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About this City Journal

Cape May County is the southernmost county in New Jersey. It has been a popular tourist destination since colonial times. and the city of Cape May claims to be the nation's oldest seashore...

Entries in this City Journal

Jetty Jockey
Well, most of my hurricane preparations are complete so I figure I'll update y'all on the situation here before I lose power. At the moment, the core of the hurricane is about 100 miles offshore, and is due to hit within 4 to 6 hours. Winds at the center have increased to 90 mph, making this a potentially devastating storm. The morning's high tide brought severe flooding to the barrier island communities, and the water has risen over the Garden State Parkway and all the causeways. Those left on the islands...
Jetty Jockey
In today's update, we continue south down Delsea Drive to the Sluice Creek tile. There are many rural areas in Cape May County where there is no town, per se, so I'm getting the names of these areas from nearby landmarks (creeks, beaches, or proximity to some other town). This is one of these areas. Sluice Creek is a southern branch of Dennis Creek and in this part of the county forms the boundary between Dennis Township and Middle Township to the south. It is a tidal creek with many shallow mud flats...
Jetty Jockey
Well, most of my hurricane preparations are complete so I figure I'll update y'all on the situation here before I lose power. At the moment, the core of the hurricane is about 100 miles offshore, and is due to hit within 4 to 6 hours. Winds at the center have increased to 90 mph, making this a potentially devastating storm. The morning's high tide brought severe flooding to the barrier island communities, and the water has risen over the Garden State Parkway and all the causeways. Those left on the islands...
Jetty Jockey
Hello and happy Labor Day ! In today's update we will be visiting the town of Cape May Court House in Middle Township. Grab a snack and settle in, as this is a fairly lengthy update <CLICK ON PICS FOR LARGER IMAGES> Cape May Court House is the county seat of Cape May County, and the center of government for both the county and the township of Middle. In 1695, prominent whaler Shagmar Hand purchased over 1100 acres of land from the West Jersey Society. After the first survey by Shagmar's nephew Jeremiah,...
Jetty Jockey
Today's entry will feature Cape Island, From colonial times until the mid 20th century, the term "Cape Island " referred to the southernmost of the chain of barrier islands that extend nearly one hundred miles along the New Jersey coastline. During that time the island consisted of the land between Cape Island Creek ( lower center of the map, running south from Schellenger's Landing) and Sewell Point (western shore of Cape May Inlet). After the Cape May Canal was completed in 1942, the term "Cape Island"...
Jetty Jockey
Hello ! In today's update we will be looking at southeastern sections of Middle Township, namely the area around Whitesboro and Burleigh, the marshland on either side of the North Wildwood causeway , and Hereford Inlet. We'll begin on the Whitesboro tile, which includes southern parts of Burleigh. Garden Lake is a former sand and gravel excavation since filled with groundwater. I suspect the fill was used to construct the Garden State Parkway overpass at Exit 6 . Aaron Denny Creek runs south of the North...
Jetty Jockey
Hello ! Here it is June at the Jersey Shore and we haven't been to the beach yet. In today's update we are going offshore to Ludlam's Beach Island to visit the resort of Sea Isle City. Get comfortable, this is a fairly lengthy update . The first visitors to the island were Leni-Lenape natives, who journeyed from the mainland to fish and to collect shells for wampum, which was made from the purple lining of clam shells. Joeseph Ludlam was the first owner of the island, purchasing the land in 1692 from the...
Jetty Jockey
In today's entry , we will be looking at the Cape May County Park tile in Middle Township Located in Middle Township just north of Cape May Court House, the Cape May County Park and Zoo cover about 220 acres of woodland, ponds, and marshes. Located between US Route 9 (easternmost north - south road) and Dennisville Road ( western FAR road, CR 657), this section of the county has been set aside for the recreation of residents and tourists alike. While there is some development along US 9 and a few homes...
Jetty Jockey

2-23: Townsend's Inlet

By Jetty Jockey,

In today's update , we move back offshore to the Townsend's Inlet tile. Townsend's Inlet seperates Ludlam's Beach Island from Seven Mile Beach Island. On the northern shore is the Townsend's Inlet section of Dennis Township. South of the inlet is the northermost section of the incorporated borough of Avalon. Ocean Drive ( County Road 619) connects to Sea Isle City to the north and to downtown Avalon to the south. There are no connections to the mainland from this tile. Aerial view of Townsend's Inlet, the...
Jetty Jockey
In today's update we leave Dennis Township and continue south on US Route 9 to view the northern half of Swainton. Swainton is an unincorporated section of northeastern Middle Township. Once just rural farmland, it has in recent years been developed into a pleasant bedroom community. The older structures are along Seashore Road (US Route 9). Newer developments are on tree lined streets that branch out east and west from US Route 9. At the southern end of the tile, County Road 601 ( Avalon Boulevard) heads...
Jetty Jockey
In today's update we return to the western shore of the county, focusing on the area around Reed's Beach. It is a sparsely populated section of Middle Township, comprised mostly of salt marsh and farmland. Heading south on NJ 47 from Goshen, the road crosses Bidwell's Creek. Upstream of the bridge the creek branches, with Bidwell's Creek heading east and Skeeter Island Creek turning south. Skeeter Island ( east of the creek) is a Federal Wildlife sanctuary and access is prohibited. About a mile south of...
Jetty Jockey

2-25 : Stone Harbor

By Jetty Jockey,

In today's installment we continue south along Seven Mile Beach Island to the town of Stone Harbor. Stone Harbor was undeveloped until the middle of the 19th century. The first building, an inn, was erected in 1891 near what is now 80th Street. Seven cottages formed the original resort. It is claimed that the name came from an English seaman, Captain Stone, who sought refuge here during a storm. In 1907, the dunes were leveled and the marshes filled in, and basins were dredged from land adjacent to the...
Jetty Jockey
In today's update we continue south along Seven Mile Beach Island to the upscale resort of Avalon. < CLICK ON PICS FOR A LARGER VERSION> The island was originally covered by a thriving juniper forest, and used by the Lenni-Lenape for fishing. In 1722, Aaron Leaming purchased the land for 79 pounds, 10 shillings. It was used for grazing cattle and harvesting timber, and was uninhabited for over 100 years due to a lack of a fresh water supply. It is rumored that Captain Kidd and other pirates used the...
Jetty Jockey
In today's posting, we continue our trek south along the Delaware Bayshore. Today's focus is on western Middle Township, in particular, the town of Dias Creek and Cook's and Kimble's Beach . NJ 47 runs north to south through Dias Creek, following the track of the colonial stagecoach route. In the late 1700s and early 1800s , development of Dennis Creek and Cape Island (Cape May) brought prosperity to the tiny bayshore towns in between them. One of these was Dyer's Creek ( renamed Dias Creek at a later...
Jetty Jockey
Hello again ! It's been 3 weeks since my last post, and I've been hard at work on the region. If it seems longer than that, my journal had the misfortune of being posted behind a bugged journal and was blocked from showing up in the CJ list. In case you may have missed the Cape Island update, go back and take a look. Today's update features Five Mile Beach Island, more commonly known as the Wildwoods. Prior to 1921, it was actually two seperate islands. Two Mile Beach Island ran northward from Cold...
Jetty Jockey
Welcome ! In this installment we'll take be looking at the Seaville tile. Seaville, like Dennisville , is one of the region's "gateway" towns. A good portion of summer vacationers ( we call them "Shoobies" here) from New York and Pennsylvania enter the region from the north via the Garden State Parkway. US Route 9 and State Highway 50 are secondary routes of entry. < CLICK ON PICS FOR A LARGER VIEW > This large tile contains most of Seaville ( actually a part of Upper Township) and northern sections of...
Jetty Jockey
Hello again! Numerous real life events have taken me away from working on my journal for the past six months. I'm now ready to pick up where I left off. So without further ado, todays terraforming update features the area around Ludlam's Beach Island, home to the resort towns of Sea Isle City, Strathmere, and Townsend's Inlet. We'll begin the tour at the south end of the island at the Townsend's Inlet tile. The southern half of the tile ( the Avalon side of the inlet) was featured in the Seven Mile Beach...
Jetty Jockey
Welcome ! In today's update we return to the mainland for a look at the Clermont tile. < CLICK ON PICS FOR LARGER IMAGES > Clermont is an unincorporated section of Dennis Township, located at the southeastern corner of the township. It sits on the relatively high ground that runs along the eastern side of the county, 13 feet above sea level. East of the tile is the tidemarsh seperating the mainland from the barrier islands. To the west is the Beaver Swamp, one of the county's many wildlife refuges....
Jetty Jockey
In today's update we will be looking at Seven Mile Beach Island. Seven Mile Beach Island, as the name implies, stretches seven miles between Hereford Inlet in the south to Townsend's Inlet to the north. As with all the barrier islands, it is seperated from the mainland by a one to 2 mile wide swath of marshland and an extensive network of creeks and ponds. This island is home to the upscale resort communities of Stone Harbor and Avalon. At the southern end of the island is the Stone Harbor tile. Stone...
Jetty Jockey
In today's update we look at the village of South Seaville, in central Dennis Township In the late 1600s- early 1700s, the colonial government was becoming concerned about the isolation of Cape May County. Without ties to the rest of the colony, the region was becoming a haven for pirates and smugglers. So in 1702 it was decided by the colonial government in Burlington to extend the Kings Highway from its southern end in Salem to Cape May, in an attempt to get area residents more involved with the workings...
Jetty Jockey
Hello ! In today's update we look at the borough of Woodbine. Woodbine was founded in 1891 as a haven for Eastern European Jews who were being persecuted in the Czarist pogroms. The Baron DeHirsch Fund, organized by the millionaire railroad tycoon Baron DeHirsch, purchased 5300 acres of land in Dennis Township to start a settlement. Immigrants from Poland and Russia were invited to settle the new community. Within two years, they cleared the forest and built a town. 800 acres of land were set aside as town...
Jetty Jockey
Hello again! In this installment I'm going to fill out the rest of Ludlam's Beach Island before returning to the mainland. Due to the length of the Sea Isle City update, I didn't include them there. North of downtown Sea Isle City are the Whale Beach section of the city and the southern end of the town of Strathmere, in Upper Township. Whale Beach is so named because Joeseph Ludlam and colleagues operated a whaling operation here in the 18th century. They built thier fortunes at the expense of the great...
Jetty Jockey
Hello ! In today's entry, I continue the terraforming process in eastern Middle Township, notably the area around Cape May Court House and the western shores of Jenkins Sound and Great Sound. The first stop is the Cape May Court House tile. When settled in the late 17th century, it was originally named Romney Marsh, for an area in southeasten England that it resembled. The name was later changed to Middleton , and then with the building of the county courthouse in 1764, to Cape May Court House. Most of the...
Jetty Jockey
Welcome to the next segment of my city journal. After eighteen months of terraforming, I'm ready to begin the next phase of the project : populating the region and recreating what's here . I've settled on a natural growth process that suprisingly mirrors the historical growth of the region. I'll be developing the mainland sections first. Historically, the mainland areas were developed first due to the presence of fresh water needed for settlement and development. In the Sim version, I'm starting on the...
Jetty Jockey
Hello ! In this week's installment we look at the Ocean View tile. Ocean View is an unincorporated section of southeastern Dennis Township Unlike its northern neighbor Seaville, Ocean View is considerably less developed. The Garden State Parkway runs east of the village, but there is no direct access to that major traffic artery from Ocean View. Route 9 ( also known as Shore Road) crosses the Magnolia Lake dam . Mill Creek leads off eastward from the lake towards the tidal marshes. US Route 9 is the...
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