High Tide

The CapeMay.com blog

Month: November 2003

Cape May on Fire

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 could be contained, some 11 hours later, 40 acres of prime property lay in a pile of charred ruins. Arson is suspected. No one was injured.

What if it all burned again?

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. If the same acreage were destroyed today, what would no longer exist in Cape May?