1893 Map of Cape May

About this map

The tip of the Jersey Shore appears as a complex landscape of tidal marshes and emerging resort communities in this late 19th-century survey. Cape May City and West Cape May anchor the southern peninsula, while the Atlantic coast shows early development at Holly Beach and Anglesea. This era is defined by the heavy presence of the Life-Saving Service, with stations placed at critical maritime points including L.S. Station Bay Shore and L.S. Station Turtle Gut. Transportation networks are dominated by specialized rail lines such as the Cape May and Sewells Point R.R. and the Delaware Bay and Cape May R.R., which connected the towns to the shore. The interior remains largely dominated by expansive wetlands like Jarvis Sound and Grassy Sound, separated from the ocean by barrier islands like Five Mile Beach and Two Mile Beach.