Cape May Point, New Jersey
Cape May Point Borough highlighted in Cape May County. Inset map: Cape May County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Coordinates: 38°56′12″N 74°57′55″W / 38.93667, -74.96528
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Cape May
Incorporated	April 19, 1878
Government
- Type	Walsh Act (New Jersey)
- Mayor	Malcolm Fraser
Area
- Total	0.3 sq mi (0.8 km²)
- Land	0.3 sq mi (0.8 km²)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²)
Elevation [1]	10 ft (3 m)
Population (2006)[2]
- Total	230
- Density	819.4/sq mi (316.4/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	08212
Area code(s)	609
FIPS code	34-10330[3]
GNIS feature ID	0885179[4]
Website: http://www.cmpnj.com

Cape May Point is a borough located at the tip of the Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. 241 permanent residents were counted during the United States 2000 Census. Cape May Point is home to the Cape May Lighthouse.

Cape May Point was called Stites Beach until 1876 when the name was changed to Seagrove.^[5] It was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 19, 1878, from portions of Lower Township, based on the results of a referendum held three days earlier. It was reincorporated on August 19, 1891 and returned to Lower Township on April 8, 1896. Cape May Point re-emerged as an independent municipality on April 6, 1908, based on the results of a referendum held on April 21, 1908.^[6]

Geography

Cape May Point is located at 38°56′13″N, 74°57′55″W (38.936896, -74.965264)^[7].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.8 km²), of which, 0.3 square miles (0.8 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (6.45%) is water.

Cape May Point borders Lower Township, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Delaware Bay.

Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 241 people, 133 households, and 77 families residing in the borough. The population density was 819.4 people per square mile (320.9/km²). There were 501 housing units at an average density of 1,703.4/sq mi (667.0/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 95.02% White, 2.07% African American, 0.41% Asian, and 2.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.66% of the population.

There were 133 households out of which 6.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.1% were married couples living together, 3.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 23.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.81 and the average family size was 2.27.

In the borough the population was spread out with 6.6% under the age of 18, 0.8% from 18 to 24, 10.4% from 25 to 44, 34.4% from 45 to 64, and 47.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 64 years. For every 100 females there were 95.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $55,313, and the median income for a family was $69,750. Males had a median income of $63,250 versus $30,833 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $52,689. None of the families and 1.7% of the population were living below the poverty line.

Government

The entrance to Cape May Point

Local government

Cape May Point is operated under the Walsh Act commission form of government, first created to rebuild the city of Galveston, Texas after the devastating Hurricane of 1900.^[9] Cape May Point is one of more than 30 municipalities statewide to use this form of government.

In three-member Commissions, as in Cape May Point, the Departments of Public Affairs and Public Safety are combined, as are the Departments of Public Works and Parks and Public Property. Revenue and Finance is the third portfolio. The borough adopted this form of government in 1916.^[10]

The Commissioners have the Executive, Administrative, Judicial, and Legislative powers over their respective departments. As a group, the Commissioners have complete control over all affairs of the municipality. Immediately following the election, the three Commissioners choose a mayor from among themselves. Mayoral duties include chairing municipal meetings and general oversight of community affairs.^[11]

Current members of the Cape May Point Borough Commission are:^[12]

• Malcolm Fraser - Mayor and Commissioner of Public Works, Parks and Public Property
• Joe Nietubicz - Commissioner of Public Affairs and Public Safety
• Carl F. Schupp - Commissioner of Revenue and Finance

Federal, state and county representation

Cape May Point is in the Second Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 1st Legislative District.^[13]

New Jersey's Second Congressional District, covering all of Atlantic County, Cape May County, Cumberland County and Salem County and portions of Burlington County, Camden County and Gloucester County, is represented by Frank LoBiondo (R, Ventnor). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).

The 1st legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Nicholas Asselta (R) and in the Assembly by Nelson Albano (D, Vineland) and Jeff Van Drew (D, Dennis Township). The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).

Cape May County is governed by a Board of Chosen Freeholders consisting of five members, elected at large in partisan elections to serve staggered three-year terms in office. Cape May County's Freeholders are Freeholder Director Daniel Beyel (Upper Township, term expires December 31, 2008), Freeholder Vice-Director Ralph E. Sheets, Jr. (2008), Ralph E. Bakley, Sr. (2010), Leonard C. Desiderio (Sea Isle City, 2009) and Gerald M. Thornton (2010).^[14]

Education

Cape May Point is a non-operating school district, in that all students are sent to schools outside of the district.

For grades K-6, public school students attend Cape May City Elementary School in Cape May City, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Cape May City School District. The school had an enrollment of 150 students in the 2005-06 school year.^[15]

For grades 7 - 12, public school students attend the schools of the Lower Cape May Regional School District, which serves students from Cape May City, Lower Township and West Cape May, along with students from Cape May Point.^[16] Schools in the district are Richard M. Teitelman School (grades 7 and 8) and Lower Cape May Regional High School (grades 9-12).

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Cape May Point include:

• Bill Pilczuk, American swimmer.

References

External links

• Cape May Point website
• Cape May City Elementary School
• Cape May City Elementary School's 2006-07 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for the Cape May City Elementary School, National Center for Education Statistics
• Lower Cape May Regional School District
• The Cape May Gazette Newspaper

• Cape May Point, New Jersey is at coordinates 38°56′13″N 74°57′55″W / 38.936896, -74.965264 (Cape May Point, New Jersey)Coordinates: 38°56′13″N 74°57′55″W / 38.936896, -74.965264 (Cape May Point, New Jersey)

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