The Haunted Grave on the Cape May Beach

The Haunted Grave of Cape May Beach

It’s no secret that Cape May has its fair share of ghosts and ghost stories. As America’s first seaside resort, generations of travelers have walked its beaches and stayed in its historic homes.

Among those who’ve passed through are pirates, presidents, Revolutionary War soldiers, abolitionists, and countless everyday visitors, many of whom locals say never truly left.

A Ghostly Legend Beneath the Sand

Cape May’s rich past makes it a natural home for tales of the supernatural. Paranormal activity has been reported at well-known landmarks like the Emlen Physick Estate, The Cherry House, and Hotel Macomber. But few know about a mysterious grave said to rest right on the beaches of Cape May.

Before World War II, the Cape looked quite different. What we now know as an island was once connected to the mainland, long before the Cape May Canal was dredged in the early 1940s.

As war loomed, the U.S. government sought ways to protect merchant ships from German U-boats lurking off the coast. The new canal provided a safer route to Delaware Bay, but it also meant demolishing properties in its path, including part of what is now Higbee Beach.

Long before the canal or tent camps of the early 1900s, folklore claimed that pirates once anchored off this stretch of beach, coming ashore to bury treasure or perhaps their victims.

Later, beachgoers began reporting sightings of a mysterious figure appearing on warm summer nights, said to be the spirit of a man bound to the shore he loved.

 

The Man Behind Higbee’s Beach

That man may have been Joseph Higbee, a respected ship pilot who guided vessels from the Atlantic Ocean up the Delaware Bay toward Philadelphia. In 1823, Joseph and his brother Thomas Higbee bought a piece of land on the bay, where they built a small hotel and farm known as The Hermitage.

For decades, the brothers watched passing ships from their property.

Also See: SOLVED! Bones Found on South Jersey Beaches Linked to 180-Year-Old Shipwreck

When Joseph died in 1872, Thomas inherited everything, including the land, the hotel, and the beach they both cherished. In his will, Thomas made one special request: he wished to be buried overlooking the bay he loved so deeply.

After Thomas’s death in 1879, his niece by affection, Etta Gregory, honored that wish. She had his grave placed on the property, sealed with a large marble slab to protect it from grave robbers. For decades, his final resting place remained untouched.

A Restless Spirit

When Etta passed away in 1937, her will instructed that Thomas’s remains be moved to Cold Spring Cemetery so she could be buried beside him. But according to legend, that move disturbed Thomas’s peace.

Locals claim that strange things began happening at Higbee Beach. Some visitors report seeing an elderly man wandering deep in the woods, somewhere no man of his age could reach. Others describe hearing faint shouts or footsteps when no one was nearby.

While there is no hard proof, the stories persist, growing stronger with each retelling.

So Where Is the Grave?

That’s the mystery. Some say Thomas Higbee’s original grave still lies buried somewhere along the beach, marble slab and all. Others believe it was destroyed when the canal was dug.

Those who hike through the area today have never found it, but perhaps that’s part of what keeps the legend alive.

In Cape May, history and mystery often walk hand in hand. And as long as people keep telling the tale, the ghost of Higbee Beach will never truly fade away.