The Cape May Lighthouse is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Cape May county. It's located in Cape May Point State Park right outside of the downtown business area of Cape May. The park offers free parking and is FREE to visit. If you want to climb the steps to the top of the lighthouse...you'll have to pay an admission fee for that.
You'll find that the majority of the park is handicap accessible. That includes parking, bathroom facilities, ramps that lead to several walking platforms, etc. There's an on-site very small gift shop located near the lighthouse. They sell your basic little souvenirs like magnets, keychains, books, holiday ornaments, etc. It's very small in it's size and doesn't offer a whole lot.
When visiting you'll want to wear comfortable walking shoes and dress appropriately for the current weather conditions. If you plan on walking any of the on-site nature trails you'll want to bring along sunscreen, bug spray and a water bottle. You'll find the nature trails located at the opposite end of the park (towards the back of the parking lot) along with an observation deck.
Around the lighthouse grounds you'll find several information boards that give you some of the history of the Cape May Lighthouse. When it was built, the keepers who ran it over the decades, renovations over the years and other things. You'll want to walk around the entire base of the lighthouse to see everything.
Monomoy Lifesaving Boat is located on the grounds. Circa late 1800s to 1930s. Its a 26-foot lifesaving boat that originated in New England and was regularly used in various Life Saving Stations in the area, including in Lewes, Delaware. The design was developed from boats used to hunt whales and is named after Monomoy Island, off Chatham, Mass. It's a double-ended boat that's lightweight and was cheaply constructed according to the information posted near the boat. If you read the information board you can learn more about it.
The Oil House was a structure that was built in 1893 to house the kerosene used to power the light. Lighthouses were generally powered by Sperm Whale Oil until its price rose dramatically in the 1850s. In the mid 1870s, kerosene which was less expensive than lard, became readily available and was used as the official power source for the lighthouse.
This building was engineered to meet the special needs of kerosene storage. The pagoda shaped roof is capped with a vent so that the kerosene fumes would be drawn out. Originally the building held 5 gallon cans of kerosene and then later a large tank was installed to receive the oil delivered by a tank truck. You can read the information board to learn more about the Oil House.
There's a lot to see and do while visiting the Cape May Lighthouse State Park...including a little free Educational Building Museum. I'll cover that in a separate post which I'll link to this one once it's finished. It will include information and a lot of photos. It's FREE and a great rainy day activity to do while you're visiting the Jersey Shore.
Note: You can double-click on any photo in this post to have it automatically open up in a new window and in an enlarged size so that you can view all of the details up-close.
