Coxe Hall Cottage

Built: c. 1691. Original Location: Town Bank section of Lower Township.

This building is the oldest known surviving building in Cape May County and currently shows aspects of domestic life in a small, rural dwelling.

The most recent addition to the Village, Coxe Hall Cottage was built around 1691 and was probably—as local lore claims—part of Coxe Hall, a manor erected by West Jersey proprietor Dr. Daniel Coxe where land rents were paid, church services were conducted, and court was held. The carved corner post heads are the most ornate in the state and only two other similar examples are found in early New England dwellings. Physical evidence, revealed when the building was restored in 2006, confirms that the Cottage was originally part of a larger structure.

In the early 1700s, this part of the original structure was converted for use as a residence and is interpreted today as a typical, early 18th-century farm house. Its single room on the first floor was used for entertaining, for eating and cooking, and was also where the parents slept.