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    Sea Isle City
    Sea Isle City
    Sea Isle City
    Ebook181 pages53 minutes

    Sea Isle City

    By Michael F. Stafford

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    About this ebook

    The founder of Sea Isle City, Charles K. Landis, was a man of action. He had a dream of what the ideal seashore resort should be. In the 1870s, his dream began to take shape. It has been said, "Each age is a dream that is dying or a dream that is coming to life." This is the fascinating story of how Sea Isle City, located along the New Jersey coast in Cape May County, evolved. Sea Isle City is a pictorial tour of the founding and early history of this resort by the sea. Almost overnight the island town became accessible by railroad and by turnpike. Hotels and cottages appeared throughout the island. The Braca, Busch, Cronecker, Dever, Kehner, Pfieffer, and Rey families played a vital role in the growth of the town. Another family, the Hafferts, formed the Garden State Publishing Company, which contributed significantly to employment and economic stability. Commercial fishing became an important industry in the development of the town with the coming of the "Hatmen" at the beginning of the twentieth century. The influential people who shaped the community and countless other families, schoolchildren, and local legends are finally brought together in Sea Isle City.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439627556
    Sea Isle City
    Author

    Michael F. Stafford

    Michael F. Stafford, president of the Sea Isle City Historical Society, has lived his life in and around Sea Isle City. He is active in community affairs throughout Cape May County and has contributed numerous articles to South Jersey magazines. He invites you to pause for a moment and reflect on days gone by in Sea Isle City.

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      Book preview

      Sea Isle City - Michael F. Stafford

      project.

      INTRODUCTION

      In the early 1870s, Charles K. Landis returned from a visit to Italy. He was so impressed with many of the Mediterranean towns he had visited that he was inspired to create an Italian-style resort town in this country. Thus, his dream was born. It has been said, Each age is a dream that is dying or a dream that is coming to life. This is the fascinating story of how Sea Isle City, located along the New Jersey coast in Cape May County, was born and has evolved through the years.

      Landis, a man with a dream, was also a man of action. Almost overnight, Sea Isle City became accessible by railroad and by turnpike. Hotels and cottages appeared throughout this island by the sea. Work started in 1880, and Sea Isle City became a borough in 1882. The Landis vision and planning were embraced by a dedicated and hardworking group of citizens, headed by the town’s first mayor, Martin Wells. As the 20th century began, the seashore resort was on the map, boasting of some of the finest tourists facilities along the New Jersey coast. Fine restaurants and an abundance of additional facilities were rapidly put in place to accommodate the growing population.

      While all of this was evolving, Sea Isle City’s industry also came into existence. The Cape May County Times, a local newspaper, is one example. William A. Haffert Sr. acquired the newspaper in 1914 and soon developed the Atlantic Printing and Publishing Company, later to be renamed the Garden State Publishing Company. Haffert also served as mayor from 1945 to 1956. Commercial fishing also contributed early to the town’s economy thanks to, among others, the Hatmen, a group of young men who had worked at the Stetson Hat Company in Philadelphia. They came to Sea Isle City to engage in the fishing industry, having found it to be healthier than working around the steam pots at the hat factory. Others came from New York City.

      Quality restaurants also drew tourists to Sea Isle City. Cronecker’s Hotel and Restaurant, originally called the Bellevue, and Busch’s Hotel and Restaurant served the finest food. Busch’s is still in business today in Townsend’s Inlet at the south end of the island.

      The first school was housed in the old dining room of the Aldine Hotel on 38th Street. The original post office was located on the southwest corner of 44th Street and Landis Avenue. George Whitney was the postmaster.

      In addition to the Cape May County Times, a German newspaper was circulated to serve the many German settlers. Fini Stampfl Jones was kind enough to translate a copy of this newspaper into English. A copy of the paper with her translation from old German is on display in the Sea Isle City History Museum.

      Transportation was interesting in the town’s early days. In addition to the railroad trains and automobiles, one would see horses and carriages. As time passed, automobiles began to appear in greater numbers. Horse-and-carriage travel limited a typical day trip to 12 miles or so. In an automobile, people could travel 70 miles or more away from home, as they also could by train. Until about 1920 people could go from one end of the island to the other by trolley car. The Sea Isle City History Museum has the original trolley car bell. All of these improvements in transportation promoted growth on the island.

      Sea Isle City’s broad, flat, sandy beaches represent the single most important feature that drew people to the island. Fireworks, motorcycle racing, clambakes and, of course, sunbathing and swimming were all available to the tourist.

      The years of Sea Isle City’s growth and development were not always easy ones. The resort town was the victim of many battering storms. Its people also had to survive the Great Depression, as well as World War I and World War II. Charles K. Landis, the man with a dream and the ability to take action, indeed is to be praised. Above all, however, it was the dedicated people who are to be recognized for the town’s early growth. Their persistence to move forward, no matter what the challenge, molded Sea Isle City into, for many, a model resort town and, for others, a year-round community. These early pioneers will long be remembered.

      A picture is worth a thousand words. With that thought in mind, the following pages are intended to provide you with fascinating images that will allow you to pause, step back in time, and know life as it once was lived in Sea Isle City.

      One

      EARLY TIMES

      The Lenni Lenape Indians were the original visitors to the island that became Sea Isle City. They came from the mainland to gather shells for wampum, the currency of the day. Just as others do today, they must have enjoyed the warmth of the sun, the beaches, and the Atlantic Ocean.

      In 1692, Joseph Ludlam purchased the island, which at the time was used for cattle grazing. Cattle swam across the bay from the mainland, and sheep were brought over in boats. Cattle were still on the island as late as the 1870s. The inlets at each end of the island were named after early pioneers on the mainland. The north end of the island inlet was named

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