A history of Cape May,
since 1611
Postcards, papers and photographs of Cape May from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The area that is now Cape May was originally inhabited by the Kechemeche Native American tribe, a subgroup of the Lenape people. The Kechemeche first encountered Europeans around 1600. The city is named after the Dutch captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, who charted the coast between 1611 and 1614 and claimed it for the province of New Netherland. It was later settled by colonists from the New Haven Colony in New England.
By the mid-18th century, Cape May had become a popular vacation destination for visitors from Philadelphia and is recognized as the country's oldest seaside resort.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Cape May’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewWelcome the dude - Chester & Hand…, 1880: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Cape May
See all 19 →
Cape May, decade by decade
LOCThe Wreck of the Atlantus1910
CommonsNavy - Accidents - Airplane wreck near Cape May, N.J1917
CommonsNavy - Drills - Infantry Maneuvers - Wissahickon Barracks, …1917
CommonsNavy - Drills - Life Boats - Land drill teaches Reserves to…1917![Navy - Training Stations - Caldwell, New Jersey [165-WW-340A-24]](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/11078/61526625c5e09e187bff-s.jpg)
CommonsNavy - Training Stations - Caldwell, New Jersey [165-WW-340…1917![Navy - Training Stations - Cape May, New Jersey [165-WW-340B-25]](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/11078/58a987131c9b9580cd08-s.jpg)
CommonsNavy - Training Stations - Cape May, New Jersey [165-WW-340…1917![Navy - Training Stations - Cape May, New Jersey [165-WW-340B-32]](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/11078/d649e4a19e41e7fc2193-s.jpg)
CommonsNavy - Training Stations - Cape May, New Jersey [165-WW-340…19171990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Beach at (c. 1840) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (8) and the Library of Congress (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.