Cape May ยท Howard Street to Physick Estate
The Chalfonte Hotel
Col. Henry Sawyer's 1876 boarding house, which the hotel calls Cape May's oldest original hotel; 65 rooms, no elevator and street parking only.
- Built
- 1876Built 1875-76 by Col. Henry Sawyer as a boarding house; expanded to its present footprint by 1909.
- Type
- Inn
- Rooms
- 65
- Area
- Howard Street to Physick Estate
- Credentials
- Inside a National Register historic district
The story
Civil War Colonel Henry Sawyer began building ‘Sawyer’s Chalfonte’ in 1875 on land at Howard Street and Sewell Avenue, and it opened as a boarding house in 1876. Sawyer sold it in 1888; between 1888 and 1911 later owners extended it to its present size, adding rooms along Sewell Avenue. The hotel calls itself the oldest original hotel in Cape May, and Wikipedia describes it as the oldest facility in the city to operate continuously as lodging. The Philadelphia Phillies stayed here during spring training in 1888.
The ghost story
On Cape May MAC's Ghosts of Cape May trolley tour, which draws on psychic medium Craig McManus's research, guides tell visitors that the Chalfonte is haunted by Mr. Johnson, the hotel's handyman, among others (Cape May Magazine, Fall 2022).
Source: capemaymag.com
Good to know
- Parking: street
- No elevator
- No pets
- Address: 301 Howard Street, Cape May, NJ 08204
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.