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Cape May is a peninsula, the southern tip of which is the southernmost point of the state of New Jersey, United States. It runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The cape is named for Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, a Dutch explorer who was working for the Dutch East India Company.
The city of Cape May is located in the south of the peninsula and home of the oldest seaside resort in America, with historical roots dating back to the 1700s.[1] The entire city was designated as a National Historic Landmark on May 11, 1976, and many of the buildings throughout the town are original Victorian structures that have been maintained in pristine condition.[2]
The peninsula comprises the municipalities of Middle Township, Avalon, Dennis Township, Stone Harbor, North Wildwood, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Lower Township, and Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. The region is a popular destination for Québécois tourists.[3] It is part of the Southern Shore Region.
Cape May is also famous as one of the top birding sites in North America. Due to its location at the southern tip of New Jersey and numerous nature preserves and wildlife refuges, large concentrations of birds can be found in Cape May, especially during spring and fall migration. The Cape May Bird Observatory acts as the central coordinator of birding activities in Cape May, including the World Series of Birding, held in Cape May (and throughout New Jersey) each May.
The basic training camp of the United States Coast Guard is located in Cape May. This facility is the only training center for the United States Coast Guard in the country. Each recruit goes through eight weeks of training before they are shipped out to various locations.
The Kechemeche tribe of the Lenni Lenape were the first residents of the area.[4] Each summer, the Native Americans vacationed at what is now Cape May to escape the summer heat. While there, they fished, hunted, and collected fruits before the advent of autumn mandated the return to their inland villages.[5]
The first European to catch a glimpse of Cape May was famed navigator Henry Hudson and 18 of his crewmates on the Halve Maen. On August 28, 1609, while searching for the Northwest Passage, Hudson decided to sail up the unexplored Delaware Bay. Several miles up the coast, strong tides pulled the Halve Maen to a sandbar, and the crew was stranded until thunderstorms and wind aided the ship around the Cape May peninsula. This event was recorded by Hudson's first mate, Robert Juet.[6]
News of his discovery sparked a search for the location of a new trading post. English explorer Samuel Argall explored the bay and named it for the governor of the Virginia Colony, Lord De La Warr.[7] Not to be outdone, the Dutch also sent some navigators to look for suitable sites for trading ventures. Among the band of explorers were Cornelis Henderson, Adriaen Block, and Cornelis Jacobsen Mey.[8]
The recorded history of Cape May stretches back to 1620, when captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey surveyed and named the area for himself. It later grew from a small settlement to the large beach resort it is today.
Cape May [1] is in the state of New Jersey, in the United States. It lies at the southernmost point in New Jersey, on the Cape May Peninsula, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. On the other side of the Delaware Bay lies the state of Delaware.
Cape May, located at the very southern tip of New Jersey, is a Victorian resort town. It was the country's first seaside resort and much of the original flavor still exists in the properties and other sites within the city. Settled by whalers and fishermen in colonial times, the town suffered a devastating fire in 1878 and was rebuilt during the Victorian period. As a result, Cape May is known for its concentration of Victorian era architecture. It was declared a national historic landmark in 1976.
A canal, dug from a natural shallow creek, runs from Cape May's harbor to the Delaware Bay, which makes Cape May an island. In fact, historically, it's known as Cape Island.
The two main industries within Cape May are tourism and fishing. Cape May is second to Atlantic City for tourism in the state of New Jersey. Being at the confluence of the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean allows Cape May full access to many types of fishing opportunities.
Cape May is also home to the Coast Guard Training Station.
The nearest large airports to Cape May are Baltimore-Washington International (BWI), in Baltimore, Maryland, Philadelphia International and Newark International. From these airports you will either have to fly to the smaller airport in Atlantic City and drive for about an hour, or drive directly, which will take approximately three hours. For those with private aircraft, there is a small airport (WWD) just a few miles out of town.
The closet rail terminal is Atlantic City, NJ (about 45 minutes by car or two hours by bus to the North). This station is served by NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line from Philadelphia and is connected to Cape May by NJ Transit bus, see below.
Drive time to Cape May is about three hours drive from the New York City metropolitan area and from Baltimore, Maryland.
If you fly into Philadelphia, it only takes about two hours (assuming you hit good traffic).
If you're able to fly into Atlantic City, you can make it down in about 45 minutes.
New Jersey Transit runs the 552 bus route from Atlantic City to Cape May.
From the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal, take New Jersey Transit bus route 319 to Atlantic City. A Few 319 buses wiil terminate and begin in Cape May, check the schedule.
Note: New Jersey Transit runs a summer schedule on these two routes when school is out for the summer. So pick up a printed schedule when in doubt. The Web site for New Jersey Transit publishes the normal schedule.
Cape May has complete harbor access from the Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. It is on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, so it is accessible to boaters from Key West, Florida to Boston, Massachusetts. It is also possible to take a ferry [2] from Lewes, Delaware to Cape May.
Marinas
Cape May is a relatively small town, compared with other mid-atlantic and southern United States resort communities. While cars are allowed on the island, it's best to park it and walk or take a bike. The flat terrain makes biking ideal.
Restaurants, bars & hotels are undeniably the largest employers on the island. Much work available here is seasonal only.
One of the shopping areas in Cape May is the Washington Street Mall [11], located in the heart of the town. This three-block outdoor mall features a variety of family-owned shops unlike any others, although many are not open during the week in the off season. Call ahead.
There are also many one of a kind shops throughout Cape May and West Cape May. Among them:
There is a wide variety of dining available in Cape May, from family and elegant to seafood and pancakes. However, many restaurants operate on a seasonal basis. Most restaurants are open seven days a week from Late May through early October. After that, it's best to call ahead.
There are good places to eat on nearly every corner. Good pizza and lots of good italian food. Seafood and burgers are easily found at budget prices, though it might be wise to search for seafood at mid-range prices and above.
There are many places where it is possible to get very good food (esp. sea food) at reasonable prices. One can buy fish right off the boats coming in from the day's fishing.
Cape May is known for its many fine restaurants. The town's been dubbed the Restaurant Capital of New Jersey.
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CAPE MAY, a city and watering-place of Cape May county, New Jersey, U.S.A., on the Atlantic coast, 2 m. E.N.E. of Cape May, the S. extremity of the state, and about 80 m. S. by E. of Philadelphia. Pop. (1890) 2136; (1900) 2257; (1905, state census) 3 006. Cape May is served by the Maryland, Delaware & Virginia (by ferry to Lewes, Delaware), the West Jersey & Seashore (Pennsylvania system), and the Atlantic City (Reading system) railways, and, during the summer season, by steamboat to Philadelphia. The principal part of the city is on a peninsula (formerly Cape Island) between the ocean and Cold Spring inlet, which has been dredged and is protected by jetties to make a suitable harbour. The further improvement of the inlet and the harbour was authorized by Congress in 1907. On the ocean side, along a hard sand beach 5 m. long, is the Esplanade. There are numerous hotels and handsome cottages for summer visitors, who come especially from Philadelphia, from New York, from the South and from the West. Cape May offers good bathing, yachting and fishing, with driving and hunting in the wooded country inland from the coast. At Cape May Point is the Cape May lighthouse, 145 ft. high, built in 1800 and rebuilt in 1859. In the city are canneries of vegetables and fruit, glass-works and a gold-beating establishment. Fish and oysters are exported. Cape May was named by Cornelis Jacobsen Mey, director of the Prince Hendrick (Delaware) river for the West India Company of Holland, who took possession of the river in 1623, and planted the short-lived colony of Fort Nassau 4 m. below Philadelphia, near the present Gloucester City, N.J. Cape May was settled about 1699, - a previous attempt to settle here made by Samuel Blommaert in 1631 was unsuccessful. It was an important whaling port early in the 18th century, and became prominent as a watering-place late in that century. It was incorporated as the borough of Cape Island in 1848, and chartered as the city of Cape Island in 1851; in 1869 the name was changed to Cape May.
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Categories: CAP-CAR
   | Cape May Chamber of Commerce - chamber of commerce of greater cape may, nj, official site hotel, motel, bed and breakfast,restaurants shopping |
| | Cape May City Website - City of Cape May Web Site |
| | "A SAMPLING OF HOUSE TOURS ACROSS NATION" - A SAMPLING OF HOUSE TOURS ACROSS NATION - The New York Times |
| | Cape May Stage - Cape May Stage Professional Equity Theater- Cape May, NJ |
| | Exit Zero Magazine - Exit Zero Publishing |
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