When Was Cape May Established? The Story Behind All Those Dates

A Cape May hoodie says "Est. 1867." A Cape May hat says "Est. 1857." They were photographed together in a local Facebook discussion, prompting a deceptively simple question: When was Cape May actually established?

The answer depends on what "established" means. People lived on this land long before there was a vacation destination or a city government. Cape May then developed as a seaside resort, became a borough called Cape Island, incorporated as a city, and eventually adopted the Cape May City name.

If you mean its first municipal incorporation, the date is March 8, 1848. If you mean incorporation as a city, it is March 10, 1851. If you mean the adoption of the Cape May City name, it is March 9, 1869. Neither 1857 nor 1867 is one of those three documented municipal milestones, and I could not verify what the dates on the hat and hoodie were intended to represent.

Before Cape May was a resort

The story does not begin with a municipal charter. The City of Cape May's history identifies the Kechemeche people of the Lenape as the peninsula's earliest inhabitants. European exploration and settlement came later, followed by fishing, whaling, and farming.

That matters when we ask when Cape May was "founded." A date on a souvenir can mark a government action or a tourism milestone. It cannot mark the beginning of the place's human history.

How Cape Island became a seaside destination

The city traces Cape Island's development as a place people visited for health and pleasure to 1766. Early visitors came from Philadelphia by land and water and stayed in modest lodging. By the nineteenth century, boarding houses and larger hotels were drawing travelers from major East Coast cities.

That long resort history is why Cape May calls itself "The Nation's Oldest Seashore Resort." The resort's beginnings came decades before Cape Island had its own borough government. Read the city's account of its early resort history.

Cape May's key dates at a glance

The incorporation dates appear in the City of Cape May's planning documents. The city recounts the resort era and 1878 fire in its historical overview.

What about 1857 and 1867?

The hat and hoodie sparked a fun question, but an "Est." date on merchandise does not tell us what event its designer had in mind. The documented sequence of borough incorporation, city incorporation, and renaming does not include either 1857 or 1867.

The years sit within Cape May's busy nineteenth-century history. The city notes a hotel fire in 1857, for example, and the resort continued to change after the Civil War. Those facts do not establish a connection to either item of clothing. Without information from the designers or sellers, the reason for their chosen dates remains unknown.

There is another nearby date that can add to the confusion: the Cape May Lighthouse dates to 1859. It stands in Cape May Point State Park, outside Cape May City, and its construction date is not a founding date for the city. Cape May MAC shares the lighthouse's history.

The fire that helped shape the Cape May we see today

Cape May's Victorian character is about more than the age of its buildings. According to the city, the 1878 fire destroyed 35 acres of the resort area. Rebuilding brought homes and businesses in styles including Queen Anne and Gothic Revival.

Preservation later became another defining part of Cape May's story. The Cape May Historic District received National Historic Landmark designation in 1976, recognizing the importance of the city's historic architecture. In 2026, Cape May is marking both the 175th anniversary of its 1851 city incorporation and the 50th anniversary of that landmark designation. See the city's anniversary announcement.

More than one story lives in Cape May

It is easy to tell Cape May's history entirely through hotels, vacationers, and Victorian porches. The city also highlights the area's Kechemeche Lenape history and the contributions of its African American community. The National Park Service describes Cape May's ties to Harriet Tubman, Stephen Smith, and Black abolitionist networks.

Those stories deserve a place alongside the resort timeline. They help explain the people and communities behind the streets and buildings we see today.

So, which date should go on a Cape May shirt?

1848 is the documented choice if "established" means the first incorporation of the municipality, then called Cape Island borough. 1851 marks its incorporation as a city. 1869 marks the Cape May City name. 1766 points to the beginning of its documented development as a seaside resort.

As for 1857 and 1867? They make for a conversation starter, but I would not label either one the founding year without evidence of what the merchandise makers meant.

Perhaps that is the best part of the question: Cape May has enough history that one date was never going to tell the whole story.

I'm Derek Doernbach with Your Jersey Shore Team at Century 21 Action Plus Realty. I enjoy exploring the stories behind the South Jersey communities I serve. If you're considering a move in Cape May County, I'd be glad to help you get to know the area and its homes.