The Wildwoods are a group of five communities (four distinct

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

and one

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

) in

Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on the Cape May peninsula, bound by the Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. These are situated on the Island of Five Mile Beach, a

barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...

facing the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. These

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

communities have relatively small year-round populations that swell significantly during the summer with vacationers.https://capemaycountynj.gov/DocumentCenter/View/363/Summer-Population-2011-PDF?, Cape May County, New Jersey. Accessed July 29, 2021. Wildwoods

While the communities have no shared governance (other than Cape May County), with each community reporting to a different local government, the term is often used to refer collectively to the area. All of the communities are part of the greater Delaware Valley or Philadelphia metropolitan area. From north to south, the five communities are: * North Wildwood ( 2010 Census population: 4,041)DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 for North Wildwood city, Cape May County, New Jersey
,

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

. Accessed October 17, 2012. * West Wildwood (pop. 603)DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 for West Wildwood borough, Cape May County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed October 17, 2012. * Wildwood (pop. 5,325)DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 for Wildwood city, Cape May County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed July 2, 2012. * Wildwood Crest (pop. 3,270)DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 for Wildwood Crest borough, Cape May County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed July 24, 2012. * Diamond Beach (pop. 136),DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data for Diamond Beach CDP, New Jersey
,

. Accessed October 18, 2012. a

in Lower Township

Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District

The Wildwoods is home to over 200

motels A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionarie ...

, built during the

Doo-Wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

era of the 1950s and 1960s, in an area recognized by the state of New Jersey known as the ''Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District.'' The term ''doo-wop'' was coined by

Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Th ...

's Mid-Atlantic Center For The Arts in the early 1990s to describe the unique, space-age architectural style, which is also referred to as the

Googie Googie architecture ( ) is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. It originated in Southern California from the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was popular in the U ...

populuxe Populuxe was a consumer culture and aesthetic in the United States popular in the 1950s and 1960s. The term ''populuxe'' is a portmanteau of ''popular'' and ''luxury''. Description The style evoked a sense of luxury with the design of consumer ...

style.

References

{{Jersey Shore region Seaside resorts in New Jersey

Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District

See also

References