K, Herald - Lantern - Dispatch 14 August '85 _ i I . _ •- IT1 1 W

80 Years of History Built Into the Bellevue Tavern

ii > k. i mi l v cut) iff house James Boy Shirlils, 22. and Beatrice Ctillcn Springer. 17. were married al 2 p m Ann M*. I ! h >;» in what is now (lie llellevue Tavern. 9 N Main SI Then, il was a- 3'.- slnry hotel, limit on Ihe ashes of lis predeeeesor hy the bride's lallier. Alexander If Springer A horse racing en I tin si as I . he also o|M>raled Ihe Old I'nion II of. el | it si nor III of Mechanic Slreel on- Norlh Main where Ihe eouiily clerk's office now slamLs lie nave away Ills only daughter I ha I afternoon under an ivy areh l li.it was surrounded hy ar rangcments ol golden- ml The Itev A W Hand, a Baptist inuiisler from Burleigh. offieialed THAT W AS Hii VI-: Alts aifii this Friday President Theodore Roosevelt was negotiating Ihe end ol Ihe Itusso .'lapanese # War Shakers were preparing a world peare eonferenee in New York Albert Einstein first proposed his Spend I Theory of Relativity New Vork < )'•. 'opened i's --ob * way and those era/;. Wright Brothers actually flew "thai new tangled machine of their- for minutes Besides Hm- wedding and Ihe new Springer hotel the biggest local news was that soon' Philadelphia and Atlantic City tycoons had jutf Knight thai M relch ol Seven Mile Beach south of Avalon at a sheriff s sale

"Now, just what are they going fo do with that?" one wedding guest might have asked another al Ihe hotel reception The likely response was: "Well, like I'.T. Barnuni said, 'there's one iMirn every day ' If he didn'J In-fore hand, the father of Ihe bride no douhl told Ihe guests (hen Ilial he was only wailing until his daughter was mar riedlosell Ihe place He did so shortly thereafter anil moved from upstairs lo w h a I i s ii o w I I vi s nowspajier's office al I lift N Ma hi SI The newly we«fs moved to Mechanic Slreel and started a family of their own A glasshlower. the groom I NX-ante a Heading Railroad hrakeman for Ihe It road walk Klyer There, lie later opened a service si a I ion that his son. I'lulip, operaltx! until he retired to Brighton Itoiid. Court House, several years ago T II K It It I I) K ' S lilt HTII KB. K u gene, f o u n d e d Springer's Homemade Ice Cream. Stone Harbor, where tourists and natives line-up for their favorite flavors in that sheriff s sale resort Most of the old timers who wrote the first chapter of the Bellevue s history are gone now But the etfios of their whispers laughter and tears like those of "»uritless other guest- are saved somewhere in the walls of 77m- Bell of "Court House as her curn-nt owners

Gene DeGenova- and Bob Wilson celebrate her Hlllh birthday this' month The history of the Bellevue seems to In- an in tegral part of the history of Cape May Court House." said DeGenova. who researched the building's past "And there would In- . much more to relate if lh«-se walls could lalk "According to fhe Cape May County Historical and Gencological Society, a Jeremiah Hand originally huill a tavern on Ihe prise n I site in 1790." DeGenova wrote in an ' historical summary for tins' paper Further research, he said lasl week, indicated that a Mark Carol obtained a $10 license from county freeholders in 1839 lo operate a tavern in his home there Apparently thai was the same building Hand had operated. II "burned July 3, 1876 and the Bellevue Hotel was built.."' DeGenova noted "If was a two-story building with dormers. "Thai Bellevue ilotel. of" which I could find no pictures or sketches, burned to the ground on Feb "23. 1905 during a disastrous fire thai literally roared through Ihe business district." DeGenova add «-d "It started in <a> hardware store, near where the county library now stands, and - spread east on Mechanic, engulfing both sides of the slrix-t, I lien south on Main to about where the Sturdy Savings & I ,o;mi now stands "It. ....Ii. i.n II... ......

path on nor thwest side * of Main J was halted when firemen* in order to make a break, literally lore down the law Y office of Douglass & Douglass Many ol the firemen, like hridegr<Mim Shields, were glassfilowcrs and able to witKnahd Ihe I intense heat, according lo I I ><-( ieunva s newspa|M-r ar [ counts ol Ihe blaze •nil: HISTORY OF the I present building be con I It lined, "begins almost I belore I lie ruins cool I lH-cau.sc on March 24. 1905. i those accounts recorded' J "a small a r in y o I I bricklayers have made I ipuck work ol the extensive I foundation lor Ihe new I hotel of A It Springer ' I "Kvidencr of the tire still I exists on the old foundation I over winch the present I Bellevue was built." wrote I DeGenova. poiuling out I charred bricks in the base I men! lasl week "The builders were Charles Gar retson and Charles I lolmes "Oddly enough." the co- ' owner added, "tradition has it that one week before the fire. Mr Springer turn od down an offer of $10,000 Insurance on the old hotel, lurns and sheds tot a I list r about $4,000 " i Springer sold the budding for $25,000 on Aug £ 30. 1905 to George Strang, g "an experienced caterer to » the public appetite." accor ' ding to published reports then I "The Bellevue Hotel had ' many owners until the J Douglass family purchased i it in 1923 II remained in Douglass family ownership ^ until I960. DeGenova C wrote "The same family is

not ed also a s t he originators of Douglass Candy that's Ih-cu known for years " -Kathryn A Willis. 05. former county clerk-ad-ministrator. remembers that her father, who arrived here in 1911. referred to the hotel as. "the Springer place " But Freeholder William F. Sturm Jr.. 53. who delivered newspapers there, knew it as Douglass*. Willis was friendly with the owndrs" daughter. June. » and visited her often in the hotel "During the years." DeGenova continued. "Mrs Joseph Douglass rooked for the guests and many old-i^pe Court House families have recounted many times to me the delicious meals and desserts this woman prepared IN ITS KAKI.Y YKAHS .. the building housed a halx'rdashery . pool hall, telephone exchange, barber shop, hairdresser (sundry store, bowling alley) and. in later years, the New Jersey State Police office." he recounted. "Imagine the stories if those old walls could talk." They do talk, sort of. in the State Police, case Under the red Florentine wallpaper in the Bellevue 's dining room are recorded -on plaster the names and badge numbers of the troopers who served there and bunked upstairs in the mid "4i»s and early '50s Springer's grandson. Philip Shields recalled lhal Slate Trooper Joseph Hvan first patrolled Ihe area from a Bellevue barn on his horse. "Tex " Formed in 1921. the lr«Hi|H-rs moved into the Bellevue m 1946 and left for Ihe Atlantic Klcctric Co property along Route 9 in Ihe early '50s, according to former Middle Township Police Chief George Seamans who. as a trooper earlier, was stationed at t lit- holel "Chdrley Douglass own ed the place al the I line, said. Ihe duel, w ho (ountfed Ihe township force with three officers in 1958 "(>! Ihe many holel guests, one notable visit was Ilial ol Charles l.ind lH-rgti." DeGenova olwerv ed "Reportedly, he and Ins retinue caught a few hours' sloop and spent lime plann ing ihere> In-tore journey mg on lo Cape May where reports were that Baby Lindbergh was In-ing held atmard ship "We all know that tragedy," he added "Unfortunately . no one kept a record of that guest book, so we must rely on oral tradition "It was about this same time that the Bellevue was used for meetings of the county Bar Association." the co-owner continued. "The Bar no longer meets htfre officially but. on some nights, there'd probably be a quorum We're happy to continue the association. Possibly.- someday, we may be able to expand and have a Bar Room ' "Many of the old features of the old" Bellevue remain behind the paneling and dropped ceilings that were installed by ... Charles W Camp, better known

through the county as 'Bud.' " DeGenova explained Camp bought the hotel from his sister. Ethel Douglass, and her husband. Charles, in I960 A P A P K K II A N G F. It FROM Sea Isle at the time. Camp had a gift for remodeling and a eye toward the future, said DeGenova "Hotels, especially old hotels, were no longer in vogue No one wanted lo walk lip steps, sleep in a small room and use semi private bathrooms, so Bud' closed off Ihe lop two floors." DeGenova explain ed " Bud' and 'Becky' ' F.li/ahcth Camp1 also started serving a few sand wu'hes for the local workmen and Bud' also put in a small package goods section Most of the changes were personally done by Bud ' ' In 1969. Robert Wilson and I became partners with Bud.' " DeGenova rivalled Bob' had been associated with First National Kink, and I had been a teacher in Middle Township High School." They were just casual friends who met at "the Court House bank where Wilson served as vice president. W i 1 s.o n remembered "I guess both of us were looking around for^ a business at the time."*he said of their decision to become Camp's partners Camp retired several years ago to Scotch Bonnet "We've both been working since we were 12.'" Wilson. 46. said for himself and co-owner DeGenova. 47 Wilson worked in his father's, retail drug business in upstate Pennsylvania while DeGenova helped out in the motel his mother once owned at 96th Street and the beach. Stone

Harbor, and later at her former ice cream pa lor. 92nd Street and 2njJ Avenue. Born in Woodbine. DeGenova was reared in the county He graduated from ML St Marx's College. Md . and returned to teach English, first in North Jersey than in Court House He and his wife. Carol, have been raising five children there: Lisa. Craig. Erin. Jennifer and Mark WILSON AND HIS wife. Nancy, have been raising four children in Avalon: David. Danny. Kathy and Jennifer Affiliated' with the Avalon Methodist Church. Wilson is also on the Board of Directors of Sturdy Savings & Loan He moved here directly after graduation from Lycoming College. Williamsport. Pa "We also made many changes." DeGenova said of the Bellevue. "hut none as dramatic as the one we made' in 1972 Filmore Construction of Wildwood... literally cut' the top 2'3 floors from the grand old lady of Court House in January...." he added. "we replaced the traditional railing on the porch and installed windows in nearly the same locations as 1905 " Less lofty v but trimmer and better 'dressed, the Bellevue is ready to celebrate her 80 years "In making these change's we have one thing in mind: to continue mak ing the Bellevue Tavern a comfortable place to visit." DeGenova continued "Through its 80-year history, it continues io be the place in Court House "She's a bit old-fashioned and she sags a bit in places. ' he conceded, "but people seem to like her that way "

Be M JV'II tJl lCk CHAT — Bellevue co-owner*. Gene DeGenova. left, and Boh Wilson, relax for a moment in their office. Thev are celebrating the SOth hirthdav of the Bellev ue this month. SlONt HARBOR ^ ft;,, a#' FlomsT v- "B r!i\VKl>20% OFF PLANTS Ji $3,95 Special Bouquets gL T WtRF @) DFJJVF.BY Stone" Harbor

'i|in THEN AND NOW - If walls could talk, ( ape May County would have much to learn from 'the Bellevue. The building appears: top, as a hotel on* a 1914 postcard: middle, on a postcard in the 19t0's. also as a hotel: and bottom, as it stands today, now known as the Bellevue Tavern.