area’s earliest families – Eldredge, Hildreth, Hughes – and built affordable ranch-style homes after World War II for returning ser- vicemen. The town stretches along the Delaware Bay from the Cape May Lewes Ferry north and westerly toward the parkway. The bayside, now lined withmulti-story new homes offering panoramic views of the bay, dolphins frolicking just offshore and sunsets to rival KeyWest, also hosts migrating shore- birds and thousands of horseshoe crabs that come ashore every spring (as they have for perhaps millions of years) to lay eggs that birds journeying from as far away as Chile need to continue their flights. The CapeMay Canal that borders a por-
tion of North Cape May and divides the township was constructed during World War II to provide safe passage for vessels. In 1964 the Delaware River and Bay Authority started ferry service across the bay from the end of the canal to the Delaware side at Lewes. In the 1920s, the SS Atlantus, one of four concrete ships built as an experiment during World War I when steel was scarce, was towed from Norfolk, Va. to Cape May to be used as a dock for ferry service across Delaware Bay. In a high wind, the ship slipped its mooring and ran aground just off the end of Sunset Boulevard at Cape May Point where it quickly became a popular attraction. Today, not much remains of the Atlantus but the Cape May Lewes Ferry continues to transport visitors and vehicles back and forth across the bay. Now a popular way to get back and forth between Lewes and Cape May, the ferry also hosts a variety of fun events from wine cruises to fireworks trips, shuttle service and family fun. Harpoon Henry’s, a landmark by other
names over the years along the bay and the only bayside restaurant, is a favorite spot during the summer for food, fun and, of course, those spectacular sunsets. In the early days of the 20th century,
when Cape May seemed on the verge of decline with aging hotels and little else, a group of businessmen and developers decid- ed to invest in the east end of town. The project promised yacht clubs, golf courses and amenities as fashionable as Newport, the popular playground of the Vanderbilts and other nouveau riche scions of industry. Unfortunately that gamble did not pay off
and most of the men went bankrupt. The promoters envisioned a modern section of the town that would restore the resort to its earlier prominence and popularity. The boardwalk and Beach Avenue were extend- ed eastward; the million-dollar Hotel Cape May was planned, along with a deep har- bor to accommodate ocean steamships. In 1910 the dredge
working on the harbor project sank in a freak accident and the most important part of the East Cape May Project – the construction of the Hotel Cape May – was plagued with construction accidents and labor issues. It finally opened, two years later than expected and at twice the anticipated cost. Peter Shields, a wealthy businessman
from Pittsburgh and the first president of the Cape May Real Estate Company, built a magnificent Georgian-revival home in the then remote eastern end of town. The following year, his 15-year-old son Earl was killed in a boating accident about the same time as his company was forced into bank- ruptcy. Shields resigned and returned to Pittsburgh with his family. The next president and a major stock holder were killed instantly when their automobi le was hit by a train at a near- by railroad crossing. Nel- son Graves, a
wealthy Philadelphia manufacturer, took over and temporarily revived East Cape May before he, too, went bankrupt. The Hotel Cape May, later known as the
Christian Admiral under the ownership of the controversial Rev. Carl McIntire, was demolished in 1996. Today the Peter Shields mansion is an inn and elegant restaurant, overlooking the beach where the Cape May Automobile Club once sponsored races with Henry Ford and Louis Chevrolet. Perhaps you’ve never noticed a little
street in West Cape May named Goldbeat- en Alley right off Broadway. Not many peo- ple have. Nor do they realize it got its name from a gold beating company there where men pounded strips of gold into wafer-thin sheets and women carefully cut
the thin sheets into squares to edge Bible pages and other projects. Although settled earlier than its neigh-
bors – Cape Island and Sea Grove – West Cape May never enjoyed the same popular- ity with early visitors, perhaps because it did not have access to the ocean. Despite that, several magni f icent homes were cons t ructed including the Wi l b r aham Mansion built in 1840 by
John Wilbraham, a wealthy industrialist, across from a park that now bears his name. In 1898, Dr. Albert Stevens built a Victori- an Queen Anne Classic home for his bride Bessie, also on Myrtle Avenue, that includ- ed a unique floating staircase suspended from the third floor turret. Both mansions are now popular bed and breakfast inns along with several other historic homes in the borough. West Cape May is a great place for a
morning bike ride or an afternoon stroll to get an up close and personal look along the side streets where many of the homes are craftsman-style, built from kits or blueprints from Sears Roebuck or Montgomery Ward. In 1926, with talk of ferry service across
the bay to link New Jersey and Delaware at a fever pitch, the county freeholders paved the Cape Island Turnpike, a shell-covered road that connected Cape May Point with Cape May. The new road was named Sun- set Boulevard and during excavation work the developers uncovered burial mounds, skeletons and artifacts on the old Reeves farm. The relics confirmed that the earliest residents of the peninsula were Lenni Lenape Indians. The town is filled with history, homes,
some great restaurants and a community park that hosts a variety of events including the world famous Lima Bean Festival every October, a tribute to the acres of lima beans once grown on farms in the area. There you have it... Cape Towns – the
north, east, south and west of this end of the Cape May County peninsula! ■ There are several great books written by
local authors detailing the history of Cape May and surrounding towns. One of the newest books is Remembering South Cape May by Joseph Burcher.
S O U T H E R N N E W J E R S E Y V A C A T I O N E R 39
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