photograph of the Cape May Beach Patrol, courtesy of the Steger family.
Category: History

Liberty Theater 1960s
The Liberty Theater, on the 500 block of the Washington Street Mall, where Liberty Way is located today. Dellas General Store is located on the left, where it still stands today.

Chief Redfeather fireside lecture at Museum of Cape May County
Long before whalers and yeomen of European descent came to New Jersey’s lower cape peninsula, Native Americans lived on its sandy shores. He recently gave a fireside lecture on the history of Native Americans in the county, held at the Museum of Cape May County. As a tribal legend keeper, Chief Robert Redfeather Stevenson, of… Read more »

House move on Beach Avenue
The Lafayette Hotel cottages were originally named the Weightman Cottage. It stood at Franklin and Washington Streets, the current site of the Cape May Post Office. It was constructed for Philadelphian chemist William Weightman, Sr. and moved to Ocean and Beach Avenue in 1881. It operates today as Angel of the Sea Bed and Breakfast.… Read more »

Iron Pier
Cape May’s Iron Pier, constructed in 1884 by the Phoenix Iron Company, extended over 1,000 feet over the ocean. Its 8,000 square-foot pavilion provided dancing space, with sport-fishing facilities on the lower level. Photographs: Source unknown. Information on the pier taken from Summer City by the Sea by Emil R. Salvini.

411 Washington Street
Seagars, at 411 Washington Street, and Brown’s Millinery and Dry Goods. This is the block where Beach Bums and Casale’s stand today. Based on the car out front, we estimate this photograph is approximately 90 years old.

512 Washington Street
The Cape May Daily Wave office stood at 512 Washington Street (where Kohr Bros and Coldwell Banker are today). According to the Library of Congress, the Daily Wave published from July 1865 to 1907, under publisher C.S. Magrath. [source]

Then and Now: The Impact of Urban Renewal
Even for people who have been in Cape May for generations, the Cape May of just 50 years ago is a real juxtaposition with today’s town.

Post office at the Point
Cape May Point rejoices in being quirky, quaint – but authentic– and off the beaten path.
Aftermath of Sandy
City Manager Bruce MacLeod attributed Cape May’s good fortune to two things – the eye of the storm passing just north of us 2.5 hours in advance of high tide and wind shifts which kept tidal surges at bay.