Connectors to the Jersey Shore

Need to get away? A vacation at the shore, a quick weekend to Philly, or maybe even a whole week in San Francisco, California? The easiest way to book this trip today would be on Southwest.com, or maybe even Expedia to compare prices. In the 1800s however, if you were anticipating a vacation out of your area, the transcontinental railroad was your best bet..

Wildwood Crest, NJ ~ Trains along Sunset Lake. Looking Southwest where the Bayview is today

Back in the day, the Wildwoods were the place to be. Whether you were vacationing for a week, spending your summer at the shore, or arriving in the Cape May County area for work, Five Mile Beach was growing in population. In efforts to bring more tourism to the Five Mile Beach resorts, as well as accommodate visitors for their traveling convenience, a sole railroad, the West Jersey Railroad that is, was constructed in the 1880s, that of which was controlled by the powerful Pennsylvania Railroad. Early on, this resource of transportation connected visitors and out-of-towners from New York, Philadelphia or even those of the working class, to the resorts in Cape May, as well as a sector in Atlantic City.

In the spring of the late 1880’s however, is when the West Jersey Railroad really picked up speed. As this newly funded railroad began to grow with popularity, so did it’s transit lines, acquiring the Anglesea Railroad, and making promises for new connections to Holly Beach and the Jersey Cape.

In 1889, the wish for connections to Holly Beach were diminished as transportation reached only as far as Anglesea, leaving the only option of a horse-drawn stage to access the Holly Beach accommodations.

Although transportation in Cape May County did not reach it’s all-time high just yet, in the 1900s the Wildwood railroad station captured success, as trains from Philadelphia would transport visitors to Five Mile Beach through the Pennsylvania and Reading station (Yes, just like in monopoly), which was located on Oak and New Jersey Avenues in Wildwood. This quick, convenient trip only took about 90 minutes, and in 1904 and 1905, the station tackled a record of 75,000 riders in a single season, as well as 20,000 riders during one summer day. Talk about success. The resorts and hotels praised the prosperity that was thriving at the Wildwood Railroad Stations due to their hefty amount of reservations. Summers began to really heat up in Wildwood and the railroads were the new bridge to success.