New Jersey’s oldest beach town turns 50 as a National Historic Landmark

It’s been drawing crowds since the 1700s

Cape May sits at the very bottom of New Jersey, right where the Atlantic Ocean meets Delaware Bay. People started coming here for the beach in the mid-1700s, making it the oldest seaside resort in the country.,

The whole city earned National Historic Landmark status in 1976, and 2026 marks 50 years of that honor. About 4,700 people live here year-round, but on a summer weekend, that number swells past 40,000.

The town has over 600 Victorian buildings, quartz stones on the sand, and a two-mile beachfront walk. The architecture alone could keep you busy for days, and that’s before you even get to the water.

A fire in 1878 built the town you see today

Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobsen Mey charted this stretch of coast in the 1620s, and the town still carries his name.

It started as a whaling and fishing village before tourists discovered it. Then, in 1878, a massive fire tore through roughly half of Cape May.

Property owners rebuilt using the popular Victorian styles of the time, and that decision gave the town its look.

Presidents Ulysses Grant and Benjamin Harrison vacationed here. The fire destroyed half a town and accidentally created one worth saving.

Gingerbread trim and turrets on every block

Cape May holds one of the largest collections of preserved Victorian buildings in the country. You’ll spot Queen Anne, Gothic Revival, Italianate, and Second Empire styles just a few blocks ahead.

The homes wear gingerbread trim, turrets, gabled roofs, and paint schemes in three or more colors, which is how they got the name “Painted Ladies.”

Cape May MAC runs trolley tours through the historic district year-round, so you can ride through town and get the full story on each style without wearing out your shoes.

Upside-down chimneys at the Physick Estate

The Emlen Physick Estate at 1048 Washington Street is the only Victorian house museum in Cape May. The chimneys are oversized and flipped upside down.

Philadelphia architect Frank Furness designed the 18-room mansion in 1879 using the Stick Style, and you’ll notice it the second you look up.

Hooded dormers and heavy porch brackets give the whole place a look that feels both grand and slightly odd. Cape May MAC saved the estate from demolition in 1970 and still runs daily guided tours.

199 cast-iron steps to the top of the lighthouse

The Cape May Lighthouse has stood at Cape May Point since 1859, the third lighthouse built on this spot. It rises 157 feet, and you climb 199 cast-iron spiral steps to reach the top.

From up there, you can look out across Delaware Bay, the Atlantic, and on a clear day, all the way to Delaware.

The lighthouse still works as an active navigation aid. Since 1988, more than 2.5 million people have made the climb. Your legs will feel every one of those 199 steps on the way down.

400 bird species funnel through every fall

Cape May’s narrow peninsula works like a funnel for migrating birds. You don’t need to be an expert to enjoy it, just bring binoculars.

It sits along the Atlantic Flyway, one of the biggest migration routes in the Western Hemisphere, and more than 400 species have been spotted here during fall migration.

The Cape May Bird Observatory opened in 1976 through New Jersey Audubon, and it draws birders from all over.

Every May since 1984, the World Series of Birding sends teams out to identify as many species as they can in 24 hours.

Hunt for quartz diamonds on Sunset Beach

Cape May Diamonds are quartz crystals, not real diamonds, but they’ve been fooling people for centuries.

Sunset Beach and Higbee Beach are where you want to look. The Kechemeche, a Lenape tribe, were the first people to find and treasure them.

When a jeweler cuts and polishes the stones, they look close enough to the real thing that locals sell them as keepsakes.

The stones travel about 200 miles down the Delaware River before washing up on shore. The hunt is free, and you can spend hours at it.

A concrete ship from World War I sits offshore

The SS Atlantus was one of 12 concrete ships the military built during World War I. It launched in 1918 and retired by 1920.

Six years later, someone bought it to help build a ferry dock between Cape May and Lewes, Del. A storm tore it loose, and it ran aground about 150 feet from shore.

It never moved again. You can still see what’s left of it from Sunset Beach, which faces west and gives you one of the best sunset views in New Jersey.

A World War II bunker now sits on the sand

Battery 223 is a concrete bunker from World War II, and it sits right on the beach at Cape May Point State Park.

The walls are six feet of reinforced concrete, thick enough to take a direct hit from a battleship. Decades of erosion dragged it to the water’s edge, where it stands in plain sight today.

The Army finished it in 1943 as part of the coastal defense system for Fort Miles. When the military built it, the bunker sat 900 feet inland, covered in grass to blend in.

Two miles of beachfront walking with no crosswalks

Cape May’s promenade runs close to two miles along Beach Avenue with no intersections to break your stride.

The original wooden boardwalk went up in the late 1860s, the first of its kind in New Jersey. A nor’easter in 1962 destroyed it, and the city replaced it with the paved path you walk today.

You get unbroken ocean views the entire way, with benches when you need them and a few small arcades and ice cream shops along the route.

No cars, no crosswalks, just the water on one side and the town on the other.

Sixty shops and no chain stores on Washington Street

The Washington Street Mall runs three blocks in the middle of town, and cars haven’t touched it since 1971.

Brick paths, fountains, and wooden benches line the walkway, and more than 60 shops and restaurants fill the space. You won’t find a single chain store here.

Cape May also pulls serious weight as a seafood town. It ranks as one of the largest commercial fishing ports on the East Coast, and the local oysters come straight from Delaware Bay.

Beach tags, Coast Guard parades, and dolphin tours

Cape May’s beaches run along Beach Avenue and offer swimming, surfing, kayaking, and fishing. You’ll need a beach tag from Memorial Day through Labor Day if you’re 12 or older.

The U.S. Coast Guard Training Center here is where the enlisted corps began, and the town goes by “the Coast Guard’s Hometown.” The base opens a few times a year for Sunset Parades.

If you’d rather be on the water, whale and dolphin watching boats head out from the harbor. The dolphins show up more often than you’d expect.

Explore Cape May, New Jersey

You can reach Cape May from Philadelphia in under 95 miles, or from New York City in about 160 miles. If you’re coming from Delaware, the Cape May-Lewes Ferry makes the crossing in about 85 minutes.

The town has no chain hotels, so you’ll stay in a bed-and-breakfast, an inn, or a rental cottage. Cape May is flat, and biking is one of the best ways to get around, with rental shops in easy-to-find spots.

Check the official website for seasonal hours and events before you go.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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