Tuesday, 15 May 2012 15:22
Jacob Schaad Jr.
Base is now Training Center Cape May
The mission, not an impossible one but still challenging, was to establish a base in Cape May from which the United States Navy could sink German submarines. But where was that to be in this historic city known as a vacation resort, which had hosted presidents and others of the high and the mighty?
On April 15, 1917, nine days after the United States entered World War I, Lieutenant Commander Frederick A. Savage and three ensigns set out to find the answer to that question.
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Wednesday, 02 May 2012 10:55
Jacob Schaad Jr.
Pretend, if you can, that you are in Cape May on the morning of August 20, 1882, the prime time for summer tourism then, a period when the ocean is usually at its warmest, when thousands flock to the seashore to escape the routine of year-round living, and when people seem to be in a festive mood from the Fourth of July to the first of September.
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Wednesday, 18 April 2012 11:05
Jacob Schaad Jr.
As war clouds were edging closer to their shores in January of 1917, the people of Cape May had local priorities that for the time being overshadowed international events. One of those priorities was to build Cape May’s first convention hall.
World War I, touted inaccurately as the war to end all wars, broke out in Europe in 1914 and the United States under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson, a former New Jersey governor, walked a taut tightrope to stay out of it. That was until April 6, 1917 when Congress declared war against Germany.
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Wednesday, 04 April 2012 18:30
Jacob Schaad Jr.
The history of stage plays in Cape May includes interesting information dating from the 1950s to the present time. Many successful theatrical productions were presented here in those days, although producers were hard pressed to live up to the adage that the show must go on, especially where it must go on. Finding a place for the actors to emote was not always that easy.
Last Updated on Monday, 16 April 2012 15:23
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Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:02
Jacob Schaad Jr.
The convenience and speed of trains and automobiles brought more tourists to the southern section of Cape May County during the changing times of the 19th and 20th centuries. They also brought more accidents, some of them fatal.
Last Updated on Monday, 16 April 2012 15:29
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Wednesday, 09 May 2012 09:55
Jacob Schaad Jr.
Long ago, just before the Civil War and soon after it, people subtly tolerated gambling in Cape Island/Cape May. It wasn’t legal and it wasn’t illegal, either. The general attitude seemed to be, “Well, let it happen, but don’t tell me about it.”
It wasn’t like today’s Atlantic City, where skyscraper hotels and their casinos beckon the rich, the poor and those in between to take their money. Instead, there were innocent looking houses that belied what went on inside of them. It wasn’t always gambling either.
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Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:43
Jacob Schaad Jr.
History’s stories have long enriched Cape Island/Cape May in its more than three centuries, but it is doubtful that as many can be credited in successes and failures as those that emerged in the three years between 1853 and 1856.
It was during that period, as the nation struggled with the issue of slavery, that Cape Island hosted the first of several American presidents, that telegram service was started between Philadelphia and Cape Island, that a church building to become a theater today was constructed and that the county’s first newspaper was started.
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Wednesday, 11 April 2012 14:14
Jacob Schaad Jr.
What a great idea, the editors enthused in their columns when the information landed on their desks. The newly named Cape May might soon have a French Connection to supplement the long established Dutch Connection, they thought.
The year was 1869, the guns of the Civil War having been quiet for four years. Ulysses S. Grant was the new president and Cape Island, an incorporated city by that name since 1851, was to become known hereafter as Cape May by official designation in the spring of 1869.
Last Updated on Monday, 16 April 2012 15:22
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Wednesday, 28 March 2012 14:00
Jacob Schaad Jr.
Back in the 1830’s when there was no police force in Cape Island, a group of renegades formed their own law and order team of vigilantes which they called the Society of Forkers. Anyone could become an honorary Forker as long he presented the club with a bottle of champagne. History has not made clear, however, what the requirements were to become a Forker who was not honorary.
Last Updated on Monday, 16 April 2012 15:26
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Tuesday, 13 March 2012 15:24
Jacob Schaad Jr.
When researching the history of Cape May nee Cape Island the family name of the Mecrays pops up now and then without much recorded embellishment.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 March 2012 15:25
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