Place:Cape May, New Jersey, United States

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NameCape May
Alt namesCape Maysource: Getty Vocabulary Program
TypeCounty
Coordinates39.15°N 74.783°W
Located inNew Jersey, United States     (1692 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on the Cape May Peninsula, bounded by the Delaware Bay to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are five barrier islands that have been built up as seaside resorts. A consistently popular summer destination with of beaches, Cape May County attracts vacationers from New Jersey and surrounding states, with the summer population exceeding 750,000. Tourism generates annual revenues of about $6.6 billion as of 2018, making it the county's single largest industry, with leisure and hospitality being Cape May's largest employment category. Its county seat is the Cape May Court House section of Middle Township.

As of the 2020 United States Census, the county's population was 95,263, making it the state's second-least populous county, a 2.1% decrease from the 97,265 enumerated at the 2010 census, in turn decreasing by 5,061 (-4.9%) from the 102,326 counted in the 2000 Census. The county is part of the Ocean City, NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD Combined Statistical Area.

Before the county was settled by Europeans, the indigenous Kechemeche tribe of the Lenape people inhabited South Jersey. Beginning in 1609, European explorers purchased land from, and contributed to the decline of, the indigenous people. The county was named for Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, a Dutch captain who explored and charted the area from 1620 to 1621, and established a claim for the province of New Netherland. In 1685, the court of Cape May County was split from neighboring Burlington County, although the boundaries were not set until seven years later. In 1690, Cape May (originally known as Cape Island) was founded, becoming America's oldest seaside resort. The county was subdivided into three townships in 1798 – Lower, Middle, and Upper. The other 16 municipalities in the county, including two no longer in existence, were established between 1827 and 1928. In 1863, the first railroad in the county opened, which carried crops from the dominant farming industry. Railroads later led to the popularity of the coastal resorts in the county. Improved automotive access led to further development after the Garden State Parkway opened in 1956.

Contents

Timeline

Date Event Source
1692 County formed Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1790 First census Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1900 No significant boundary changes after this year Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
Census Year Population
1790 2,571
1800 3,066
1810 3,632
1820 4,265
1830 4,936
1840 5,324
1850 6,433
1860 7,130
1870 8,349
1880 9,765
1890 11,268
1900 13,201
1910 19,745
1920 19,460
1930 29,486
1940 28,919
1950 37,131
1960 48,555
1970 59,554
1980 82,266
1990 95,089

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Cape May County, New Jersey, United States

Research Tips

External links

www.capemaycountygov.net


This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Cape May County, New Jersey. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.