If you think they’ve been doing a lot of new building in Wildwood lately, you should have been here when the Baker boys ran the place. The Bakers, Phillip, Jacob, and Latimer, were successful businesspeople in far away Vineland in the late 19th century. But like most successful entrepreneurs, they were men of vision and their vision directed their gaze to the Jersey shore in remote and wild Cape May County.
Where farmers saw an inhospitable environment not even fit to graze cattle, the Bakers saw wide beaches and a kind of exotic beauty that would transform a sand bar into a bustling resort town.
They cleared the forests. Yeah, Wildwood had forests in those days. Then they hired a bunch of big game hunters and got rid of a herd of wild cattle that had been running amok along the beaches, setting an example that would be emulated by generations of later young visitors to the island during an annual rite of passage known as high school senior week. After about 500 head of cattle were killed and the island’s first barbecue festival enjoyed, the Bakers began laying out building lots.
Along with a few other risk takers who would eventually have streets named in their honor, the Bakers formed the Holly Beach Improvement Company, incorporated in 1885. Seeing that they had a good thing started, the brothers acquired land to the north and organized a second land development company. This one included the name “Wildwood” because there was still considerable forest on their little spit of sand. That’s why the streets they laid out in that area were given names like Oak, Maple, Cedar, and Poplar in honor of the trees they caused to disappear.
After further taming the wilderness, clearing away snakes, and filling in a lake that had the audacity to occupy some prime real estate in the center of their aspiring paradise, Holly Beach and Wildwood decided to unite and form the city of Wildwood. That happened in 1911.
Jacob Thompson Baker was the first mayor and served until 1913 when he went off to Washington to join the 63rd Congress as a Democrat, one of few of that species to ever be elected in Wildwood.
The Bakers did other stuff, like getting things organized to the south of Wildwood in a place that would eventually become Wildwood Crest.
J. Thompson built a house for himself at 3008 Atlantic Ave. There he hosted luminaries of the era, including President Woodrow Wilson and Champ Clark, the Nancy Pelosi of his era, in his capacity as Speaker of the House.
The Bakers are gone but the house remains and today, in addition to serving as a dramatic architectural counterpoint to all the condos that have sprung up around it, serves as clubhouse for the Wildwood Civic Club.
The Civic Club has worked hard over the years, raising money for ongoing restoration of the house. In the last five years, according to Joan Husband, publicity chair for the club, four of the house’s six bedrooms have been painstakingly restored and the work continues. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
The public is invited to tour the house on Wednesday, Aug. 22 from 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. The tour is free but donations will be accepted and put to good use in keeping this small remaining piece of the old Wildwood alive and kicking like wild cattle running along a free beach. Call 522-3044 for more information.
What’s On Deck?
Sports Card, Toys, Comics and Collectibles Show
The Wildwoods Convention Center is set to host the final installment of the Sports Card, Toys, Comics and Collectibles Show of the summer. Running from Aug. 17 to Aug. 19, the doors are open on Friday from 3 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This is a free, one of a kind show, which offers over 100 tables chockfull of the hottest collectibles on the planet. Included in the show you’ll find: sports cards (old and new), toys, comic books, starting line-ups, McFarlane figures, non-sports cards, Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic, Beanie Babies, wax boxes, supplies, autographed memorabilia, sets, posters, coins, t-shirts and so much more!
If you’re a collector of any kind, you’ve found your dream show.
Stone Harbor – Could the North Wildwood spouter tell us what kind of company he refers to that has already gotten tariff increases. Waiting for the reply spout!
