Follow
Please add profiles of thosew ho were born, lived or died in Cape May County, New Jersey.
Official Website
Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on the Cape May Peninsula, bounded by the Delaware Bay to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are five barrier islands that have been built up as seaside resorts. A consistently popular summer destination with 30 miles of beaches, Cape May County attracts vacationers from New Jersey and surrounding states. Its county seat is the Cape May Court House section of Middle Township.
Before the county was settled by Europeans, the indigenous Kechemeche tribe of the Lenape people inhabited South Jersey. Beginning in 1609, European explorers purchased land from, and contributed to the decline of, the indigenous people. The county was named for Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, a Dutch captain who explored and charted the area from 1620–1621, and established a claim for the province of New Netherland. In 1685, the court of Cape May County was split from neighboring Burlington County, although the boundaries were not set until seven years later. In 1690, Cape May (originally known as Cape Island) was founded, becoming America's oldest seaside resort. The county was subdivided into three townships in 1798 – Lower, Middle, and Upper.
Cape May grew independently as America's oldest bathing resort by 1765, leading to the city's current motto "The Nation's Oldest Seashore Resort". Amid the British blockade of the Delaware Bay in the American Revolutionary War, two British ships pursued and attacked the American brig Nancy, which fled to the coast at Turtle Gut Inlet (located in Wildwood Crest today). The Nancy was abandoned and sabotaged, killing at least 30 British sailors when the brig exploded after they boarded. The Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet on June 29, 1776 was the only Revolutionary War battle fought in the county.
During the War of 1812, British forces raided farms in the county for food and fresh water. In retaliation, residents dug canals to the ocean, making the water no longer drinkable.
Adjacent Counties
Municipalities
- Avalon
- Cape May
- Cape May Point
- Dennis Township
- Lower Township
- Middle Township (County Seat)
- North Wildwood
- Ocean City
- Sea Isle City
- Stone Harbor
- Upper Township
- West Cape May
- West Wildwood
- Wildwood
- Wildwood Crest
- Woodbine
Cemeteries
Links
National Register of Historic Places
Cape May County Museum & Genealogical Library
Greater Cape May Historical Society
The History of Cape May County, New Jersey: From the Aboriginal Times to the Present Day by Lewis Townsend Stevens, published 1897 (a Google Book)
