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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Cape May (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Cape May. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Cape May is located in Cape May County and is the County Seat.

To see how the shape of New Jersey's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Cape May County: Atlantic & Cumberland.

Below are the counties that are near Cape May. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Cape May:

  • Cape May County     (The home county of Cape May)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cape May, with the one closest to Cape May listed first.
    • Cold Spring
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Erma
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erma have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erma
      • Erma is located in Cape May County
    • Diamond Beach
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Diamond Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Beach
      • Diamond Beach is located in Cape May County
    • North Cape May
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Cape May have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cape May
      • North Cape May is located in Cape May County
    • Rio Grande
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Wildwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
      • Wildwood is located in Cape May County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,916 people
    • Villas
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Villas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villas
      • Villas is located in Cape May County
    • Green Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Norburys Landing
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Grassy Sound
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grassy Sound have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Sound
      • Grassy Sound is located in Cape May County
    • North Wildwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Wildwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wildwood
      • North Wildwood is located in Cape May County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,739 people
    • Anglesea
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Cape May Court House
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Atlantic County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cape May, with the one closest to Cape May listed first.
    • Corbin City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Warners Mill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Estell Manor
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Estell Manor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estell Manor
      • Estell Manor is located in Atlantic County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,738 people
    • Somers Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Somers Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somers Point
      • Somers Point is located in Atlantic County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,153 people
  • Cumberland County
  • Kent County (DE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cape May, with the one closest to Cape May listed first.
    • Bowers
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowers have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowers
      • Bowers is located in Kent County (DE)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 380 people
    • Woods Haven
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Milford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
      • Milford is located in Kent County (DE)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milford <3>
    • Church Hill Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Church Hill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Church Hill Village
      • Church Hill Village is located in Kent County (DE)
    • Frederica
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Sussex County (DE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cape May, with the one closest to Cape May listed first.
    • Lewes
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewes
      • Lewes is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,417 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewes <3>
    • Henlopen Acres
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henlopen Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henlopen Acres
      • Henlopen Acres is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 148 people
    • Rehoboth Beach
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dewey Beach
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dewey Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey Beach
      • Dewey Beach is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 411 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dewey Beach <3>
    • Bald Eagle Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bald Eagle Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Eagle Village
      • Bald Eagle Village is located in Sussex County (DE)
    • Nassau
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Sand Dunes Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Dunes Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Dunes Village
      • Sand Dunes Village is located in Sussex County (DE)
    • Country Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Country Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Village
      • Country Village is located in Sussex County (DE)
    • Sea Spray Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sea Spray Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sea Spray Village
      • Sea Spray Village is located in Sussex County (DE)
    • Slaughter Beach
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Waples
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Waples. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waples
      • Waples is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Waples
      • From Cape May to Waples
    • Cool Spring
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cool Spring. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Spring
      • Cool Spring is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cool Spring
      • From Cape May to Cool Spring
    • Argo Corners
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Cape May, see our County-by-County Page for Cape May.

Cemeteries Near Cape May ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cape May.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Cape May covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cape May, with the one closest to Cape May listed first.

  • Fairview Memorial Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • First Baptist Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • John Wesley Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the John Wesley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the John Wesley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. George Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. George Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. George Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethel Methodist Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Union Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Peoples Memorial Park
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peoples Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Peoples Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Midway Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Midway Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Midway Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebenezer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ebenezer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebenezer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ebenezer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodland Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Henlopen Memorial Park
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Henlopen Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Henlopen Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (49 more) ...
    • Holland Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holland Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Whites Chapel Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whites Chapel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whites Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Tiffereth Israel Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tiffereth Israel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tiffereth Israel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Cape May had a population of 2,136 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Cape May had a population of 3,404 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Cape May, with the one closest to Cape May listed first.

  • Cold Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Bennett
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bennett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennett
    • Bennett is located in Cape May County
  • Wildwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
    • Wildwood is located in Cape May County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,916 people
  • Rio Grande
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Fishing Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fishing Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishing Creek
    • Fishing Creek is located in Cape May County
  • Grassy Sound
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grassy Sound have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Sound
    • Grassy Sound is located in Cape May County
  • Green Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Anglesea
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Burleigh
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burleigh have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burleigh
    • Burleigh is located in Cape May County
  • Cape May Court House
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Dias Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dias Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dias Creek
    • Dias Creek is located in Cape May County
  • Swain
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swain
    • Swain is located in Cape May County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Goshen
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Goshen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
      • Goshen is located in Cape May County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Goshen
      • From Cape May to Goshen
    • Lewes
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewes
      • Lewes is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,417 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewes <3>
    • Townsends Inlet
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Townsends Inlet have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townsends Inlet
      • Townsends Inlet is located in Cape May County

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Cape May. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cape May.

Newspapers Published in Cape May ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 16 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cape May.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cape May, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cape May.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Cape May:

The official website for Cape May: www.capemaycity.com/

The official website for Cape May County: www.co.cape-may.nj.us/

The official website for State of New Jersey: https://www.nj.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<5>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Cape May, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Cape May) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cape May. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9377, Longitude: -74.9078    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025