Cape May As I Remember It: Part Four

This article is concentrated on Beach Drive as I remember it from the 1930s and 1940s, starting at Madison Avenue heading towards the Cove. The Montreal Motel was originally constructed as a two-story motel; a third and fourth floor were additions. The home two doors away from the motel was owned by Evelyn Johnson. This entire area was subject to flooding during a number of storms. I helped row the lifeboats to evacuate a number of people caught in a flood. During one storm, we rowed our lifeboat to Ms. Johnson’s home to evacuate her, and she said she would not leave without her two babies. We told her to quickly bring her babies as the weather was deteriorating. They were shaking and probably scared to death—just as we were when we saw them. Needless to say, we rowed as fast as we could to get to high ground.

Further down the street the Green Mill Club building was located at Howard and Beach. During the winter there was roller skating there, which was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, someone torched the building, and it burned to the ground. The Hotel Macomber had a serious fire somewhere around 1940. The entire roof was burned off. The fire department in those days was not equipped to fight a roof fire that high from the ground. They had a Model T firetruck with iron-rimmed wheels in the rear. When the truck finally reached the fire, the ladders had to be cranked up by hand. When the ladders were all extended, they were not straight but bent over. They didn’t look safe and no one would climb them.

City Pier Theater was where the arcade is now. You could hear the movie projector grinding away as you watched the picture. Dancing at the convention hall was managed by Ludy Love. You had to wear a coat and tie in order to dance. Not so today.

Across the street from Gurney Street on the promenade was originally Uncle Dave’s, then The White House Tea Room, Ocean Deck, and finally Henry’s until several years back; it is now the Mermaids Restaurant. Edgar and Mazie Errickson were owners of The White House Tea Room. Mazie was a professional bowler. She showed her skills more than once at the bowling alley on Washington Street. At the corner of Gurney and Beach was the Rug Jug gift shop, run by the Wares from West Cape May. It was moved from this location to Lafayette Street next to Elaine’s and is still a gift shop today

The Ocean View Hotel at the corner of Ocean and Beach Avenues and the Star Villa Hotel were on Ocean Street and were moved to Trenton Avenue. The Ocean View Hotel became the Angel of the Sea, and the Star Villa converted to condo units. The Lafayette Hotel on the corner of Decatur was demolished and replaced by the Marquis de Lafayette. Henri’s, on the corner of Decatur, is now Cabanas. It was a popular bar and restaurant, and has changed ownership several times in between. Across from the Marquies de Lafayette Hotel on the boardwalk was Ruth Hunt’s yarn shop. There was also a bowling alley and Sagel’s ice cream and soda parlor. All these stores within the pier and boardwalk were demolished in the 1962 storm.

If you notice on the back portion of Cabanas facing Decatur Street, there are only two stories. The building originally had four stories. In 1948, a fire in the middle of the night destroyed the two top stories. I wasn’t a volunteer firefighter then, but I went to all the fires anyway. I can remember Bill West driving the 1928 LaFrance fire engine and laying hose on Beach Drive to the nearest hydrant. (The LaFrance is now in the Firemen’s Museum on the corner of Washington and Franklin Streets). After that fire, I decided to join the fire company, and have been a member ever since.

Between Decatur and Jackson Streets was Cooley Lilly Gift Shop, Petroff’s salt water taffy and candy store and Arnold’s. I remember Jim Washington worked for Cooley Lilly for a number of years. He took the packages that had to be mailed to the post office where I worked. I met my wife at Petroff’s when I was buying one of their great hotdogs. That was the best thing that ever happened to me—not the hotdog but meeting my future wife. Arnold’s at the corner of Jackson and Beach was another summer bar and a very popular place.

Before the new stores were built between Jackson and Perry Streets, there were a number of bath houses located there. They were owned by Kitty Shields, my seventh-grade teacher. She sold the business to Steve Steger and they became a bath house, summer store and a place where he operated Steger’s Beach Service business. There were a lot of “Steger Boys” over the years. These stores were demolished and replaced by small erstores.

The next block is Congress Hall, which at one time was almost ready for the wrecking ball. It was sold to Carl McIntyre and is now owned by Curtis Bashaw, who was able to obtain the funding to restore it to its original beauty.

The Windsor Hotel is a story in itself. It was a typical historic hotel that fit right in with Cape May’s architecture. There were small pillars on the lawn connected by a wood chain. When the hotel started to deteriorate, the chain was the first thing to fall apart. Over the years, the condition of the hotel required excessive and costly repairs. I for one wished that someone would come forward and restore it. Unfortunately the hotel burned to the ground in spectacular fire in a matter of hours in 1979.

In the block between Windsor and Grant was a vacant lot. At one time there was something built on that lot; the evidence was a long a long brick wall running parallel to Beach Drive. During the summer months, I believe it was a McPherson residing in Lower Township who brought his horses to the lot and had pony rides for the children. Eventually the lot was sold, the brick wall demolished, and a motel constructed.

Where the Ocean View Restaurant is now located was the Pennsylvania Railroad summer train station. Summer visitors arrived in Cape May at this station, probably because it was close to the beach. I found a map showing that the railroad tracks to the station came down to what is now Park Boulevard across West Perry Street, Congress Street, Windsor Avenue, Grant Street, and to the station. There was an additional track that went to Cape May Point. I remember the station from when I was quite young. This was another building that went the way of the wrecking ball.

The Cape May High School athletic field was next on Beach Drive. It was called Sea View Park. There was a grandstand for spectators at the baseball field that was ready for demolition when I went to high school. The outfield for the baseball team was the football field. I really enjoyed playing on the field, because to me it was part of the tradition of Cape May.

During World War II a horse stable was constructed on part of the field. I believe it was the Coast Guard who patrolled the beaches on horses as part of the security necessary at that time. In the summer it was good duty to patrol the beaches but not so during the winter.

On Beach Drive near Broadway was the Sea Crest Inn and Colton Court Hotel. The original structures were eventually demolished and replaced by what is there today.