Cape May: Looking Back Over 100 Years (Yesterday & Today)

People have been visiting Cape May, "the nation's oldest seashore resort," for longer than America has been a country.

That makes Cape May the perfect place to look back on over 100 years ago and from today -- then and now.

Some Of Cape May's Most Famous Buildings - Then & Now

This is such a cool project. We dug way back, mostly through the Library of Congress, for photos of Cape May hotels and well-known buildings over 100 years old, to compare the modern-day buildings with those now standing in their place

I've been going to Cape May for decades and I learned a few things through this process. Thanks to Chelsea Masterson for gathering these photos.

Cape May -- Then & Now

See how the Colonial Hotel went from a 60-room boarding house with a French roof and large porches to a modern-day hotel with a popular outdoor space known as "The Porch".

Look at a photo of the original Lafayette Hotel in the early 20th century and the Marquis de Lafayette Hotel that replaced it.

See how the Shoreham Hotel, which was later used as St. Mary's By the Sea, became the Cape May Point Science Center.

And, of course, there are photos of timeless Congress Hall from over 100 years ago and today.

You can see these and other examples of Cape May -- then and now-- in this photo gallery.