The Hauntings Of Cape May, America's First Seaside Resort

Cape May has been a favorite vacation spot on the New Jersey shore since the 18th century. Of course, as the City of Cape May points out, people have been living on the peninsula off the coast for centuries, starting with the Lenni-Lenape people. European colonists began putting down roots there in the mid-17th century, but Cape May really got going by the late 1700s, when tourists started visiting for the fresh air, picturesque ocean views, and bountiful seafood dinners. Some maintain that this early popularity makes Cape May the first real resort town in American history.

As the years progressed, hotel after hotel sprang up to host the growing crowds of tourists. A massive 1878 conflagration that obliterated 35 acres of town pushed residents to rebuild and present the city as family-friendly competition to racier resorts like Atlantic City or more budget-busting ones like the Hamptons.

Even if the folksy attractions of Cape May aren't quite your style, they've certainly suited many beachgoers. In fact, if the tales told on popular nighttime trolley tours are to be believed, some people never left. After a while, it may seem as if every building and landmark has a ghostly story attached to it. If you ask local psychic Craig McManus, who's made something of a one-man cottage industry out of collecting and sharing ghostly tales, Cape May is especially haunted (via Craig McManus). After a visit to this seaside town, you might also be convinced that Cape May is haunted.

While many purportedly haunted buildings in Cape May are open to the public, the Cherry House is a private residence. That hasn't done much to keep the ghost stories down. Much of the rumors of spirit activity are linked to the house's previous inhabitants, who took up residence there after the home was built in 1849, as per Cape May Magazine (via CapeMay.com). One of the most well-known was James McCrey, who bought the house in 1854 and went through the deaths of three successive wives while living there.

Current owners Beth and Frank Acker admit that both they and contractors working on the place have had eerie trouble with the doors, which open of their own accord even after being deadbolted. Others have experienced more blatant paranormal phenomena. An electrician reportedly entered a bedroom, experienced a sudden drop in temperature, and saw the form of an elderly woman emerge from a wall. Unsurprisingly, the man was frightened by the sudden appearance of an apparition right in front of him. Beth Acker says that he screamed, ran from the home, and refused to return. She suspects that the old woman was none other than Lois Kulp, who bought the Cherry House in 1969 and fell in love with the historic structure. It could be that, with all of the work going on in her previous home, Mrs. Kulp wanted to keep a watchful eye on things from the other side.

For a while there, it may have seemed like the Hotel Macomber was going to be the last of its kind. As Craig McManus, writing for CapeMay.com, reports, it was built in 1916 and remained the newest hotel in town for more than five decades. Over all that time, one room, in particular, has gained a haunted reputation: room 10. In the past, it's been hounded by loud, persistent knocking. Yet, when guests open the door to see what the fuss is all about, no one's there. McManus surmises that the upset may be the work of Irene Wright, a widow who is said to have often stayed in that very room while visiting Cape May. She's known as the "trunk lady" for having traveled to the hotel with a distinctive steamer trunk.

McManus himself has stayed in room 10 on multiple occasions and claims that it's typically a quiet, even boring experience. Yet, one evening proved to be more in line with other guests' stories. He was awoken by cacophonous banging on the room's door, though no one was outside when he checked. McManus also claims to have been disturbed by the sounds of other doors opening and closing, though staff later told him that he was the only guest in the hotel that evening. His theory that it was a busy late-night housekeeper was also squashed, as he learned all cleaning staff had left well before the unexplained noises.

Not every building in Cape May is a lovingly restored architectural wonder that now houses a hotel or teahouse. Sometimes, the passage of time is far too harsh. No matter how much people may be dedicated to the history of a place, sagging timbers and flaking paint cannot be ignored.

That doesn't mean that such a history must be forgotten. Cape May Magazine memorialized the life of resident Henry Sawyer, a Civil War veteran who was captured by Confederate forces and narrowly escaped execution (a letter from his wife to President Abraham Lincoln helped foster the prisoner swap that saved Sawyer's life). He returned to Cape May and, in 1875, built the namesake Sawyer's Boarding House. It's still standing, though the building has undergone a few renovations, and the sign out front now identifies it as the Chalfonte Hotel. While the Chalfonte still commands attention, Sawyer's family residence to the south of town didn't fare quite as well. It was in such poor shape that it was demolished in 2000.

Before that, however, the old Sawyer house was rumored to be the site of some ghostly visitations, including a sighting of the long-dead Henry Sawyer himself. Medium Gail Farace visited the property and may have sensed the spirit of Mary Emma, Sawyer's second wife. Indeed, Farace claimed that the home was full of ghosts, though her visit to the property with a reporter from Cape May Magazine didn't turn up many verifiable names.

Lighthouses are pretty much always haunted, at least if you go by the stories that are whispered through every seaside town that has just such a structure. Perhaps it's something about the lonely fate of many a lighthouse keeper or the associated tragedy of nearby shipwrecks that keep the ghost stories coming. At any rate, the Cape May lighthouse is no exception to the eerie rule.

What exactly is up with the local lighthouse? Perhaps, as CapeMay.com reports, the spirit activity has something to do with the three lighthouses that occupied the same spot, with the first recorded one going up in 1823, followed by another in 1847, and the current structure in 1859. Visitors to this coastal outlook have reported seeing a ghostly woman and child standing on the first landing on the 199 metal steps inside the building. She's dressed in suitably gothic attire, sporting a long white dress from a bygone era. The Southern Mansion hotel further embellishes the tale, writing that the unidentified spectral woman holds a lantern, like any good lighthouse ghost who is spotted floating through the darkness. Another haunting is said to be courtesy of the spirit of a man who reportedly fell from the top of the structure in 1995.

Built way back in 1816, the Congress Hall hotel has certainly had plenty of time to collect a ghost or two, even if the fire of 1878 consumed the original edifice. According to Cape May Magazine, the hotel was quickly rebuilt in 1879. It's since undergone a series of structural and architectural facelifts, though renovators have worked to keep the original character of the 1879 building intact. Perhaps, as in other restored buildings throughout Cape May, it's construction work that riles up the ghosts. At any rate, the current Congress Hall is said to be pretty crowded, spiritually speaking.

Medium Gail Farace says that she's encountered a number of spirits at the historic hotel. As she told a reporter for CapeMay.com, while out for lunch at Congress Hall, she remarked on a well-dressed woman carrying a parasol. Only, her dining companion, Leigh Ann Austin, didn't see any such lady dressed in Victorian-era attire. Nevertheless, Farace followed the spirit, with Austin close behind. The incorporeal woman stopped her walk in the lobby and pointed at seemingly nothing. The specter vanished before Farace could fully understand what was happening. The next day, a fire occurred at the hotel — near the spot where the ghost was pointing, Farace contends.