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A Group Of People On A Beach

A Resort as Grand as its Heritage

The History of Congress Hall, America’s First Seaside Resort

For more than two centuries, Congress Hall has offered hospitality to locals and visitors alike. It began life in 1816 as a simple boarding house for summer visitors to one of America’s earliest seaside resorts. Its owner, Thomas H. Hughes, called his new boarding house “The Big House”. The local people had other ideas, though. Convinced the building was far too large to ever be a success, they nicknamed it “Tommy’s Folly”. 

In this first incarnation it was a quite different affair. Downstairs was a single room that served as the dining room for all the guests, who stayed in simply partitioned quarters on the two upper floors. The walls and woodwork were bare and supplies of provisions were at times unreliable. 

A Painting Of A Building
This illustration, believed to be the earliest existing image of Congress Hall, is from 1838 and shows what is likely the 1818 hotel (with pillars). This building, which replaced the 1816 original, remained until 1870, when it was replaced by a huge extension.

Guests were undeterred by the Spartan conditions and summer after summer the new hotel was packed to bursting. In 1828 Hughes had been elected to Congress and in honor of his new status his hotel was renamed Congress Hall. 

 As Congress Hall’s reputation grew, so did Cape May’s. By the middle of the 19th Century, Cape May had become a booming holiday destination, rivaling Saratoga and Newport for popularity. 

Congress Hall had doubled in size and was welcoming guests from around the region, but in 1878 the building was destroyed when a huge fire swept through 38 acres of Cape May’s seafront. 

A Red And White Map
The great fire of 1878 began on Perry Street at the Ocean House Hotel (the site of the current-day Star Inn). Winds carried the blaze west while the under-resourced Cape May fire brigade watched helplessly.
A Train On The Railway Tracks
A stereoscopic slide shows the ruins of Congress Hall after the inferno of November 9, 1878. Barely a stick of wood remained.

Within a year, the owners rebuilt the hotel, this time in brick rather than wood, and business. blossomed once again. The hotel and Cape May proved so popular that they gained renown as a summer retreat for the nation’s presidents. Ulysses S. Grant, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan all chose to vacation here. President Benjamin Harrison made Congress Hall his “summer White House” and conducted the affairs of state from the hotel. 

Benjamin Harrison With A Beard
Benjamin Harrison occupied a suite of offices on the ground floor of Congress Hall—where the Sea Spa is now—during the summer of 1891, while electricity was being installed in the White House.

The famous 19th Century composer John Philip Sousa also loved Congress Hall. After con-ducting concerts on Congress Hall’s lawn with his Marine Corps band throughout the season in 1882 he composed a march in honor of the hotel, the “Congress Hall March.”

John Philip Sousa In A Military Uniform
Famed conductor John Philip Sousa, leader of the United States Marine Band, played on the lawn of Congress Hall in 1882.
A Group Of People In Uniform

In the early 1900s, the hotel fell into disrepair and remained closed for more than a dozen years, sometime between 1905 and the early 20s, after a long and bitter dispute between owner Annie Knight and the city council.

Finally, an agreement to repave the roads around Congress Hall was reached and the hotel reopened in the early 20s, with a stunning renovation. Congress Hall went on to open Cape May’s first post-Prohibition cocktail bar (where the Brown Room sits now) in 1934. 

A Large Group Of People Posing For A Photo
Congress Hall key staff on the lawn in 1928. Congress Hall owner, Annie Knight, is front center.

From 1968 until 1995 Congress Hall oper-ated as part of the Cape May Bible Conference, led by the Reverend Carl McIntire of Collingswood, New Jersey. By providing an alternate use for the building, Dr. McIntire in effect helped preserve it during a time when many of Cape May’s land-marks were being demolished to make way for modern motels.

The present owners purchased the building in 1995 with the goal of undertaking a complete renovation to return Congress Hall to its former glory. Now in its third century, this grand resort features the simple pleasures of the past with the modern luxuries we enjoy today.

A Building With Many White Chairs In Front Of It
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