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609-884-1005
West Cape May NJ, a small community nestled between Cape May City and Cape
May Point, was once only a town many visitors would simply pass through
on their way to Cape May.
With new businesses geared toward a growing
tourism trade, this little residential place that was often a forgotten
section of the peninsula, is now a popular place for visitors to dine,
shop, and even stay overnight at a growing number of bed and breakfast
inns. On the way to Cape May, today, for many visitors will certainly
include a visit to the "small town next door."
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For a number of years, even before West Cape May NJ was
officially incorporated, the community was one of the few places in the United
States with a goldbeating industry. George Reeves established a branch of
Hastings, a gold beating company in Philadelphia, in 1879 at his family home
along what is now Sunset Boulevard and two years later moved it to West Cape
May. He employed a small number of "beaters," people who pounded inch or half
inch strips of gold in wafer thin sheets.
About 50 local women also worked in the gold beating
business, carefully cutting the thin sheets into squares to be sold as gold
leaf. The gold beating industry provided work for residents for years until it
succumbed to the Great Depression and laid off 55 people in the early 1930s.
A tiny street off Broadway called Goldbeaten Alley is the borough's only link to
this unique industry.
Between 1885 and 1895, a major political and economic
figure in West Cape May, James Henry Edmunds, co-partnered with businessman
Theodore Reger to form the West Cape May Improvement Company to develop lots and
streets in the newly-incorporated borough. The men also planned to advance the
resort community with the development of the Cape May Driving Park, an oval
horse (and probably bicycle) racing track located where Columbia Avenue, Fourth
Avenue, Sunset Boulevard, and Stevens Street are today in West Cape May.
However, the driving park did not enjoy the success predicted by the planners
and without the promised rail link, the grandstand built to hold 3,000
spectators attracted only a few fans.
In 1926, with talk of ferry service between New Jersey and
Delaware across the bay at a fever pitch, the county freeholders paved the Cape
Island Turnpike, a shell-covered road that linked the Point with Cape May. The
new road was named Sunset Boulevard and during excavation work the developers
uncovered burial mounds, skeletons and artifacts on old Reeves farm, once owned
by man who started the goldbeating industry on the Cape. The relics confirmed
that the earliest residents of the peninsula were Lenni Lenape Indians.
For years, West Cape May NJ was dubbed the Lima Bean Capital
of the World, a tribute to the acres of lima beans once grown on farms in the
area, especially the Rea family farm. To capitalize on this distinction, the
town inaugurated the annual Lima Bean Festival held in Wilbraham Park every
October. Highlights include crowning the Lima Bean Queen, lima bean tossing
contests, endless Lima Bean dishes and the singing of the Lima Bean Blues.
Today, visitors and residents enjoy specialty shops and businesses offering
unique services, varied accommodation styles and a variety of restaurants around
town. The area is also enjoying a resurgence of popularity as a residential
area. Quaint side streets, well-maintained homes and a quiet ambiance add to
West Cape May's charm for a leisurely stroll or a meandering bike ride.
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West Cape May Calendar of Events
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