It’s been a long time coming. There were Department of Interior rules and regulations to follow, million-dollar funding to secure, lawsuits to brave, mountains of paperwork to wade through and endless rolls of red tape to unwind. Now, long overdue according to some and beyond belief to others, rehabilitation of Congress Hall has begun.
The sport of fishing is one that includes both luck and talent. Fate plays a big hand, as does Mother Nature. Being in the right place at the right time and knowing how to hook the “big one” – well, that’s what it’s all about. As the daughter of a sport fisherman, I watched from… Read more »
A contemporary description of the 1878 pre-fire Cape May skyline, observed from the deck of a passing sailboat, spoke of the “flashing lines of festival lights connecting the continuous row of monstrous four-floored buildings, seeming to touch each other…”
These lights were anchored on each end by railroad properties, the Sea Breeze Excursion House on the western end of the city and the great Stockton on the east. Although both of these hotels survived the inferno, the “continuous row of monstrous buildings” between them was now reduced to ashes.
People have been vacationing on Cape Island for more than 200 years and residents have been farming the acreage here for much longer than that. In fact it was the availability of fresh food that was imperative to Cape May’s growth as a resort community.
She was just one of many large hotels in the late 1800s that catered to the elite. Massive hotels they were, with broad verandahs and sweeping lawns that faced the ocean. John Philip Sousa wrote two songs for Congress Hall. In fact, he introduced them on her lawn. For she was well-known across the nation… Read more »
What began as a simple boarding house soon grew into a reputable hotel under the direction of Colonel Henry Sawyer. He was a local hero — it was said that every man, woman and child in Cape May could recite Sawyer’s “Lottery of Death” story by heart.
“Pisscchhh! pssch, pssch, pssch.” It woke me very early one morning when I was living on Seagrove Avenue, out by Cape May Point. It was a very strange sound. I got out of bed and looked through the window to find what my sleepy eyes perceived as aliens. Two of them stood in my yard,… Read more »
As an intern at CapeMay.com, one of my many jobs is reading e-mails that you, our faithful readership, send to CapeMay.com. Many times, visitors recount their fondest memories of Cape May. They spout statistics and ask intriguing questions, most of which send me running to our local history buffs. Throughout the e-mails one word seems… Read more »
Visitors to Cape May might be surprised tolearn that they can experience and savor some fine,locally produced and award-winning wines. The Cape May Winery and Vineyard, owned by Bill and Joan Hayes located less than a mile north of the Cape May Canal, has been producing three reds and two whites for some time now.… Read more »
A simple carpenter stares death in the eye, and lives to build one of Cape May’s living treasures. A story rooted in American history, the tale of Henry Washington Sawyer is one of courage, strength and pride.
Free things to do in Cape May this holiday season
Where to eat Thanksgiving Dinner in Cape May in 2023
Q&A with Libby Klein, author of “Mischief Nights Are Murder”
Scarecrow Alley is back at the Emlen Physick Estate
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