BLACK VOICES OF CAPE MAY
Lecture at Cape May Stage
Cape May’s Black residents have shaped the city’s identity in many ways, creating a legacy extensively documented and recognized by the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places in 2024 as historically important to the rich culture of the city, elevating and enhancing the city’s National Historic Landmark status. Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture) and the Center for Community Arts (CCA) present “Black Voices of Cape May,” a free lecture at Cape May Stage Saturday, May 2 at noon, that highlights the varied voices and experiences of the Black community and tells this integral layer of the Cape May story. Cape May Stage, 405 Lafeyette St. Free admission. Donations support CCA.
CAPE MAY GHOST TOURS
Cape May’s Longest Running
Ghost Tours!
Cape May is one of the most haunted towns you’ll ever visit. Is it any wonder? It’s such a marvelous place, even the spirits don’t want to leave Cape May! Dozens of Victorian gems have been investigated and documented to have “spirit” residents, all of whom are quite friendly, we assure you. Take a giant step back in Cape May’s past and see if a ghostly encounter is in the cards for you!
EMLEN PHYSICK ESTATE TOUR
The 2026 Physick Estate Tour, The World on Display: The Centennial and Everyday Life, looks beyond the museum walls to an event that helped shape the world in which the Physicks lived: the 1876 Centennial Exposition, a world’s fair. Opening in Philadelphia on May 10, 1876, the fair drew more than ten million visitors over six months. Nearly 240 acres of Fairmount Park were transformed, with more than 200 buildings showcasing inventions, demonstrations, new products, and ideas that introduced everyday Americans to the modern age. Tour Cape May’s 1879 Victorian House Museum and learn about this quintessential Victorian event. The Centennial became a catalyst for a changing American culture, whose influence is still felt today.
MANSIONS BY THE SEA
TROLLEY TOUR:
THEN AND NOW
This trolley tour examines Cape May’s development and evolution through the lens of architectural practices, social changes and local history. You’ll see the homes and grand seaside “cottages” of the 1800s along with the modern designs of today, travelling from the historic district eastward, covering a large swath of the city. See some of the most magnificent structures ever erected in Cape May. This tour is newly updated and expanded to a full 60 minutes.
HISTORIC DISTRICT
TROLLEY TOUR
Known as the “Queen of the Seaside Resorts” for its quaint Victorian cottages and pristine beaches, Cape May is the oldest seaside resort in the country, and in 1976, the entire city was declared a National Historic Landmark. Possessing one of the country’s largest collections of 19th century seaside wood framed buildings, the historic district features a variety of styles of Victorian architecture. Tour guides will explain Cape May’s history and architecture and how and why it has survived and thrives to this day. The tour is newly updated with contributions of Cape May’s Black community recently documented and entered into the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and into the National Register of Historic Places. Offered year-round either separately or as combo tours. Begins and ends at the Ocean Street Trolley Stop.
Learn More
Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture), as a nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to the preservation, interpretation and cultural enrichment of the greater Cape May region for its residents and visitors, proudly joins the chorus of voices decrying racism, prejudice, discrimination and injustice, in all its forms, in every corner of our nation. As the steward of three historic sites and the storyteller of more than 200 years of area history, Cape May MAC is well aware that, “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” We will continue to strive to serve a broad and diverse community, to illuminate all the threads with which the fabric of history is written, seek out all voices, and include and encourage full participation.