A piece of history known as the “ghost tracks” have returned to the Higbee Beach area along the Delaware River in Cape May. Beach erosion and storms have continued to unearth the tracks from time to time, most recently in the last 10 days. My daughter and I visited that area yesterday.
The century-old tracks were built by the Cape May Sand Company who in 1905 began sand mining and dredging sand from the beach to be processed for glass and cement.
During the World War I period (1916-1919) this area served as a munitions testing ground performed by the Bethlehem Steel Loading Company. The tracks were used to move cannons and massive munitions along the coastline that were then fired into the beach and sand dunes to test their strength for the US and its allies, including Russia, France, and England.
Fortunately, sand mining operations were suspended in 1936 when Cape May became concerned about depleting sand from nearby bathing beaches.
This is how the tracks appeared on May 15, 2022.
Resources: https://www.phillyvoice.com/cape-may-ghost-tracks-higbee-beach-railroad-noreaster/
