HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
The 1894 Victorian hotel is said to be visited by two drowned children heard running in the hallways and a luminous 'Lady in Blue' in a former housekeeper's dress, seen on the upper floors.
7 Ocean St, Cape May, NJ 08204
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Room rates vary seasonally; see inncapemay.com for current pricing.
Access
Limited Access
Victorian hotel with multiple floors and stairs; limited accessibility in historic structure
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1894 · Cape May National Historic Landmark District · Victorian Resort Architecture · One of Cape May's Oldest Hotels
Cape May holds the distinction of being one of the oldest seaside resorts in the United States, attracting Philadelphia and Baltimore families beginning in the late eighteenth century. The town's Victorian character was largely set after an 1878 fire destroyed much of the earlier resort infrastructure; the rebuilding that followed produced the dense concentration of Victorian architecture that earned Cape May its National Historic Landmark designation.
The Inn of Cape May was built in 1894, during the height of the Victorian resort era, at 7 Ocean Street — one block from the beach and within walking distance of the Washington Street Mall and the Washington Street pedestrian corridor that forms the spine of the historic district.
The hotel operated through the twentieth century as a seasonal resort property. Like much of Cape May's Victorian building stock, it survived the general decline of the mid-century resort era and the shift toward automobile-oriented tourism that bypassed the pedestrian-scale town. Cape May's historic district designation helped preserve the building and the broader resort character that makes the town unusual among Jersey Shore destinations.
The inn has been featured on commercial ghost tour routes as one of Cape May's consistently reported paranormal addresses. US Ghost Adventures, which operates the Original Cape May Ghost Tour, lists the inn as a stop on its regular route.
Sources
The Inn of Cape May carries two distinct ghost stories. The first involves children: two spirits said to be connected to a drowning in the sea have been heard running through the hallways at night, calling each other's names. The sounds are auditory rather than visual — witnesses report hearing children's footsteps and voices in hallways that turn out to be empty.
The second presence is the Lady in Blue: a woman described as appearing in a luminous blue dress on the upper floors of the inn. She is believed by local lore to be a former housekeeper, though no specific historical figure has been identified as the source. The blue dress is a specific detail that has remained consistent across accounts reported to ghost tour operators and paranormal investigators.
Long Island Paranormal Investigators documented their investigation of the property, corroborating both the children's presence and the Lady in Blue, with room-specific activity reports catalogued from their sessions.
The inn is embedded in Cape May's active ghost tour ecosystem — US Ghost Adventures runs its Original Cape May Ghost Tour through the building, and local competitors include the property on their routes as well. Cape May is among the most ghost-tour-dense towns in New Jersey, and the Inn of Cape May appears on lists of the most consistently reported locations.
Notable Entities
Guests stay in the 1894 Victorian building at the edge of Cape May's historic district, one block from the beach. The inn appears on multiple Cape May ghost tour routes. Children have been reported running and calling each other's names in hallways at night; the Lady in Blue has been seen on upper floors.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Cape May, NJ
William Weightman Sr., managing partner of Powers & Weightman and the man who introduced quinine to the American market as an anti-malarial, built a summer cottage at the corner of Franklin and Washington Streets in Cape May around 1850. In 1881 he had it moved to an ocean-view lot, but the farmers he hired discovered the structure was too large to move intact. They cut it in half, moved the sections separately, and found they could not reconnect them. The two buildings were enclosed separately, creating the two adjoining structures that now house the B&B.
Cape May, NJ
Charles Page built the home at 308 Stockton Avenue in 1883 as a family vacation property while also maintaining a Philadelphia business. He was shot and killed in Philadelphia that same summer while his family vacationed in Cape May without him. The house was eventually converted to the B&B now operating as the Bedford Inn.
Cape May, NJ
Congress Hall opened in 1816 as a boarding house on the Cape May beachfront, becoming one of the earliest seaside resorts in the United States. The original wooden structure burned in the Great Fire of 1878 and was rebuilt in brick the following year. Four sitting presidents — Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Ulysses S. Grant, and Benjamin Harrison — vacationed here, with Harrison using it as an informal summer White House in 1890 and 1891.