The Wildwoods

The Wildwoods are a group of five municipalities in Cape May County, New Jersey, all of which are situated on the Island of Five Mile Beach, a barrier island facing the Atlantic Ocean. These Jersey Shore communities have relatively small year-round populations and swell significantly during the summer with vacationers.

Wildwoods Communities

Wildwoods sign on boardwalk in Wildwood.

While each community has its own independent government, and the five municipalities have no shared governance (other than Cape May County), the term is often used to refer collectively to the area.

The five communities (from south to north) are:

• Diamond Beach (2000 Census population of 218), a place in Lower Township
• Wildwood Crest (3,980)
• Wildwood (5,436)
• West Wildwood (448)
• North Wildwood (4,935)

Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District

Main article: Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District

Doo-wop styled Wawa Food Market.

The Wildwoods is home to over 200 motels, built during the Doo-Wop era of the 1950s and 1960s,[1] in an area recognized by the state of New Jersey, known as the Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District.[2] The term doo-wop was coined by Cape May'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 or populuxe style.[3]

See also

For other groups of similarly named municipalities in New Jersey, see:

• The Amboys
• The Brunswicks
• The Caldwells
• The Oranges
• The Plainfields
• The Ridgefields

References

1. "The '50s and '60s Thrive In Retro Doo-Wop Motels". The Washington Post. 24 June 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
2. "Doo Wop Preservation League Web site". Doowopusa.org.
3. "The Doo Wop Architecture of Wildwood Crest". Cresthistory.org.