Burt S.
Google
Once, a town with huge dreams and ambitions stood here. A town that had aspirations of being a huge seaside resort town, that had a grand hotel, it's own early rendition of Lucy The Elephant called the Light Of Asia, and marvelous Spanish and Mediterranean inspired architecture on its many residences and businesses.
That town, South Cape May Township, unfortunately, had a starcrossed and most unlucky existence, however. First, the transportation logistics of the era were most prohibitive. It was too far from town, and plans for rails constantly fizzled. The hotel burned down. The Light Of Asia was a bust as a tourist attraction. Worst of all, the grand Mediterranean architecture proved to be completely unsuitable for the cold rainy and windy weather of winter here. Buildings flopped, and whatever land booms they kept touting continuously went belly up. As a result, the population for much of the early 20th century never got into triple digits.
The death blows for South Cape May Township came as the results of first, a pair of land booms that went bust, and then, a pair of huge Atlantic storms, one in 1936, and the final killer, The Great Atlantic Storm of 1944 that November, that almost completely submerged the town, leaving all six blocks from Beach Avenue to Sunset Boulevard and practically everything from 4th to 21st Avenues as well as most of an additional 10-12 blocks east-west and 6 blocks north-south in the adjoining Wetherby Tract under water and useless. Debris from the storm's damage spilled over into West Cape May and Cape May Point as well.
It took a number of decades, and a lot of political fighting, before they finally were able to do something with this land. Instead of trying to build the land back up, the area was converted to a nature preserve.
And what a preserve it is!
Walking trails, informative signboards, and a chance to just observe and relax within nature, make South Cape May Meadows a wonderful experience. There are numerous observation areas to take a look at birds and waterfowls, and if you get too tired, there are some benches to rest upon. Many locals use the trails for daily exercise as well. If there is one drawback, it's that this preserve is just too big to cover everything that it has to offer in one day. You really HAVE to make like two or even three trips in, to experience all there is to see here.
