Cape May Historic District
Encyclopedia
The Cape May Historic District is an area of 380 acres (1.5 km²) with over 600 buildings in the resort town of Cape May, New Jersey
. The city claims to be America's first seaside resort and has numerous buildings in the Late Victorian style
, including the Eclectic, Stick, and Shingle styles
, as well as the later Bungalow style. According to National Park Service
architectural historian Carolyn Pitts, "Cape May has one of the largest collections of late 19th century frame buildings left in the United States... that give it a homogeneous architectural character, a kind of textbook of vernacular American building."
from the Delaware Bay
. Cape May Point, about two miles west of the City of Cape May, borders the Bay, while Cape May City borders the Ocean. Cape Island Creek, a tidal "creek" and marsh, originally divided the site of the city from the rest of Cape May, but its southern end has long been covered with landfill. The Cape May Canal
, built in 1942, now divides both Cape May City and Cape May Point from the rest of the peninsula.
on August 28, 1609. He landed on the shore of Delaware Bay a few miles north of Cape May Point before returning to the Atlantic Ocean.
Cornelius Mey explored the area further in 1621 for the Dutch West India Company
and by May, 1630 Samuel Godyn and Samuel Blommaert bought land for the Dutch from Native Americans covering the southern four miles of the Cape.
In 1632 the Dutch established a fishing and whaling settlement in the area, but by 1638 colonists from New England had moved in. By the 1660s the English gained control and Daniel Coxe, a London Quaker, organized a government in 1687.
Early settlers worked in the lumber, shipbuilding, whaling, fishing and shellfish industries. A road along the coast built in 1796 helped establish the hamlet of Cape May.
The early emergence of Cape May as a summer resort was due to easy transport by water from Philadelphia to the Atlantic Ocean. Early Cape May vacationers were carried to the town on sloop
s from Philadelphia, and water transport was also easy from New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and points south. Southerners later became a large proportion of summer vacationers. The resort business in Cape May began to thrive when regular steamboat traffic on the Delaware River began after the War of 1812
, carrying passengers from Philadelphia and New Castle, Delaware
. Commodore Stephen Decatur
made his summer home at the Atlantic Hotel about this time. The predecessor of the Congress Hall Hotel
was opened in 1816 by Thomas Hughes. It took its current name in 1828, when Hughes was elected to Congress. In 1830 a visitor wrote that
Early visitors included Henry Clay
in 1847, and Abraham Lincoln
in 1849. Serving Presidents who visited included Franklin Pierce
(1855), James Buchanan
(1858), Ulysses Grant (1873), Chester Arthur (1883), and Benjamin Harrison
(1889). Harrison made Congress Hall his Summer White House. From the 1850s through the 1880s up to 3,000 visitors arrived each day during the summer season. Newport, Rhode Island, Saratoga Springs, New York
and Long Branch, New Jersey
were the town's main rivals in the summer resort business, as Cape May's reputation rose and fell with the whims of fashion.
During the 1850s summer cottages were first built and the construction of large hotels continued. Thomas U. Walter
, the Architect of the Capitol
, designed an addition to the Columbia Hotel. The Mount Vernon Hotel, which was designed to be the largest hotel in the world burned down in 1856, however, before its completion. Competition from Atlantic City
appeared in 1854 with the construction of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. Cape May was not connected to Philadelphia by rail until the completion of the Cape May & Millville Railroad in the mid 1860s.
Architect Stephen Decatur Button
began designing buildings in Cape May in 1863 when he remodeled and expanded the Columbia Hotel. During the next thirty years he designed over forty buildings in the town. His best known buildings there include the John McCreary House (1869-70), Jackson's Clubhouse (1872), the Stockton Cottages (1872), the Windsor Hotel (1879) and the Atlantic Terrace Houses (1891-92). Plans for the George Allen House are believed to have been taken from a pattern book by Samuel Sloan
. Architect Frank Furness
is believed to have designed the Emlen Physick Estate
, but may have otherwise visited Cape May only as a vacationer. Otherwise most of the buildings were built and designed by local builders in the vernacular
style, borrowing from older buildings, pattern books and fashionable architects alike.
Several fires destroyed portions of the town and the mostly wooden, frame-built houses. The fire of 1873 destroyed about half the town, but many buildings were quickly rebuilt. This fire gave a particular boost to Button's career, and many of the local builders appear to have copied Button's style at this time.
From about 1900-1920 larger bungalows and mansions were built, especially Beach Avenue on the eastern end of town. Having lost its transportation advantage with the coming of the railroad and the automobile, Cape May fell out of fashion as a popular resort. Atlantic City became the popular New Jersey beach resort in the 1920s and in the 1950s and 1960s the automobile-oriented Wildwoods
, just north of Cape May, became a strong competitor, with its own distinctive architecture
.
The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1970, and then listed as a National Historic Landmark
District in 1976. The NRHP nomination form does not include an inventory of the buildings in the district, but rather refers to about 20 buildings that were documented by drawings or photographs by the Historic American Buildings Survey
(HABS). HABS now lists about 70 buildings in the district.
Architectural historians George E. Thomas and Carl Doebley list 100 significant buildings in their 1976 book Cape May, Queen of the Seaside Resorts: Its History and Architecture.
in the district include the following. Original construction dates may be approximate.
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States...
. The city claims to be America's first seaside resort and has numerous buildings in the Late Victorian style
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
, including the Eclectic, Stick, and Shingle styles
Shingle Style architecture
The Shingle style is an American architectural style made popular by the rise of the New England school of architecture, which eschewed the highly ornamented patterns of the Eastlake style in Queen Anne architecture....
, as well as the later Bungalow style. According to National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
architectural historian Carolyn Pitts, "Cape May has one of the largest collections of late 19th century frame buildings left in the United States... that give it a homogeneous architectural character, a kind of textbook of vernacular American building."
Geography
The City of Cape May sits at the south end of Cape May Peninsula which divides the Atlantic OceanAtlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
from the Delaware Bay
Delaware Bay
Delaware Bay is a major estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the Northeast seaboard of the United States whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware...
. Cape May Point, about two miles west of the City of Cape May, borders the Bay, while Cape May City borders the Ocean. Cape Island Creek, a tidal "creek" and marsh, originally divided the site of the city from the rest of Cape May, but its southern end has long been covered with landfill. The Cape May Canal
Cape May Canal
The Cape May Canal is a waterway that stretches nearly three miles from Cape May Harbor to the Delaware Bay, at the southern tip of Cape May County, New Jersey. The canal was constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers during World War II to provide a protected route to avoid German...
, built in 1942, now divides both Cape May City and Cape May Point from the rest of the peninsula.
History of Cape May
Cape May was first discovered by Europeans by Henry HudsonHenry Hudson
Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...
on August 28, 1609. He landed on the shore of Delaware Bay a few miles north of Cape May Point before returning to the Atlantic Ocean.
Cornelius Mey explored the area further in 1621 for the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
and by May, 1630 Samuel Godyn and Samuel Blommaert bought land for the Dutch from Native Americans covering the southern four miles of the Cape.
In 1632 the Dutch established a fishing and whaling settlement in the area, but by 1638 colonists from New England had moved in. By the 1660s the English gained control and Daniel Coxe, a London Quaker, organized a government in 1687.
Early settlers worked in the lumber, shipbuilding, whaling, fishing and shellfish industries. A road along the coast built in 1796 helped establish the hamlet of Cape May.
The early emergence of Cape May as a summer resort was due to easy transport by water from Philadelphia to the Atlantic Ocean. Early Cape May vacationers were carried to the town on sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
s from Philadelphia, and water transport was also easy from New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and points south. Southerners later became a large proportion of summer vacationers. The resort business in Cape May began to thrive when regular steamboat traffic on the Delaware River began after the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, carrying passengers from Philadelphia and New Castle, Delaware
New Castle, Delaware
New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, six miles south of Wilmington, situated on the Delaware River. In 1900, 3,380 people lived here; in 1910, 3,351...
. Commodore Stephen Decatur
Stephen Decatur
Stephen Decatur, Jr. , was an American naval officer notable for his many naval victories in the early 19th century. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland, Worcester county, the son of a U.S. Naval Officer who served during the American Revolution. Shortly after attending college Decatur...
made his summer home at the Atlantic Hotel about this time. The predecessor of the Congress Hall Hotel
Congress Hall (Cape May hotel)
Congress Hall is a historic hotel in Cape May, New Jersey occupying a city block bordered on the south by Beach Avenue and on the east by Washington Street Mall....
was opened in 1816 by Thomas Hughes. It took its current name in 1828, when Hughes was elected to Congress. In 1830 a visitor wrote that
Early visitors included Henry Clay
Henry Clay
Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
in 1847, and Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
in 1849. Serving Presidents who visited included Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...
(1855), James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
(1858), Ulysses Grant (1873), Chester Arthur (1883), and Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
(1889). Harrison made Congress Hall his Summer White House. From the 1850s through the 1880s up to 3,000 visitors arrived each day during the summer season. Newport, Rhode Island, Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
and Long Branch, New Jersey
Long Branch, New Jersey
Long Branch is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 30,719.Long Branch was formed on April 11, 1867, as the Long Branch Commission, from portions of Ocean Township...
were the town's main rivals in the summer resort business, as Cape May's reputation rose and fell with the whims of fashion.
During the 1850s summer cottages were first built and the construction of large hotels continued. Thomas U. Walter
Thomas U. Walter
Thomas Ustick Walter of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was an American architect, the dean of American architecture between the 1820 death of Benjamin Latrobe and the emergence of H.H. Richardson in the 1870s...
, the Architect of the Capitol
Architect of the Capitol
The Architect of the Capitol is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex, and also the head of that agency. The Architect of the Capitol is in the legislative branch and is responsible to the United States...
, designed an addition to the Columbia Hotel. The Mount Vernon Hotel, which was designed to be the largest hotel in the world burned down in 1856, however, before its completion. Competition from Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
appeared in 1854 with the construction of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. Cape May was not connected to Philadelphia by rail until the completion of the Cape May & Millville Railroad in the mid 1860s.
Architect Stephen Decatur Button
Stephen Decatur Button
Stephen Decatur Button was an American architect and a pioneer in the use of metal-frame construction for masonry buildings...
began designing buildings in Cape May in 1863 when he remodeled and expanded the Columbia Hotel. During the next thirty years he designed over forty buildings in the town. His best known buildings there include the John McCreary House (1869-70), Jackson's Clubhouse (1872), the Stockton Cottages (1872), the Windsor Hotel (1879) and the Atlantic Terrace Houses (1891-92). Plans for the George Allen House are believed to have been taken from a pattern book by Samuel Sloan
Samuel Sloan
Samuel Sloan was a Philadelphia-based architect and best-selling author of architecture books in the mid-19th century. He specialized in Italianate villas and country houses, churches, and institutional buildings...
. Architect Frank Furness
Frank Furness
Frank Heyling Furness was an acclaimed American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his eclectic, muscular, often idiosyncratically scaled buildings, and for his influence on the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan...
is believed to have designed the Emlen Physick Estate
Emlen Physick Estate
The Emlen Physick Estate is a Victorian house museum in Cape May, New Jersey, located at 1048 Washington Street. The 18-room mansion, attributed to acclaimed American architect Frank Furness, was built in 1879 for Dr. Emlen Physick Jr. , descendant of a well-known Philadelphia family, his widowed...
, but may have otherwise visited Cape May only as a vacationer. Otherwise most of the buildings were built and designed by local builders in the vernacular
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
style, borrowing from older buildings, pattern books and fashionable architects alike.
Several fires destroyed portions of the town and the mostly wooden, frame-built houses. The fire of 1873 destroyed about half the town, but many buildings were quickly rebuilt. This fire gave a particular boost to Button's career, and many of the local builders appear to have copied Button's style at this time.
From about 1900-1920 larger bungalows and mansions were built, especially Beach Avenue on the eastern end of town. Having lost its transportation advantage with the coming of the railroad and the automobile, Cape May fell out of fashion as a popular resort. Atlantic City became the popular New Jersey beach resort in the 1920s and in the 1950s and 1960s the automobile-oriented Wildwoods
The Wildwoods
The Wildwoods are a group of five municipalities in Cape May County, New Jersey, all of which are situated on the Island of Five Mile Beach, a barrier island facing the Atlantic Ocean...
, just north of Cape May, became a strong competitor, with its own distinctive architecture
Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District
The Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District, or Doo Wop Motel District, is an area in The Wildwoods, New Jersey, that was home to over 200 motels built during the Doo-Wop era of the 1950s and 1960s...
.
The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1970, and then listed as a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
District in 1976. The NRHP nomination form does not include an inventory of the buildings in the district, but rather refers to about 20 buildings that were documented by drawings or photographs by the Historic American Buildings Survey
Historic American Buildings Survey
The Historic American Buildings Survey , Historic American Engineering Record , and Historic American Landscapes Survey are programs of the National Park Service established for the purpose of documenting historic places. Records consists of measured drawings, archival photographs, and written...
(HABS). HABS now lists about 70 buildings in the district.
Architectural historians George E. Thomas and Carl Doebley list 100 significant buildings in their 1976 book Cape May, Queen of the Seaside Resorts: Its History and Architecture.
Selected contributing properties
Contributing propertiesContributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
in the district include the following. Original construction dates may be approximate.
| Name | Image | Address | Date | Architect | Builder | Notes | T&D reference | HABS reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38°55′52"N 74°55′57"W |
1886 | Unknown | Ware and Eldredge | In the Mt. Vernon tract | 43 | |||
38°56′8"N 74°55′8"W |
1863-64 | Plans from Samuel Sloan | Henry Phillipps | An elegant Italianate Italianate architecture The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and... villa, called "one of the State's most impressive 19th-century seaside structures." |
NJ0012 | |||
| Arlington Hotel | Grant and North Streets 38°55′52"N 74°55′39"W |
1878 | Unknown | Joseph Q. Williams | Also known as Huntington House. | 25 | NJ0928 | |
| Atlantic Terrace Houses | 38°55′52"N 74°55′21"W |
1891-92 | Stephen Decatur Button | William Cassedy | Seven essentially identical balloon frame houses built on the site of the Atlantic Hotel. Three stories in height, with a one story porch and a bay window with an ogee roof at the second story, they face an off-street courtyard. | NJ0013 | ||
| 38°55′56"N 74°54′52"W |
1895 | Frank Gugert | Unknown | 53 | NJ0938 | |||
| Baltimore Hotel | 38°56′2"N 74°55′8"W |
1867 or later | Unknown | Unknown | In 1896 the Episcopal church established the Girls Friendly Society here. | |||
| Beirn's Cottage | 38°55′50"N 74°55′23"W |
1879 | Enos Williams | Enos Williams | AKA Avenue House. | 29 | ||
| 38°56′9"N 74°53′55"W |
1911 | Frank Seeburger | Unknown | Georgian Revival style Colonial Revival architecture The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own... with two-story porches. |
NJ0014 | |||
38°55′53"N 74°54′48"W |
1881-82 | Enos Williams | Williams and Cassidy | Corner tower reflects the influence of the J. McCreary house. | 33 | NJ0952 | ||
| Cape Island Baptist Church (1916) | 38°55′56"N 74°55′09"W |
1916 | Ferdinand Witt | Winchester Bonham | 67 | NJ0954 | ||
| Cape Island Presbyterian Church (1853) | 38°56′1"N 74°55′24"W |
1853 | Unknown | Peter Hand | Wooden construction with an "onion-style" cupola Cupola In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.... . First of two churches built by the congregation. |
NJ0016 | ||
| Cape Island Presbyterian Church (1898) | Hughes and Decatur 38°55′55"N 74°55′18"W |
1898 | Isaac Purcell | George West | Third church built by the congregation and currently used by it. | |||
| Cape May City Firehouse | 1875 | none | Enos Williams | Across the street from the current fire station | 19 | NJ0354 | ||
| Cape May High School | Washington St. | 1917 | Henry Vaughn | William Porter | Now used as city hall | 68 | ||
| Carroll Villa | 38°55′52"N 74°55′21"W |
1882 additions 1892 and 1895 |
Unknown | Charles Shaw for George Hildreth. | Eclectic Victorian style with Italianate Italianate architecture The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and... motifs. Named for Charles Carroll Charles Carroll of Carrollton Charles Carroll of Carrollton was a wealthy Maryland planter and an early advocate of independence from Great Britain. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and later as United States Senator for Maryland... to attract clientele from Maryland. |
NJ0017 | ||
| Chalfonte Hotel | NW corner of Howard and Sewell St. 38°55′58"N 74°55′5"W |
1875, 1876, 1879, 1888, etc. | Unknown | C.Shaw, D.D. Moore & Sons, and others | Originally built for Henry Sawyer. "Cape May's oldest and most ornate large hotel." | NJ0018 | ||
| 1888 | Unknown | Hand and Ware | Shingled walls and gable and turned porch posts. | 44 | ||||
| Cold Spring Life Saving Station | 38°55′57"N 74°54′33"W |
1890 | Unknown | Unknown | Now Kiwanis Club | 47 | ||
| Colonial Hotel | 38°55′50"N 74°55′9"W |
1894-95 | William and C.S. Church | William and C.S. Church | South wing added 1905. | NJ0019 | ||
| Congress Hall Congress Hall (Cape May hotel) Congress Hall is a historic hotel in Cape May, New Jersey occupying a city block bordered on the south by Beach Avenue and on the east by Washington Street Mall.... |
38°55′51"N 74°55′28"W |
1879 | J.F. Meyer | Richard Dobbins | Three-story veranda with mansard roof Mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret... . Very large hotel visited by several presidents, including Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there... who had offices here in 1891. Third hotel on the site. S.D. Button addition 1880. |
NJ0020 | ||
| Cook's Villa | 38°55′51"N 74°55′24"W |
1879 | Unknown | Wiliam L. Cummings | Second Empire style, with two-story porch with pierced tile trimming. Also known as Fryer's Cottage. | 28 | NJ0021 | |
| Denizot's Ocean View House | Decatur and Beach Avenues 38°55′50"N 74°55′16"W |
1879 | Unknown | Unknown | 27 | NJ0930 | ||
| Ebbitt House | 38°55′53"N 74°55′21"W |
1879 | Enos Williams | Enos Williams | Also known as Virginia Cottage. | 30 | ||
| 38°55′54"N 74°55′31"W |
1882-83 | Stephen Decatur Button | Joseph Stretch | Simple proportions and horizontal form typical of Button. | NJ0512 | |||
38°55′53"N 74°55′35"W |
1870-71 | Stephen Decatur Button | Hand and Ware | 13 | NJ0934 | |||
| First Baptist Church | 38°56′8"N 74°55′16"W |
1879 | C.H. Brown | Charles Shaw | Congregation moved to Cape Island Baptist Church in 1916. This building became the Franklin Street United Methodist Church, and is now condominium Condominium A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights... s. One story built in the Gothic Revival style. The spire was destroyed by lightening in the early 20th century. |
NJ0015 | ||
38°56′11"N 74°53′48"W |
1910-11 | J.A. Dempwald | Original cost $35,000 | 58 | ||||
38°55′59"N 74°55′49"W |
1870 | Unknown | R.J.Dobbins | Owned, but not designed, by famous architect Frank Furness Frank Furness Frank Heyling Furness was an acclaimed American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his eclectic, muscular, often idiosyncratically scaled buildings, and for his influence on the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan... |
10 | |||
38°55′55"N 74°55′22"W |
1882-83 | Charles Shaw | Charles Shaw | Originally identical to the Hildreth Cottage. | 38 | NJ0943 | ||
| 1888 or 1889 | Unknown | Unknown | 45 | NJ0946 | ||||
| 38°55′55"N 74°54′48"W |
1914 | Unknown | Otis Townsend | 63 | ||||
| 38°56′07"N 74°54′15"W |
1912 | Unknown | Sherman Sharp | First and most expensive of 5 similar houses. | 60 | |||
38°56′03"N 74°54′25"W |
1912 | Lloyd Titus | Unknown | Eclectic style. | ||||
38°55′54"N 74°55′14"W |
1881-82 | Unknown | Unknown | Conservative, symmetrical, but rich design. | 37 | NJ0935 | ||
| 1868 | Unknown | Unknown | NJ0686 | |||||
| 1916 | Dehmond, Ashmead, Bickley | Sherman Sharp | Built on Cape May Real Estate Co. land after its liquidation. | 66 | ||||
38°55′57"N 74°55′30"W |
1879-80 | Enos Williams | Samuel Colladay | Typical Gothic Revival center-gabled cottage with elaborate porch. | ||||
| Harrison, Warne and Morris Houses | 38°55′56"N 74°55′11"W |
1867-68 | Stephen Decatur Button | Hand and Ware | All similar except that the Morris House has cast iron used on the porch. | NJ0942 | ||
38°56′08"N 74°54′11"W |
1914 | Ferdinand Witt | York Brothers | Six bedrooms, 3 boths, 3 servant rooms and a garage with chauffer's quarters. | ||||
38°55′52"N 74°55′20"W |
1882 | None | Charles Shaw | Hexagonal porch reflects Button's influence. | NJ0022 | |||
38°56′12"N 74°55′07"W |
1885 | Unknown | Francis Duke | 40 | ||||
| 1910-11 | Frank Seeburger | Metzger and Wells | Interesting double gable. Original cost $20,000. | 57 | ||||
| House at 10 Broadway | 38°55′51"N 74°55′53"W |
Unknown | Unknown | NJ0929 | ||||
| House at 815 Kearney | 38°55′52"N 74°55′20"W |
Unknown | Unknown | Shingle style. | NJ0925 | |||
| House at 817 Kearney | 38°55′52"N 74°55′20"W |
Unknown | Unknown | Shingle style. | NJ0924 | |||
| 38°55′54"N 74°55′30"W |
1881, renovated in 1890s | Unknown | George Stretch | 1890s addition added plumbing and ornament. | 35 | NJ0862 | ||
| Jackson's Clubhouse | 38°55′58"N 74°55′9"W |
1872 | Stephen Decatur Button | Hand and Ware | Originally a gambling club. "S.D. Button's finest surviving design in Cape May." | NJ0025 | ||
| Columbia and Franklin 38°56′02"N 74°55′04"W |
1899-1900 | Unknown | York Bros. | Colonial Revival style, with some decorative millwork. | 52 | |||
| 1913-14 | Unknown | Sherman Sharp | Several features indicate a new "East Cape May" style. | 62 | ||||
| 38°55′54"N 74°55′26"W |
1882 | Unknown | Unknown | Moved from 225 Congress St. in 1970. Now known as the Pink House. "A tour de force in decorative millwork." | NJ0026 | |||
38°55′53"N 74°55′32"W |
1882-83 | Stephen Decatur Button | Unknown | Nearly identical to the Evans House next door. | 36 | NJ0500 | ||
38°56′01"N 74°55′04"W |
1879 | Unknown | Unknown | Permanent awning a recent addition. | 31 | |||
| 1895 | Unknown | Ware and Eldredge | Tiny cottage (on left in photo) with complex front. Roseman Cottage on the right. | 51 | ||||
| 38°55′54"N 74°55′34"W |
1887 | Charles Collum | Unknown | Queen Anne style. | ||||
| 38°55′52"N 74°54′56"W |
1870 | Unknown | Unknown | Stone basement and porch with Doric columns added 1905. | 14 | NJ0028 | ||
| Kearney and Jefferson Streets 38°55′58"N 74°54′56"W |
1875 | Unknown | Unknown | Moved from Ocean and Columbia Ave. around 1900 | 23 | |||
| Macomber Hotel | 38°55′52"N 74°55′1"W |
1919 or later | Unknown | Unknown | Reflects the "quiet middle-class resort of the 1920s." | 69 | NJ0024 | |
| 1868-72 | Peter McCollum (possibly) | Richard Souder (probably) | A basic formula was used by developer Peter McCollum, usually with contractor Richard Souder. After one house was built and sold, another would be built nearby. | |||||
38°55′52"N 74°55′20"W |
1882 or later | Unknown | Unknown | Sophisticated form, possibly from a Philadelphia architect. | 39 | NJ0033 | ||
| 1873 | Stephen Decatur Button | Ware and Eldridge | 18 | |||||
| 38°55′56"N 74°55′10"W |
1869-70 | Stephen Decatur Button | Richard Dobbins | Also known as the Christian Science Society. | NJ0030 | |||
38°55′54"N 74°54′45"W |
1922-1924 | Zantzinger, Borie, and Medary attributed |
W.L. Cummings attributed |
Known locally as the "Mae West house" due to its protruding porches. | 70 | NJ0951 | ||
| 38°55′52"N 74°55′11"W |
1888 | Charles Shaw | Charles Shaw | 46 | ||||
38°55′54"N 74°54′47"W |
1912 | Brochie and Hastings | Sherman Sharp & Co. | Colonial Revival | 59 | |||
38°55′53"N 74°55′33"W |
1865-66 | Unknown | Unknown | NJ0824 | ||||
| 38°55′52"N 74°55′35"W |
1865-66 | Unknown | Unknown | Converted from a stable into a cottage. | ||||
| New Jersey Trust and Safe Deposit | 38°56′0"N 74°55′17"W |
1895 | Thomas Stephens | Samuel Wiley | Small Renaissance Revival style first used as a bank, then as city hall, now as a store. | NJ0031 | ||
| New York Ave. Development House | 1909-11 | C.E. Shermerhorn (possibly) | Unknown | One of 21 originally identical houses, all modified in 1916. | 56 | |||
| 1895 | Unknown | George Ogden (probably) | Ogden was a lumberyard operator and contractor. He may have sold the "standard gingerbread" elements from his lumberyard. | 48 | ||||
| 1896 or later | Unknown | Unknown | Similar in design to Aaron Roseman Cottage | 49 | ||||
 |
38°56′26"N 74°54′52"W |
1878-79 | Frank Furness Frank Furness Frank Heyling Furness was an acclaimed American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his eclectic, muscular, often idiosyncratically scaled buildings, and for his influence on the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan... (attributed) |
Charles Shaw | Very similar to Furness's William Rhawn House (1879) in Philadelphia. | NJ0034 | ||
| Potts Cottage | 38°55′56"N 74°55′17"W |
1881 | Unknown | Unknown | Tiny cottage with an elaborately infilled gable. | 32 | NJ0937 | |
| 38°56′15"N 74°53′48"W |
1914-15 | Unknown | Russell Robinson | One of 6 adjoining houses, all built on speculation. | 64 | |||
38°55′56"N 74°55′21"W |
1895-96 | Unknown | Walter Peterman | Similar in construction to Parker Cottage. | 50 | NJ0957 | ||
| St. John's Episcopal Church Episcopal Church of the Advent / St. John's Chapel The Episcopal Church of the Advent / St. John's Chapel is an historic Carpenter Gothic style Episcopal church building located at Franklin and Washington streets in Cape May, New Jersey. Its board and batten siding, steep roofs, lancet windows and rose window are distinguishing features of... |
Washington and Franklin St. 38°56′5"N 74°55′11"W |
1867-68 | Henry Sims | Richard Souder | Original stain glass windows by I.C. Spence of Montreal. | NJ0036 | ||
| St. Mary's Catholic Church | Washington and Ocean Streets 38°56′0"N 74°55′16"W |
1911 | George Lovett | William McShane | Norman revival. Ceiling decorated with stars. | NJ0949 | ||
| 38°56′45"N 74°54′42"W |
1860 | Unknown | Unknown | 2 story octagon house Octagon house Octagon houses were a unique house style briefly popular in the 1850s in the United States and Canada. They are characterised by an octagonal plan, and often feature a flat roof and a veranda all round... with Italianate details. |
20 | NJ0032 | ||
38°55′58"N 74°55′46"W |
1870 | Unknown | R.J. Dobbins | Built or sponsored by the West Jersey Railroad. | 11 | |||
38°56′10"N 74°53′54"W |
1912 | Zantzinger, Borie & Medary | William Cummings | NJ0950 | ||||
38°56′4"N 74°54′11"W |
1906-07 | Lloyd Titus | William Cummings | First owner also was president of Cape May Real Estate Company. | ||||
38°55′58"N 74°55′10"W |
1870 | Unknown | Unknown | |||||
38°55′56"N 74°55′39"W |
1877 | Unknown | Unknown | Also known as Dolores Cottage. | 24 | |||
| 1885 or earlier | Unknown | Unknown | In the Mt. Vernon tract. Developed by Mark Devine. Porch added later. | 42 | ||||
| Star Villa | 38°56′04"N 74°54′10"W |
1884-85 and later additions | Collins and Autenreich | Ware and Eldridge | Fourth floor built 1893 above the mansard roof. | NJ0963 | ||
38°56′11"N 74°53′57"W |
1906 | R.E. White | Metzgers and White | 55 | ||||
| 1851 | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 1869-70 | Unknown | Hoffman and Williams | ||||||
| Stockton Cottages | 38°55′54"N 74°55′9"W |
1872 | Stephen Decatur Button | Harden and Bro. | Lavish exteriors, simple interiors. All very similar except for larger porches on 26-30. | NJ0039 | ||
| 1872-73 | Stephen Decatur Button | Joseph Q. Williams | 16 | |||||
38°55′52"N 74°54′58"W |
1872-73 | Stephen Decatur Button | Hand and Ware | Also known as Stockton Manor | 17 | NJ0944 | ||
| 38°56′6"N 74°54′22"W |
1915 | Unknown | Unknown | On long narrow lot. Built by carpenter-developer Townsend. | 65 | |||
| 1913-14 | Duhring, Okie, and Ziegler | Thompson, Dickson, & Co. | Colonial Revival | 61 | ||||
38°56′27"N 74°55′0"W |
1870 | Unknown | Unknown | Modernized in 1898 by McCollin and Fast. | 12 | NJ0140 | ||
| 38°55′55"N 74°55′13"W |
1876 | Unknown | Unknown | 22 | NJ0955 | |||
| 1868 or later | Unknown | Probably J. S. Ware | NJ0825 | |||||
38°56′20"N 74°55′01"W |
1876 | Enos Williams | Enos Williams | 21 | ||||
| Trenton Ave. near Beach 38°56′06"N 74°54′13"W |
1881-82 (alteration) | Unknown | Ware and Eldredge (alteration) | Moved from Washington and Franklin to Ocean and Beach avenues, then to Reading Avenue. | 34 | NJ0947 | ||
| 1885 | Unknown | Unknown | 41 | |||||
| 1901 | Unknown | William L. Cummings | 54 | |||||
| Windsor Hotel | Beach Drive between Congress and Windsor 38°55′49"N 74°55′30"W |
1879 | Stephen Decatur Button Stephen Decatur Button Stephen Decatur Button was an American architect and a pioneer in the use of metal-frame construction for masonry buildings... |
Hoover and Hughes | Built immediately after 1878 fire. The fourth floor and elevator were added in 1899. | NJ0004 | ||
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Cape May County, New Jersey
- Victorian architectureVictorian architectureThe term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
- Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic DistrictWildwoods Shore Resort Historic DistrictThe Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District, or Doo Wop Motel District, is an area in The Wildwoods, New Jersey, that was home to over 200 motels built during the Doo-Wop era of the 1950s and 1960s...
External links
- Touring Historic Cape May, accessed 2010-06-28