“Lot for Sale” signs dot the landscape today like headstones in a graveyard. Most bear another message as well — “sold.” Four houses already face the beach. Homes of fine proportion with grand views. Summer houses. Cottages, they’re modestly called in Cape May.
View from one of the Admiral’s windows.
But there’s an eerie vacancy to the scene, too. One can feel it in the air. There’s an immediate coolness, a sense of void.
Something’s missing.
“You’re watching history go away, kid,” an unidentified one-armed man wearing a Vietnam veterans’ jacket tells the little boy standing next to him. It is Monday morning, February 26, 1996 — a cold and damp day in Cape May — but one that will live in memories for years to come. A day generating countless tales future generations will have to hear, and bear, again and again.
In a town whose very existence depends on its historic buildings, the loss of one from fire, much less demolition, is felt intensely. The Christian Admiral Hotel was like a living, breathing member of the community and her passing was mourned as such.
This morning demolition is slated to begin, though no one knows for sure if it will. The razing had been halted the previous week because of weather conditions. Still, spectators line the beach front well before 8 a.m. determined to witness the making — and unmaking — of history.
Though some bring video camcorders and most carry cameras, few are here simply to ogle. Memories have brought them to watch, wait, share stories and even shed a few tears. Personal recollections of days gone by and the moments when the old hotel touched their lives.
Built between 1906 and 1908, the same years as the ill-fated ship Titanic, her soul and destiny were much the same. She was a brick mammoth boasting 333 rooms and touted as the world’s largest hotel when she opened April 11, 1908.
Her lobby featured a glass-domed ceiling much like that aboard the Titanic, and a staircase also reminiscent of the great ship bending in two directions as it led visitors to the upper levels.
Now, the Christian Admiral is sinking too, literally being pulled to the ground by large cables that wind around exterior walls of the building and connect to small bulldozers.
The crowd is quiet. Many drink coffee while talking in hushed tones, a sense of camaraderie begins. “Have you heard anything? Are they going to do it?” everyone asks each other. As coffee runs out and the cold sets in, many are hesitant to leave in fear of missing something. The waiting — and the stories — continue.
Both the Titanic and the hotel were designed to cater to the wealthy, the Christian Admiral, or Hotel Cape May as she was first called, was an intricate part of the 4,000-acre East Cape May Project initiated by wealthy Pittsburgh steel magnates in hopes of creating another Newport, Rhode Island.
Besides the hotel, yacht clubs and golf courses were to be built and “entertainments” as posh as Newport available. A harbor was dredged, trolley tracks laid and stately homes, including that of project president Peter Shields, built in Cape May’s then-remote eastern section.
The hotel itself cost $1 million to build, and from the moment ground was broken, judgment seemed passed — the project was doomed.
Trouble started when the construction workers, amidst racial tension, went on strike within the first six months on the job. Small riots, and even the sabotage of a trolley carrying African-American workers to the construction site, brought work to a standstill. The hotel opened two years behind schedule.
Despite setbacks, the grand opening celebration was magnificent. Cape May’s local newspaper, the Cape May Star and Wave, reported the event to its readers stating, “One of the greatest events which has ever occurred at Cape May is the formal opening of the million dollar Hotel Cape May. It undoubtedly will stand in all future time as an incident marking the beginning of a Greater Cape May, which thus embarks upon a career of upbuilding (sic) and importance which will make all past history of the resort pale and insignificant.”
It was, perhaps, the hotel’s finest hour — many guests danced to small orchestras in the hotel’s grand ballroom as others strolled the wide beach front verandah watching Henry Ford and Louis Chevrolet race their newfangled “auto-mobiles” on the sands of East Cape May’s beaches.
One year later, the East Cape May Project was in financial ruin. Peter Shields quit and the project declared bankruptcy. In 1910, the new president Frederick Feldner, and a major stock holder were killed instantly when their auto-mobile was hit by a train at a nearby railroad crossing.
Nelson Graves, a wealthy Philadelphia manufacturer, took over the project and temporarily revived East Cape May and the hotel offering guests a major convention center, improved trolley lines and an amusement park.
In 1914, Graves too declared bankruptcy.
During World Wars I and II, the hotel was used as a military hospital. Postcards from both wars depict her grand halls housing ward after ward of gravely wounded soldiers, nurses at their sides.
Ralph Cornwell stands waiting among the spectators with his wife, Madeline. He remembers being treated here during World War II. “It’s a real shame,” he mutters as he shakes his head and turns away from the spectacle for a moment. His wife, too, remembers the treatment Ralph received here… and other moments when the building served as a hotel and she would have dinner in its Corinthian Dining Room.
After the First World War, the building was purchased by one Frank Schroth who ran it as a hotel until 1931 when he sold it to the Admiral Hotel Co. — for $128,000. Renamed the Admiral Hotel, it wasn’t very long before Schroth’s hotel, too, failed to succeed.
On August 16, 1940, the City of Cape May bought the building at a sheriff’s sale for just $900. The Pennsylvania Company bought it later that year and sold it in October of 1957 to the Masefield Corporation for $142,000, who subsequently declared bankruptcy. In March of 1962 the First Pennsylvania Bank and Trust Company purchased the building at yet another sheriff’s sale for $66,000.
By October, the building was sold again, this time to Reverend Carl McIntire’s Christian Beacon Press — purchased for $300,000 in an effort to save the structure from demolition. Again renamed, the now “Christian” Admiral operated from 1962 to 1991 as a bible conference hotel. It was during the 1980s the building began to age and deteriorate. New building codes forced the changes in the hotel she would never recuperate from. Its last owner, Curtis Bashaw, McIntire’s grandson, grew up in the hotel and remembered her in a 1996 issue of the Cape May Star and Wave — 88 years after the grand opening article.
“First it was the transoms — those lovely glass windows above the doors that tilted into the room. They had to come out, replaced by pieces of metal. Then the doors had to have sheet metal tacked on the back, either that or be replaced by metal fire doors. Then the gorgeous stairwells had to be enclosed, the long corridors shortened and the old fire towers enclosed,” he wrote.
“One thing led to another — code upon code — none of them unexplainable, but nevertheless closing up the place. And so the story becomes modern and more familiar. There were operating realities and enormous expenses that just couldn’t be eliminated. Rehabilitation costs were in the tens of millions.”
The reality of the situation by the mid-1990s, as Bashaw saw it, was like coming to terms with a terminal illness. The Admiral was dying, time had passed it by. “After accepting the inevitable, everything became easier. Instead of trying to make that dear, tired edifice something it wasn’t, we just embraced each other. And with that there was peace.”
This fateful day in February, hours have passed, and suddenly the crowd of resolute onlookers notice something is happening. An expectant hush befalls the crowd. Even the dog who has been merrily playing fetch, hesitates and stops, noticing something is up. As the cables are connected to the bulldozer, a man mumbles, “This is it, this is what we came here for.”
Anticipation mounts and workers spew from the building toward the spectators warning, “The bricks are gonna fly. Move back. Keep moving back.” Then they, too, turn to watch.
A small bulldozer starts to tug, groaning forward as the building grieves a distinctive creaking and moaning sound, hesitant to fall, as if fighting her inevitable end. Seconds tick by as the creaking and moaning continues and then, suddenly it happens, the walls give. Each member of the crowd reacts differently.
As the bricks hit the ground and a huge wall of dust begins to rise, some witnesses shout, others are silent, people grab unto one another, and one woman is left on her knees laughing an odd, uncontrollable, laughter.
A wall of dust descends the area. As it swells, visibility is totally obscured. People close their eyes from the dust and then are hesitant to open them, minutes later, to see what is left — or not — of the Christian Admiral. The east wing has vanished, and the show is over for the day.
Work continued until April when the last brick fell and the Hotel Cape May — a.k.a. the Admiral, a.k.a. the Christian Admiral — was no more. Thousands of spectators watched week after week, dogged in their vigil of being by her side when she died — for when a long-standing member of the community passes, the whole village mourns.
I think it was so sad to see such a beautiful piece of history destroyed, thats what Cape May is and thats what makes Cape May so interesting its all about the history.
I remember eating at the top restaurant in the Christian Admiral when i was little with my grandparents. Everytime we take the boat rides past where it stood and they explain where the Christian Admiral used to be, it breaks my heart. It should have been restored.
I too have wonderful memories of the Christian Admiral and lament its loss. Still, tens of millions in renovations is extremely steep and all who owned the hotel suffered financially…even from the beginning. Those who condemn its demolition should have bought it themselves.
How wrenching! I found this website this morning and had not realized the Admiral had been razed. I worked there as a waitress in my college years in 1948, 1949 and 1950 and the experience provided me with memories that are a part of me to this day. One of the songs the dining staff composed to the tune of "Give My Regards to Broadway" was "Give my regards to the Admiral. Remember me to Mr. Pease." Mr. Pease was the manager of the Admiral at the time. The group sang it at one of the Con. Hall's entertainment nights.. Between breakfast and lunch, many of us would go swimming at the old Navy beach. There had been a hurricane before the one in 1962 that destroyed much of the boardwalk between the hotel and town. I never knew whether or not that had been rebuilt. The Admiral was a magnificent structure and I agree with Diane that it should have been restored.
Ms. Minor,
My dad, Guy Cook, Sr. worked at the Admiral from August, 1949 to November, 1949 as a receiving clerk. Any chance that you might have known him?
Thank you.
Guy, Jr.
How wrenching! I worked as a waitress in the Admiral dining room between 1948 and 1950 and the memories from that time stay with me to this dayl I agree with Diane, that magnificent structure should have been restored.
I first visited Cape May around 1950 as a toddler. A friend of my family owned the Carroll Villa back them and we vacationed there every summer for many years. My sister and I took swimming lessons at the pool at the Admiral Hotel, probably about 1954-56. I have vivid memories of how cold the water was and how hard it was to "take the plunge" for our early morning lessons.
My siblings and I all worked in Cape May for at least one summer during our
teenaged years, it was like a right passage. My father bought a house on Huges St
(620 1/2!) around 1964 and our roots run deep. My sister was married at the old Lafayette Hotel just before it was razed. I was married in Cape May, too, at the Church of the Advent. We had family reunions there for years until my mother became too frail to travel and the Marquis de Lafayette hotel staff became too rude to deal with.
I hate to end on a negative note, but my last couple of visits to Cape May left me cold, it's just not the friendly place it used to be. I have many fond memories, but no desire to go back.
I have not been to Cape May for a very long time…..not since the early 60's. My family would vacation at
the Christian on summer vacations to the cape. And I have fond memories of those times, the hotel, and
breakfast, lunch and dinner served by wonderful young people with very nice manners. I can remember
staying in front rooms that overlooked the ocean and the sound of waves hitting the large rock break wall,
and the smell of the Atlantic Ocean. What a great place. What a great structure. I am sad.
My parents bought a house on Idaho Ave. a few blocks from the Christian Admiral in 1968 when I was 8 years old. I remember sneaking into the old hotel and being so impressed with the marble floors and the pillars in the lobby. Those staircases were breathtaking and the stained glass dome, yes, just like on the Titanic.
I also remember my first drive into Cape May after she was torn down. The emptiness at the end of Pittsburgh Ave. was heartbreaking. I still feel it everytime I drive down Pittsburgh.
I have never felt the same about that town since they let that building go. There will never be another.
My sister Sue and I and friend Louise worked at the Christian Admiral in the late 70s. I started as a maid when I was 14, then a waitress, then a prep-cook. I loved my time at the Admiral and the Pink House.
I could go on and on about the great times we all had working and living there during the summers. From bowling, to swimming parties, peanut butter ice cream, ping pong, trips to Wildwood and where we first saw Star Wars!!!
I am looking for our friends from that wonderful time in life. Maybe we can have a virtual reunion? Freda, Linda, Betty where are you guys?
Get in touch, Carole!!!!!
Hi Carole!
We got your email! How wonderful to be in contact with you!
Linda
Is this the same “tan” Carole who used to call me whitey in the summer of ’78? If it is e-mail me. If not I feel pretty stupid. The names in your post ring-a-bell.
BMZ, that sounds like something I would do. We stayed in the dorm that is now a bed and breakfast, Angel of the Sea. So what can you tell me about you? What is your first name?
brz6107@yahoo.com
I too have fond memories of the Christian Admiral. My family used to vacation there back in the 1970's when I was very young. What I remember most is sitting on the large porch and rocking in those big chairs and smelling the salty air…and those double deck buses! I couldn't wait to ride back and forth to the Congress Hall….the old doors with the glass door knobs, the marble floor and the large dining room (the smell from breakfast)….these are memories that will never go away….I take my family back for vacations of our own and I miss looking down towards the direction where the Admiral stood and can't help but feel that the heart of Cape May was that brick building….it is just not the same without its presence.
WOW…. I too just stumbled upon this web site. I went to college there, in 1965 – 1966. What a grand and glorious time I had. My cousin, Chris stayed and graduated, not like me. But, the Christian Admiral will forever have a large piece of my heart. We had a wonderful Christian filled education, with a lot of fun, great professors, and God… all around us. The girls were on one floor, and the boys on another. The back stairs went to the kitchen were the German cheif, ….. I'll think of his name was ALWAYS…. making the BEST pastries and food for us. We had a wonderful life there. There was a small balcony on the top floor that you could openthe door and sit out on. ( Oh, exploring was really fun in that place)!!! And the sun rises just couldn't be beat. We had a stone wall across the street that kept the ocean waters from coming into us. And yes, that was the year of Agnes. The hurrican, isolated us totally. the water went inland for many many blocks. They carried food to the hotel by motor boat. . It was really something. I will forever…. have wonderful fond memories of the Christian Admiral Hotel….. Shelton College to us. The grand staircase, will forever be in our memories!! How many of us get to see let alone live in a place with such grandeur. She was spectacular!!! I will be forever grateful, that my aunt, convenienced my mother to send me to Shelton College at the Christian Admiral. She might be gone now, but, those of us who were fortunite enough to live or even stay in her for a short time, left a wonderful memory to us. Thank you to whoever started this. And I know it might be that no one will even see my words, but, just like the C. A. I will know it is here. Great great memories!!! A part of me wishes I could go back, and do better. I met wonderful wonderful people there. God's plan didn't keep me there, but, He sure gave me a good start at the Christian Admiral! What a fantastic experience!!! Cape May…. lost a lot of history, for a few houses…. with the loss of the Admiral. I realize, with all the code changes, things had to change, but, can you just imagine, if some rich person, could have restored that place??? hahhaha wow… what a piece of history!!! Enjoy your memories everyone!!
Claudia Jacobson, student at Shelton College 1996.
Claudia, you can be sure that many people have read your comments. I, for one, enjoyed what you wrote and wish I could have seen the inside of that grand hotel, as you did. Thanks for providing some of your memories for those of us not fortunate enough to have been able to develop memories of our own of this lovely place. So sad it couldn’t be saved.
I attended the Christian Admiral in 1968. I was devastated to find that it was destroyed. Gone are the thoughts os Shelton College and Christian Admiral. I would love to hear from anyone who attended in 1968. Maybe collect some photos if they are available. I remember it very fondly. I have always harboured dreams of revisiting some day. Now it is gone and all I have are memories.
Nayla Jeanbart McLaren, Melbourne, Australia
I attended Shelton College at the Christian Admiral in 1964/65. I had been moved with the rest of the campus from the Skylands estate in Ringwood, NJ in the summer of 1964 (another truly awesome location). I was only in Cape May one year as a sophomore, but I will never forget it. I worked as a waitress in the hotel dining room during the summer, and enjoyed the beach, and stories of the town by locals. I am sad that it was demolished. Still, I plan to visit Cape May and Ringwood as soon as I am able.
Nancy Churchill, Princeton, Illinois
I was part of the Demolition crew that stripped the inside of anything valuable, as well as emptying it of it’s furniture. It was a very hard thing to do, but the job needed to be done. I remember walking the halls wondering what it would have been like at the beginning of the 20th century walking down the halls as a vacationer or a employee. Looking at the Marble flooring in the front entrance, or going into a suite. That place had a LOT of history in it and the walls spoke. It was/is a damned shame that she had to be torn down. I wish someone with deep enough pockets stepped forward to rehabilitate the old Girl.
I’m gonna miss you…you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end…
I worked as a waitress at the Admiral Hotel during the summer of 1949 between my junior and senior years at Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA. I have wonderful memories of the place though I never knew or appreciated it’s great history at the time. I have enjoyed reading about the “grande dame” hotel of Cape May recently and I was saddened to hear it had been torn down.
I stayed at the Admiral twice, around ’87 and ’88. Penn State ran wrestling camps there for a few years.
I can vividly remember the bowling alleys and practicing in the large area to the right of the main building.
It was an experience I’ll never forget.
What was the cost of renovating and saving Congress Hall vs. saving the Admiral? Although we visited Cape May only occassionally in the 80’s and 90’s (when Congress Hall was a mess), we’ve been coming to Cape May for several years now . I couldn’t imagine Congress Hall not being there. Apparently, there was no one with the financial means to see the value in saving this historic treasure. Very sad.
Curtis Bashaw, who renovated and owns Congress Hall, was the owner of the Christian Admiral and had to make the difficult decision to demolish the hotel due to the high cost of bringing her up to code. Congress Hall cost $22 million to renovate. Bashaw has written that the cost to renovate the Admiral was in the “tens of millions.”
After seeing what has become of Congress Hall, it would have been great to see the Admiral given the same chance to shine. Sad that no one was was able to fund that the way Congress Hall was funded. Not much sense in arguing about it now.
I was on staff at Shelton College when it was in the Christian Admiral as well as my father Robert L. Gates. I lived in the building and loved everything about it–the grandeur of the place, the location across from the ocean with the porches over-looking it, the colosal size and the unbelievable feel of being taken back in time. I will never forget the place and will always look back with fond memories of my time there. Although we live in California, my husband and I return to Cape May almost every summer. Instead of leaving our hearts in San Francisco, we left them in Cape May!
Mary Gates Somerville
Mary, without a doubt, your father is one of my favorite memories of the Admiral! He was one of my teachers back then. My nick name was “Pickles”…. funny nick name, but it is what it is. But, your dad was one of the kindest, soft spoken gentleman, I had ever met. He was tall and skinny, and very handsome. I can remember him to this day. And I smile. The Christian Admiral brings us all, wonderful fond memories that will be cherished forever. I am so glad that you continue to go to Cape May. It is such a grand place! Many Blessings to you Mary. Your dad left his mark on everyone he taught! Especially me. Claudia Martin, 1965
Hi Mary. I don’t believe we ever met, but I had a class on American History taught by your father in the latter days of Shelton College in Cape Canaveral, Florida. I graduated in 1977. I wonder if you or another family member may have kept any of his notes from that particular class. You can reach me at gohly@wowway.com. Thank you very much. And I agree with Mary’s comments below – a very kind, thoughtful, and well-read gentleman.
Seriously, guys? Because that place was fugly; a real eyesore! Cape May only improved when that monstrosity was torn down.
Obviously the Christian Admiral wasn’t a part of your life but just a building on a lot. The beauty of Cape May was shared around the country based on people’s experience staying at the historical hotel.
It is obvious MR. ESME…. that you only visit Cape May occassionally. The Admiral was a intricate part of all CAPE MAY residence. I KNOW! And had only the money been there, the Admiral would have remained. So, Mr. ESME…… take your comments and blow off. It is clear that nothing in your past has given you any memories at all. Gee, that is too bad!!!!
I attended Highland Christian College, west coast sister to Shelton, in the mid 1960s. We were encouraged to go east and work the summer at the Christian Admiral by our dean, Dr. Kophal. I came to Cape May in 1965. Worked as a waitress in the main restaurant. Lived in the hotel in staff quarters. Waited on Dr. McIntyre himself. The smell of baked goods in early morning filled the lobby and staircases. I remember the German (although I think he was Swiss) chef. He was an excellent chef but by late afternoon he’d be fairly drunk…and mean! If the busboys didn’t pick up the order immediately he would take the metal dinner covers and hurl like frisbees at us. Scary man. We took off a few days and went to the 2nd year of the Worlds Fair. It’s so dishearteng that historic preservationists couldn’t save this wonderful building and its setting. I’m sure whatever has gone in since can never rival it’s predecessor.
wow. What a great article! I’ve heard of the Christian Admiral from vacationing in Cape May but was not aware of it’s story. This article is wonderfully written and brought tears to my eyes.
My Great Grandfather Washburn, was one of the contractors that helped to build the Christian Admiral. It was very sad to see it go. Still miss seeing it there, when we take a ride to Cape May.
Family stayed there in the mid 60’s for summer vacation for two summers. As a 10 year old, I thought the place was spooky. The most fun I had inside was setting the bowling pins in the small alley located somewhere in the bowels of the building. The only other thing that stands out in my mind today is how small the rooms were and the $20 bill I found in the parking lot behind the structure. Also I disliked the concrete boardwalk. Us kids convinced our parents to return to Ocean City for our summer vacations.