ABOUT OUR ISLAND

City of North Wildwood

North Wildwood, located at the northern end of the Wildwoods' Five Mile Island, was founded in the 1890's as the tiny fishing village of Anglesea.
North Wildwood boasts that their free white sandy beach is "New Jersey's best sport beach" as confirmed by Travel Holiday Magazine. In 1994 North Wildwood introduced the state's first beach tram service. Beachgoers can glide along the sand by tram from the street to the shore line. The Hereford Inlet Lighthouse and Marine Police Station located in the city provide visitors with a historical retrospective of the resort. Both sites are destinations on the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail.
The night life in North Wildwood is especially diverse. The summer air is filled with oldies music at the dockside...rock and roll at the clubs...ethnic sing-a-longs...the choices are endless at the northern end of the Island. North Wildwood also hosts a number of special events throughout the summer season for your fun and enjoyment.

City of Wildwood

Wildwood, located in the middle of the Wildwoods' Five Mile Island, is known for its beach and boardwalk. The 2.5 mile world-famous boardwalk offers breathtaking amusement rides, specialty shops, eateries, theaters and water parks. The Boardwalk offers something for everyone. The very young and young at heart can enjoy the double decker classic carousel. For the more adventuresome, ride the East Coast's tallest Ferris wheel to get a spectacular view of the five mile island, or for the dare devil in the family try "The Great Nor'Easter" the suspended looping coaster 1 of only 4 in the world.
The Holly Beach Station Mall boasts many restaurants offering local delicacies, shops, nightclubs with a variety of live entertainment, coffee houses and street festivals. The George F. Boyer Museum provides a tour through time and recounts the local history . The inland waterways provide a variety of watersports, deep sea fishing, boating, whale watching and all types of excursions. Wildwood also hosts a number of special events throughout the summer season for your fun and enjoyment.

Borough Wildwood Crest

Wildwood Crest is located at the southern end of The Wildwoods Five Mile Island. Here you will find the lazy, hazy days of summers of old. Rest and relaxation are the featured attractions in this easy going and picturesque part of the island. Ocean front accommodations, modern motels, hotels and condominiums abound in Wildwood Crest where the sunrises gently awaken you to warm, sunny, fun filled days. The simple pleasure of life blend with the beach environment to provide a seashore vacation that will awaken all senses with the sound of seagulls...the roll and splash of the waves...the smell of the salt air. You can stroll along the sandy beaches and collect a variety of shells and enjoy the pristine waters.
Sunset Lake, located on the west side of the island, is the "playground" for watersports including, jet skiing, water skiing, and boating. If fishing is your passion then visit Crest Harbor, here you will find party boats which offer half-day and full-day excursions into the Atlantic. Every evening families gather at Sunset Lake, to watch the most spectacular sunset views on the island.
Entertainment is regularly scheduled at Crest Pier and the Gazebo throughout the summer months and includes outdoor music and dancing. Wildwood Crest also hosts a number of special events throughout the summer season for your fun and enjoyment. To maintain the family atmosphere, there are no liqueur stores or bars in Wildwood Crest. So, if you are interested in the casual, calm, quaint and cool pleasures of life, visit the southern end of the island --Wildwood Crest.

History

A Brief History of the Wildwoods

Courtesy of The Wildwood Historical Society George F. Boyer Historical Museum Robert J. Scully, Museum Curator

"A very good land to fall in with - and a pleasant land to see." These words, written more than 350 years ago, are the first recorded description of the island of Five Mile Beach, upon which Wildwood and her sister communities now stand.

They were set down by Robert Juet, who sailed with the English navigator, Henry Hudson, on a voyage of exploration for the Dutch East India Company in 1609. Seeking a new route to China, Hudson entered what is now Delaware Bay on August 28th, but confronted by shoals and convinced the stream really wasn't the sought-after northwest passage, he swung his ship, the "Half Moon," about, rounded the point at Cape May, and headed northward in the Atlantic.

No further written record of Five Mile Beach appeared until the land grant from Charles II to James, Duke of York, in 1664; then through various deeds until August 21, 1717, when the West Jersey Society conveyed "all its title and interest in Five Mile Beach to Aaron Leaming, Humphrey Hughes, David Wells and Jonathan Swain.

But, long before Juet cast eyes upon it, Indians -- a branch of the Algonquins called the Lenni Lenapes or Delawares -- frequented Five Mile Beach. They cut two trails through the dense forest. One, a continuation of the mainland King Nummy Trail, entered the north end of the island and stretched southward just west of the present New Jersey Avenue. In the middle of the island, it met another trail that entered where the Rio Grande Bridge later was built.

With the eventual departure of the Indians, and long before the white settlers came to the island, off-shore farmers used the land to graze their horses and cattle, ferrying the animals from the mainland on flatboats. As the herds grew in size, many of the animals strayed away into the forest and became wild, roaming the island at will and posing a problem that continued to vex property owners as late as 1905.

About 1870 a few fishermen became the first white settlers, erecting shacks at the north end of the island and naming their settlement Anglesea. In 1874 the government built a lighthouse at Hereford Inlet.

The first settlers followed Indian trails across the meadows and then reached the island by boat. In 1884, the West Jersey Railroad ran a line from near Cape May Court House to Anglesea. About the same time, a crude log bridge was built at what is now Rio Grande Avenue. It was destroyed by fire. In 1885 another was built, being replaced in 1902 by a bridge to carry autos.

The story of modern Wildwood and her sister communities began in 1880, the result of a man's concern for his wife's health. Sarah Andrews became ill in Vineland and the doctor advised her husband, Aaron, to take her to Townsend's Inlet to recuperate. There they became friends of the Joseph Taylor family of Philadelphia. Both families returned the following year, determined to acquire seashore homes. John Burke, a real estate salesman from Vineland, brought them to a tract of land in the center of Five Mile Beach.

Impressed, the trio joined with Nelson Robert, Latimer Baker, and Robert Young to form the Holly Beach City Improvement Co., and in 1885 Holly Beach Borough was incorporated.

Philip Pontius Baker had accompanied his brother, Latimer, to Five Mile Beach in 1881 and he, too, was impressed. As Holly Beach developed, Philip and Latimer, together with a third brother, J. Thompson Baker, organized the Wildwood Beach Improvement Co., to develop the Wales-Physick Tract, just north of Holly Beach. Their dream led to incorporation of the Borough of Wildwood in 1895. Seventeen years later, in 1912, Holly Beach and Wildwood consolidated as the City of Wildwood.

In 1905, after Wildwood began to grow, Philip Baker purchased the land south of Holly Beach and named it Wildwood Crest. The community was incorporated as a borough in 1910. West Wildwood, the "baby" of the four sister communities, was incorporated as a borough in 1920.

Today, hundreds of thousands of visitors each year echo Juet's words,"A good land to fall in with."

(Based on George F. Boyer's Book, "Wildwood - Middle of the Island.")

History of the Wildwoods Boardwalk

The Wildwoods Boardwalk, celebrating its 100th birthday, remains a living, thriving, pulsating celebration of the American imagination. There, history stands side-by-side with 21st century innovation, and the American dream is lived out every summer evening along its more than 70,000 wooden planks.

Bright lights and neon dazzle the eye as they did in the 1920s. A wooden roller coaster stands next to its steel counterpart, while just down the boardwalk teens corkscrew through virtual reality. Favorite boardwalk foods -- pizza, ice cream, funnel cakes, cotton candy, fudge and fries -- still rule, but now they're joined by trendy bottled water, tortilla wraps, and Mahi Mahi.

The idea of a boardwalk originated when a railroad conductor, Alexander Boardman, got tired of cleaning beach sand from his trains. He suggested constructing a wooden walkway for seaside strolls. Atlantic City dedicated the first boardwalk in 1870. Thirty years later the City of Wildwood laid its first boardwalk directly on the sand along Atlantic Avenue, from Oak Avenue to Maple Avenue, just 150 yards long. Each fall it was taken up and stored for the winter.

In 1903 Wildwood's leaders decided to provide a wide, elevated walkway closer to the ocean. It connected with Ocean Pier, the first amusement pier to be opened, at Poplar Avenue. During the first decade of the 20th century, the boardwalk spread across the shoreline, from Second Avenue in North Wildwood to Cresse Avenue in Wildwood. Another boardwalk from Cresse to Aster Road in Wildwood Crest washed away in 1909 and was replaced by Seaview Avenue.

In 1920 Wildwood City Commissioner Oliver Bright, determined to move the boardwalk even closer to the ocean despite public opposition, organized hundreds of workers to tear up the existing boards in his district in one night. The new walk was ready for the summer, but Bright was bounced from office.

For decades, rolling chairs dotted the walk. For 25 cents per hour, pushers would propel the chairs, usually occupied by ladies and gentlemen wearing their best coats, shawls and furs. The chairs disappeared in 1946, making way for tram cars to take foot-wear passengers from one end of the boardwalk to the other.

Early in the century, the boardwalk was the place to see and be seen. Back then, strollers paraded in their finest clothing and accessories. Today a more casual style prevails. And whereas people "walking the boards" were at first content with simply strolling by the ocean and meeting their neighbors, today's boardwalk visitor seeks thrills and excitement.

Over the years, amusement centers sprang up all along the boards, such as Fun Chase Pier, the Starlight Ballroom, and Blaker's Pavillion at Cedar Avenue. Baby Boomers recall times spent at Casino, Marine, and Fun Piers, and Sportland Pier and Pool.

Perhaps the most fondly remembered ride was the indoor carousel at Cedar Avenue. This grand old merry-go-round with its proud ponies and lively music was a favorite of children and adults alike. The carousel and the popular, but decaying, Jack Rabbit roller coaster were removed in the 1970s to make way for Nickel's Midway Pier.

Hunt's Pier, built on the site of Fun Chase Pier, was a favorite of the 1960s and early '70s, with the Flyer roller coaster, Golden Nugget Mine Ride, and Pirate Ship haunted house. Hunt's closed in the 1980s, re-opening briefly as Dinosaur Beach Theme Park.

Will and Bill Morey began their amusement empire in 1969 with the construction of a giant slide at 26th Avenue, called the Wipe Out. The Wipe Out still stands, and it was soon joined by a heart-stopping haunted house, the Kong airplane ride, and the Jumbo Jet steel coaster. In 1976, the Morey's bought the failing Marine Pier at Schellenger Avenue, developing it into Mariner's Landing. Later, they added hugely popular water parks at the end of each pier. The Morey's also acquired Fun Pier, popular in the 1960s, renamed it Wild Wheels, and added the wood and steel Great White coaster, and the DooWopper a family style coaster with a '50s twist.

The Wildwoods Boardwalk remains our island's preferred place for quiet strolls, morning bicycling, calorie consuming, games of skill, and thrills galore. Perhaps the last of America's great boardwalks, it survives as an authentic American shared experience. It changes with the times, but remains a timeless attraction for all ages.

Research by Robert J. Scully, Curator, George F. Boyer Historical Museum. More information is available in "Wildwood By The Sea: The History of an American Resort" by David W. Francis, Diane DeMali Francis and Robert J. Scully, published 1998 by Amusement Park Books, Fairview Park, Ohio. Available from the George F. Boyer Historical Museum, 3907 Pacific Avenue, Wildwood, NJ 08260. (609) 523-0277.