HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
A Cape May tavern open since 1946 where deceased members' beer mugs hang from the ceiling facing the ocean, and staff report items pushed off the bar by no one.
426 Washington St, Cape May, NJ 08204
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Casual bar and restaurant on the Washington Street Mall. No cover; order off the menu. 21+ at the bar after evening hours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Street-level pub on the pedestrian Washington Street Mall
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1946 · Operating Washington Street Mall tavern since 1946 · Ugly Mug Club ceiling-mug tradition honoring deceased members · Host of the U.S. National Froth Blowing Championship since 1954
The Ugly Mug has operated on the Washington Street Mall in Cape May since 1946. It takes its character from the Ugly Mug Club, a long-running drinking society in which each member is assigned a personal ceramic mug that hangs from the bar's ceiling on a numbered hook.
The tradition, as the bar and local outlets describe it, began with fishermen who frequented Cape May Harbor. When a member was out on his boat — sometimes for weeks — his mug was left hanging facing the ocean, a signal to his drinking companions that he was away at sea. When he returned, the mug was turned back inward.
Over time the custom acquired a second meaning. The mugs of members who have died are permanently turned to face the Atlantic. A visitor looking up at the ceiling can read the room's history in the direction of the mugs.
The bar has also hosted the United States National Froth Blowing Championship since 1954, and competing in it is described as the route to club membership. The Ugly Mug appears in regional roundups of Cape May taverns and on the local roadside-attraction circuit, and its mug ceiling is one of the most recognizable interiors in the resort town.
Sources
Among Cape May's haunted-tavern stories, the Ugly Mug is cited for activity centered on the bar itself. Staff accounts collected by local outlets describe glasses and small items sliding or dropping off the bar top when no one is standing near them, lights flickering without an obvious cause, and the sense of someone present in the room after closing.
Cape May ghost-tour operators and local features include the Ugly Mug among the Washington Street Mall's haunted addresses, alongside other long-running businesses on the pedestrian mall. The accounts are anecdotal staff reports rather than documented investigations, and HauntBound presents them as local lore.
The bar leans into its age and atmosphere rather than advertising paranormal programming. The clearest connection to the dead here is deliberate and visible: the ceiling of mugs turned toward the ocean, each one marking a member who is gone. Whatever a visitor makes of the after-hours stories, that ceiling is the bar's own memorial, hanging in plain sight above every drink served.
Walk into the Washington Street Mall tavern and look up: hundreds of numbered ceramic mugs belonging to Ugly Mug Club members hang from the ceiling. The mugs of deceased members are turned to face the Atlantic. Order food or a drink and ask the staff about the bar's resident stories.
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