Travel by Steamboat
The development of the steam engine and steamboat dates to the mid 1700s. In the United States, it wasn't until Robert Fulton developed his first steamboat in 1807 that their potential for passenger travel began to be fully realized.
The first steamboat visit to Cape May was in June 1809. The Phoenix, owned by John Stevens had set out from Hoboken heading to Philadelphia. Stevens had been beat out by Robert Fulton for the monopoly on steamboat service on the Hudson River, so he was looking to make his mark on the Delaware River. This was the first ocean going voyage of a steamboat. He anchored off Cape May overnight due to fog.
The Phoenix, pictured here, was 100’ long with 37 berths for passengers.
By midcentury, steamboats would revolutionize travel to the Jersey shore. Travel times were dramatically shortened and the journey became much more pleasant, aside from occasional bouts of seasickness.
Starting in 1816, combinations of steamboats and sloops made the trip. Travelers would take a steamboat to New Castle, DE and then a sloop to Cape May. Due to the shoals around Cape May, passengers would often be tranferred to a rowboat to be taken ashore until a long steamboat wharf could be built.
By 1819, regular steamboat service direct from Philadelphia to Cape May was in service. Between 1819 to 1903 One or more regular steamboats made the route every summer, dramatically increasing the number of people traveling to Cape May.
In that time many steamboats made the trip, but the most well known was the"Palace Steamer" Republic. She was known as a Palace Steamer because she was quite luxuirous and could comfortably accomodate up to 3,000 passengers of various social classes.
Between 1878 to 1904 she brought travelers to Philadelphia to Cape May on a 7 hour excursion down the Delaware River and Bay. In July of 1878, her first month of operation, she brought 45,324 passengers to Cape May. By way of comparison, the 1880 census listed the entire population of Cape May County at 9,765.
The Republic departed Philadelphia on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Travelers embarked at the Race Street dock where the Benjamin Franklin Bridge currently stands. She was 270 feet long and 67 feet at her widest. She had three decks where travelers could enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as live entertainment from a brass and string band on their journey. A round trip ticket was $1.00
The lower deck had the dining room and restaurant as well as smoking rooms, refreshment stands, and other accomodations. The second deck had a grand carpeted saloon accessed by two broad stairways and was stylishly furnished. There were also 18 staterooms. The third deck had the pilot house and enclosed seating area. It made for a quite an enjoyable journey passing the sights along the river and into the bay.
Travelers would disemmark at Sunset Beach in Cape May Point. A 395 foot long T-shaped wharf with a 100 foot long landing had been built to accomodate The Republic. From there they could take a carriage or short trolley ride into the main town of Cape May.
The arrival of the ship at Sunset Beach became a social event unto itself with locals coming out to great the ship at the pier, much like residents do today when the Cape May-Lewes arrives at the terminal.
By the turn on of the 20th century, the must faster railroads had replaced steamboats as the preferred means of travel to Cape May.
Despite the appeal of the railroads' speed and convinence, steamboat travel to Cape May endured for a few years into the 20th century. The picture to the left shows the Republic in her last year of operation on the Cape May route. At this point she had been sold and renamed the Cape May. The crowds on deck are a testament to the popularity of Cape May as a travel destination, but also the popularity of arriving there by steamboat.
After she left the Cape May route she continued to work between New York City and Coney Island and also in the Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore until 1928.
