THE CAPE MAY BUNKER
A weird sight in Cape May County is the ruins of a WWII military structure. It sits along the beach at the Cape May Point State Park.

There had been a sign that gave some information about this oddity but that seems to have been removed. The massive concrete structure was erected on thick wooden pilings during WWII. It was called a "magazine" so I imagine it held munitions.  It was never meant to be permanent yet the pilings haven't given out and it still remains, a massive concrete hulk above the water.

When I moved to this area in 1983 the high tide washed underneath it but you could walk under the thing during low tide. There was also a long ramp connected to it so that you could climb onto the top, where, of course, there was absolutely nothing to do and nothing more to see. In 1992 the ramp was removed, so people can no longer get onto the magazine. (I guess some safety conscious employee of the NJ Park Service decided it might soon crumble.) During the 90's the tides changed so that the sea washes under the pilings at both low and high tide now.

All the years I lived down here I never heard of any stories associated with this building--no ghosts or strange sounds or frightening apparitions are connected to it.

It simply stands there, letting the sea wash under it, huge and melancholy in all its weirdness. Attached are a few shots I've taken of the abandoned structure.

This magazine is one of two useless chunks of concrete that decorate the southern-most NJ shore––immediately south of Cape May Point is Sunset Beach, where the famous remains of the concrete ship (USS Atlantus) molder in the surf.
– Steve Alfano


A marker found at the site explains: This bunker or gun emplacement was built in 1942. The round turrets on either side held 6 inch guns. The horseshoe-shaped structures which can be seen out in front at low tide are Panama Mounts. These were built in July, 1941, prior to the construction of the more permanent bunker, and held four 155mm coast artillery guns. A sister bunker stands across the bay in Lewes, Delaware.

When built in 1942, the bunker was covered over with sod and stood on high ground 900 from the ocean.  It is built of reinforced concrete. The roof and walls are 6 feet thick. Erosion and storms have washed away the land in front of and under the bunker. How long can the pilings (meant only to stabilize) support the bunker weighing thousands of tons?

photos by Larry and Roberta Novak