Wildwood is a beautiful city in Cape May County, New Jersey. Wildwood was initially incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 1, 1895. Wildwood became a city on January 1, 1912, replacing Wildwood borough and Holly Beach City. During the last decade of the 19th century, the Wildwoods began to develop as a resort. During the 1950s, a building boom began due partially to the construction and completion of the Garden State Parkway.
Tourists and vacationers love Wildwood as a resort city. Wildwood’s year-round population of over 5,300 grows to 250,000 during the summer peak tourist season. More than 200 motels were built in Wildwood during the Doo-Wop era of the 1950s and 1960s, in an area designated by the state of New Jersey as the Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District.
Here are some stunning vintage photos that show Wildwood in 1978 by John Margolies.
Must have been nice to not have a bunch of political and crass adult themed tee shirts in your face at every shirt shop.
I’m curious what the Star Wars ride was like.
From what I understand, it was a Gravitron. It had been themed to Planet of the Apes previously. I think. It was done by Fred Mahana who designed a lot of Morey’s rides from the 70s.
Couple mistakes in the photo descriptions. This was my first summer in Wildwood. I was just under 2 months old in August of 1978. We stayed at the Shore Plaza.
These are amazing quality – great photos!
Love it, this is Wildwood when I was 6-7 and stayed down all summer at my grandparents. Will always remember those days.
Same here. Rode that Star Wars ride and the Flyer. My dad and grandfather were crazy enough to take me to see Jaws 2 at the Hunts theater shown at that age at the shore. Lol
These pictures bring back so many memories- I spent a week every summer in Wildwood with my family as a teenager from 1976-1979. We always had the best time. I remember buying practical jokes and monster related stuff at the Fun Shop on the Boardwalk(picture #8)