Local historian discovers Cape May was incorporated in 1851, not 1857
CAPE MAY, N.J. (FOX 29) - A local historian discovered that the City of Cape May was actually incorporated in 1851, not 1857 as previously believed and reflected on just about every city logo.
History surrounds you everywhere you go in Cape May, but the Victorian shore town just got a little more historic.
"This is the act that actually incorporated us into the City of Cape Island." After weeks of research Cape May County records clerk Laurie Boyd Thomas confirmed what a local author had suspected.
The town of Cape May, which was once called Cape Island was actually incorporated in 1851, not 1857. That makes it six years older. It also means the longtime official city seal and brand new logo are now obsolete.
So how did after all this time Cape May have the wrong birthday? It's be believed to be a 19th-century handwriting mistake.
"My educated guess is that the flourish in one looked so much like a seven and somebody just assumed it was a seven," Thomas said.
Cape May City Council passed a resolution acknowledging the mistake and are now tasked with changing just about everything with the old logo.
It may be just a number. but to lifelong residents re-writing history is serious business.