653 ½ Washington Street, Cape May, NJ| 1730colonialhouse@gmail.com | Find us on Facebook
Throughout the month of December, the Society opens the Colonial House for the MAC every year. This year we have added the Holiday Inns Tour. The Colonial House opened the door to over 1500 visitors during the Christmas season to support the MAC tours.
The Conservation Center for Art & History Artifacts (CCAHA), in partnership with Christopher Cameron of Sustainable Heritage, are introducing as Collections Climate Resiliency Cohort for collecting institutions (any museum, library, archive, historic site, and/or organizations with historic and/or cultural collections available to the public), with generous funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This program will create a sustainable community of practice for the participating organizations. It will also result in the creation of a practically applicable toolkit to guide sites in weaving sustainability and risk assessment into their planning and programming.
Civil Defense drills, air raid sirens, fallout shelters and a secret military presence deeply embedded the Cold War in the fabric of daily life in New Jersey. Harry Bellangy, President of the Greater Cape May Historical Society, looks at secret military facilities in South Jersey during the cold war.
The Society celebrated 50 years with an ice cream social held at the Colonial House for their members and support throughout the community during Victorian Weekend.
Visitors on the MAC house and garden tour stopped by for free ice cream.
Music was provided by Past Times Present with authentic colonial songs and instruments.
The Colonial House lit up in blue and joined with landmarks around the worked including the iconic Empire State Building in New York City, the BT Tower in London, the Rizal Monument in the Philippines, and Niagara Falls in the United States.
The contest for Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft-focused organization, secured its second GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title in as many years.
The latest is for the “Most Landmarks Illuminated in 24 Hours.” In celebration of World Smile Day® on October 4, 2024, Smile Train lit up 64 iconic landmarks across the globe, surpassing the previous record of 56, held by the Royal Canadian Air Force.
To order the coloring book Waves of Independence Coloring Book: A Colonial Family Story of Cape May County Settlers by Inga E. Buccella | BookBaby Bookshop
The Waves of Independence Coloring Book is a companion piece to a children's chapter book of the same title, to be released in 2026. Both the chapter book and the coloring book were created to celebrate the 250th Centennial celebration of America for The Greater Cape May Historical Society.
Willa Thyer, oldest of her siblings, tells of colonial life in Cape May, New Jersey leading up to the year 1776. From Mayflower descendants, to whalers, and finally becoming farmers, the Thyer family tree grew many branches. Willa's account takes us back to a simpler, but often tougher time as seen through the eyes of one of the brave families that moved to Cape May Island in the 1760's.
Although the story is fictional, it includes many historical references to the different types of people, both rich and poor, who inhabited the early settlement during the colonial period in Cape May County. Children of any age, but especially young children, will enjoy adding color to these interesting pages that capture Cape May's Waves of Independence story.
June 15: the Colonial House opens for the season. It is all about the gardens of Cape May!
On June 15, we will welcome the MAC Garden Tour. Link below for more information. https://capemaymac.org/experience/special-events/garden-tour/
The MAC Garden Tour explores Cape May’s unique natural areas and the private plants, blooms, and landscape designs of area gardeners. See both public and private gardens. Cape May’s Emlen Physick Estate gardens are included. The grounds of the Emlen Physick Estate will host local and regional vendors, plus a complimentary wine tasting by Cape May Winery. A trolley shuttle will make a continuous loop during the hours of the tour. Garden club members will be available to answer questions.
June 18: The Colonial House will be hosting the Garden Club of Cape May. The colonial house garden is designed and maintained by the Garden Club of Cape May. The garden includes plants that “cured the miseries”. Yarrow that contains flavonoids, plant-based chemicals to help improve digestion; Chamomile for chest colds, sore throat, anxiety, inflammation, and abscesses; Sage, a natural antibiotic, bactericidal, antiseptic used for wound healing; and Angelica “Wild Celery” named 'Herb of the Angels' after the archangel Michael who supposedly visited a monk to inform him that this botanical could help cure the bubonic plague to name a few. For more information: The Garden Club of Cape May meets from September through June on the second Tuesday of each month. Welcome | The Garden Club of Cape May.
June 19: Juneteenth Program - Greater Cape May Historical Society and MAC Lunch and Learn
Join the Society along with the MAC Lunch and Learn program team for a presentation by Author and Historian, Richard Geffken at the Lutheran Church on June 19th.
For more information: Lunch & Learn | Cape May MAC
Rick Geffken will speak on the topic of slavery in Cape May County …… “Slavery was “baked into” New Jersey from its very beginnings. In the 1664-65 Concession and Agreement of the Lords Proprietors of the Province of New Caesarea, or New Jersey, Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret granted prospective colonists 75 acres of land “for every weaker servant, or slave, male or female, exceeding the age of fourteen years, which anyone shall send or carry, arriving there. ” meant to jump start a new agricultural community, this provision of one of New Jersey’s founding documents nonetheless made chattel slavery foundational.”
Rick has spoken about New Jersey historical topics – Amazing New Jersey; Lost Amusement Parks; Quakers & Slavery in NJ; NJ’s Submarine Inventors: Simon Lake & John Holland; The Morris Family of NJ - at dozens of historical societies and libraries. He has been a featured speaker at the Trent House Museum, the Quaker Meeting of Shrewsbury, the Battleground Historical Society, and other organizations. He is a Trustee of the Shrewsbury Historical Society; a Board member of Truehart Productions (film company); a Project Manager for the Board of the Asbury Park Museum; a Trustee for the Friends of Cedar View; Past-president and a Trustee of the Jersey Coast Heritage Museum at Sandlass House; and a member of the Monmouth County Historical Association.
Rick taught New Jersey slavery for Monmouth University in West Long Branch. He is part of a project called the New Jersey Slavery Records Index under the auspices of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. He is an active member of the New Jersey Social Justice Reconciliation Committee and was instrumental in placing a memorial plaque in Eatontown, the 1886 site of the only recorded lynching of a Black man in New Jersey. He was also successful in convincing Middletown Township to erect a commemorative plaque at Cedar View Cemetery, purchased by fourteen free Black men in 1850.
The Colonial House is closed. For a private tour, email 1730colonialhouse@gmail.com
On Memorial Day at the Soldier and Sailors Monument in Cape May city, the Society will present a wreath specially designed and created by the Longest Yarn Committee of Cape May County.
The wreath commemorates and honors the brave men and women who participated in World Wat II from Cape May County. The speaker will be Rita M. Rothberg, Cape May County Clerk and Adjuster, and Cape May County Historian.
The Colonial House is closed. For a private tour, email 1730colonialhouse@gmail.com.
The Colonial House is closed. For a private tour, email 1730colonialhouse@gmail.com
On February 21, please us for a MAC Lunch and Learn presented by the Society at the Lutheran Church. Topic: Magnesite Plant and Ecology Presentation by Harry Bellangy. Contact Cape May MAC for information. NJDEP-Office of Natural Resource Restoration-Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area Tidal Marsh/Upland Restoration Project
The Colonial House opened the door to over 1500 visitors during the Christmas season to support the MAC tours for the Inns of Cape May, Candlelight Nights and Lamplighter events.
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