How Cape May Court House Got It’s Unusual Name
Someone asked me the other day about Cape May Court House and how it got it's unusual name.
I had an idea, but didn't know the whole story. So, I did a little digging and found out that a lot of people in South Jersey have know idea either!
According to the ultimate resource - Wikipedia - the original name of the town was Rumney (or Romney) Marsh and then Middle Town (because it was in the middle of Cape May county).
In the early 1800s, the town became the county seat and with that, the town became known as Cape May Court House - because that's where the court house was.
The first court house building was originally the first Baptist Church in Cape May County, that was built in 1715. The church goers built a new church in the 1740s and the original church building became the court house.
Here is a great post written by Susan Tischler about the town's history on CapeMay.com.
Now you know!