Christian Admiral Hotel, 1401 Beach Avenue, Cape May, Cape May County, NJ

Significance: The Cape May Hotel was constructed in 1908 as the anchor for an ambitious real estate venture to create a new town in East Cape May to replace the aging center. The development was designed to rejuvenate the city's flagging reputation (in decline since the 1880s and 90s) and stimulate the economy still suffering the effects of the depression of 1894. With 350 guestrooms, the hotel was the largest in Cape May and the finest on the Jersey shore. It boasted central heating, electric lighting throughout and completely fireproof construction purportedly the first such hotel in the world.
Survey number: HABS NJ-1228
Building/structure dates: 1906-1908 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1917 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1963 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1988 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1995 Demolished
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 70000383