As we celebrate Cape May County’s 325th Anniversary, we take a look back at our history and the many milestones the County has celebrated along the way. For the purpose of celebrating Cape May County’s history, we look at events that happened as early as yesterday through November 12, 1692, the date of our incorporation. To get a better understanding of the County’s beginning, we have to go a few years beyond our incorporation date, to when the first whalers from New England made settlement 1685, in New England Town, now called Townbank. Whaling drew many settlers to the area and provided a livelihood along with farming and harvesting wood for building and trade.
Before the Whalers arrived, the Kechemeche, part of the Lenni Lenape tribe of Native Americans lived in the southern portion of Cape May County and were inhabitants before the 1600s. They lived off the rich fertile land, and bounty of the sea. The Tuckahoe, another part of the Lenape Tribe settled in Upper Township, along the Tuckahoe River. The influence of the Lenni Lenape Tribe continues to be an integral part of our history and geography with paths carved out by the Lenape inhabitants still used today.
The first European settlers to the county followed the whales and stayed for whaling, fishing and farming, establishing roots along the Delaware Bay, in what is now Lower Township. Townbank in Lower Township served as the county seat until 1765, when it was moved to a more central location in Middle Township.
One of the most historic properties in Lower Township is the Cold Spring Presbyterian Church, located on Seashore Road in the Cold Spring section of Lower Township. The church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is still in use today. The current church building, known as “Old Brick”, was constructed in 1823 by Thomas H. Hughes, who was also the architect of Congress Hall in Cape May. This red brick building replaced a frame and shingle church erected in 1764, which itself replaced a 1714 log meetinghouse. It is believed that the Cold Spring Cemetery has the most Mayflower descendants anywhere outside Massachusetts. The oldest grave in the cemetery is that of Sarah Eldridge Spicer, dated 1742.
In 1723, the county was divided into three Precincts – Upper, Middle and Lower. The new settlers lived off the land and sea, building thriving communities and establishing commerce and trade along the coast. As time marched on, the settlements expanded, the county boundaries were defined, the Precincts became Townships, Boroughs were incorporated and towns carved out to create the sixteen municipalities of Cape May County.
In 1869, Cape May City was incorporate, and in 1882, it became the first seaside resort. Wildwood was reincorporated in 1912, and in 1897 Ocean City became a city. All milestones in our history and reminders of how we got where we are today.
Settlers continued to come to the county for farming, fishing and shipbuilding. Reliance on the Atlantic Ocean and the Delaware Bay provided work and was an economic driver then, and remains so today. Shipbuilding in Dennis Creek Landing and South Dennis during the 1790s turned that area of the county into a hub of maritime industry. Schooners brought manufactured goods from Philadelphia and left with cedar mined from the creek, lumber and salt hay.
The County Seal, designed in 1927, depicts a silhouette of the county, a boat on the Atlantic Ocean, thought to represent Henry Hudson’s Half Moon, who claimed the land for the Dutch, and a compass indicating the position of the County. The border of the seal has several symbols, including an anchor representing our maritime history, several fish representing our fishing industry, and a bee hive and farming equipment, representing agriculture in the County, the symbols are still relevant today.
