South Cape May Meadows, NJ - oystercatcher

South Cape May was a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

that existed in Cape May County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States, from 1894 to 1945. First settled in 1840, it contained a

Lucy Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Lu ...

-type elephant called Light of Asia. The borough was formed on August 27, 1894, from portions of Lower Township, based on the results of a referendum held six days earlier.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 115. Accessed October 16, 2012. The borough was badly wrecked by the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane, which hit in September of that year. After the hurricane, the borough was dissolved as of April 30, 1945, and returned to Lower Township. The remaining land not underwater is part of a bird sanctuary (South Cape May Meadows Preserve).South Cape May Meadows

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

. Accessed September 12, 2019. "Situated at the southwest tip of the Cape May peninsula, the South Cape May Meadows Preserve includes more than 200 acres of critical habitat in the globally renowned birding hot-spot of Cape May, New Jersey.... Established in the 1840s, South Cape May was once a Victorian resort town boasting modest vacation cottages until a storm surge washed much of the town away during the 1950s. Today, remnants of the town lie offshore, scattered on the ocean floor."

References

Lower Township, New Jersey Geography of Cape May County, New Jersey Former boroughs in New Jersey Ghost towns in New Jersey {{NewJersey-stub