Cape May Point is a borough located at the tip of the Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough, and all of Cape May County, is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, and is part of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD combined statistical area, also known as the Delaware Valley or Philadelphia metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 305, an increase of 14 (+4.8%) from the 2010 census count of 291, which in turn reflected an increase of 50 (+20.7%) from the 241 counted in the 2000 census. The summer population can reach 4,500.
The Cape May Light is located in Lower Township, but is also a point of identity for Cape May Point as it uses the lighthouse as a logo for municipal-owned vehicles. Mayors of the two municipalities previously had a conflict over in which municipality it was located.
Cape May Point is a dry town, one of three municipalities in Cape May County where the sale of alcohol is prohibited by law. Cape May Point, Ocean City and Wildwood Crest are Cape May County's only remaining dry municipalities.
History
Cape May Point was called Stites Beach until 1876 when the name was changed to Seagrove. It was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 19, 1878, from portions of Lower Township, based on the results of a referendum held three days earlier. It was reincorporated on August 19, 1891 and returned to Lower Township on April 8, 1896. Cape May Point re-emerged as an independent municipality on April 6, 1908, based on the results of a referendum held on April 21, 1908. The borough's name derives from Cape May, which was named for 1620 Dutch captain named Cornelius Jacobsen May who explored and charted the area between 1611–1614, and established a claim for the province of New Netherland.
The remains of SS Atlantus World War I-era concrete ship are located of the coast of Cape May Point, next to Sunset Beach.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 0.31 square miles (0.81 km2), including 0.30 square miles (0.76 km2) of land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km2) of water (5.81%).
Cape May Point borders Lower Township, the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay.
Cityscape
In 2004, the borough had about 600 houses. Circa 2004 prices of housing increased, and in 2004 a four bedroom house typically had a price of $1 million.
In 2021 the median price of a house is $1,090,000, which was the highest of any municipality on Cape Island. Most houses are on lots and are below in area due to the borough's zoning regulations. Julie Lasky of The New York Times wrote that "the houses appear relatively modest", and that the borough "lacks the fanciful architecture of Cape May".
In 2004 the only two businesses in Cape May Point were the Cape May Bird Observatory bird shop and the Cape May Point General Store.
Demographics
2010 census
The 2010 United States census counted 291 people, 164 households, and 100 families in the borough. The population density was . There were 619 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 94.50% (275) White, 2.75% (8) Black or African American, 0.00% (0) Native American, 0.34% (1) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.34% (1) from other races, and 2.06% (6) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.34% (1) of the population.
Of the 164 households, 4.3% had children under the age of 18; 55.5% were married couples living together; 3.7% had a female householder with no husband present and 39.0% were non-families. Of all households, 34.1% were made up of individuals and 20.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.77 and the average family size was 2.17.
4.1% of the population were under the age of 18, 1.7% from 18 to 24, 3.8% from 25 to 44, 34.7% from 45 to 64, and 55.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 66.4 years. For every 100 females, the population had 84.2 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 83.6 males.
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $51,250 (with a margin of error of +/− $36,659) and the median family income was $71,875 (+/− $10,854). Males had a median income of $108,125 (+/− $225,840) versus $ (+/− $) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $37,269 (+/− $13,473). About 8.7% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.