!["Capturing Cape May's Architecture: The Making of a National Historic Landmark"](https://www.newjerseystage.com/events2018/CapeMay-Feb28.jpg ""Capturing Cape May's Architecture: The Making of a National Historic Landmark"")
(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- In the early 1970s, a team from the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) produced pen and ink drawings of Cape May's most significant historic structures that were instrumental in saving this seaside town - "the best-preserved late 19th century resort in America." The drawings enabled Cape May to become a National Historic Landmark and a national tourist destination. Now, for the first time, these intricate drawings and the stories of the architects whose hands created them are on exhibit at the Carroll Gallery.
Curator Karen Fox, author of The Chalfonte, provides visitors with a unique look at how a small band of preservationists saved not only the buildings, but a culture of the past creating a future. The exhibit "Capturing Cape May's Architecture: The Making of a National Historic Landmark" opens Friday, April 27 at 7:00pm at the Carroll Gallery in the Carriage House of the Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington Street, Cape May. The public is invited to this free exhibit opening. The exhibit runs until October 8th.
The exhibit is presented by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) and is open daily, Friday, April 27 through Wednesday, October 31; times vary. Admission is free.
Cape May was christened "the best-preserved late 19th century resort in America" in the preface to the seminal book Cape May - Queen of the Seaside Resorts - Its History and Architecture, ©1976 by authors George E. Thomas and Carl Doebley. George E. Thomas was a historian with the Cape May HABS survey team of 1973 and is included in the exhibit's biography panel of the architects who rendered the measured drawings in the exhibit. He first experienced Cape May as a young man when his father, in the Navy, was stationed at Cape May. Thomas is one of the country's leading authorities on Victorian architect Frank Furness, to whom the Physick House is attributed. Thomas has been a national pioneer in documentation for National Register Historic Districts and individual listings to secure historic tax credits for rehabilitation projects. For more information on George E. Thomas, click here.
MAC is a multifaceted not-for-profit organization committed to promoting the preservation, interpretation, and cultural enrichment of the Cape May region for its residents and visitors. MAC membership is open to all. For information about MAC's year-round schedule of tours, festivals, and special events call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278, or visit MAC's Web site at www.capemaymac.org.
Image Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division
