Cape May's Congress Hall celebrates 210th anniversary this summer

A historic hotel in Cape May, New Jersey, is celebrating a milestone birthday as the United States also rings in its 250th birthday this year.

Known for its eye-catching yellow brick and striped window awnings, Congress Hall is celebrating 210 years as America's first seaside resort.

"We have numerous guests that come back for years and years," Jarrett Miller, the hotel's director of front office and operations, said.

Annie Knight was one of the hotel's owners from 1904 to 1931. A historian who portrays her guides visitors on a tour, bringing them back in time to 1816.

"This is a great, grand hotel," the historian said. "Folks come from all over to visit us. I like to think I have left my imprint on the property. My favorite space is the Brown Room. That has the distinction of being the first legal open drinking establishment in Cape May after Prohibition."

In its first 75 years or so, the resort started as a vacation boarding house that locals doubted would succeed. It eventually transformed into a summer White House for President Benjamin Harrison. 

"We had bills signed in our Sea Spa, which is what it is now, but that was a seating area and kind of like the Oval Office way back in the day when the White House was being renovated," Miller said. "We had James Buchanan, Ulysses S. Grant, Franklin Pierce and Benjamin Harrison."

The resort has seen its share of ups and downs, including a tragic fire in 1878, storm damage and closures.

But after repairs and reopenings, it's continued to welcome guests.

"First time here and I've been coming to the shore my whole life, but I've never been to Cape May," Kim Iannan said.

Now in its third century, guests continue to check into Congress Hall and into a piece of American history.

To honor its 210th anniversary, the resort is inviting guests out on July 7 for a concert by the Bay Atlantic Symphony.