World War II Lookout Tower Museum and Memorial in Cape May

The World War II Lookout Tower Museum and Memorial is located on Sunset Beach in Cape May, New Jersey. We had the pleasure of visiting Cape May's World War II Lookout Tower, known as the Fire Control Tower no. 23 which is a combination museum and memorial. It's a nice family-friendly, educational activity to do while visiting the south Jersey Shore area.

Upon arrival you'll find a parking lot across the street where you can park for free. Visiting the Cape May Lookout Tower is FREE (to walk around the outside grounds and to read the information panels), but if you want to go inside the museum (the tower) you'll have to pay an admission fee. Please note, you'll have to climb a lot of steps to the top of the tower, so I recommend wearing comfortable clothing and walking shoes.

As you walk up to the tower you'll pass by some information panels where you can stop and read the information on them. You'll learn about the history of the World War II Lookout Tower and the Fire Control Tower no. 23. It will take you approximately 15 minutes to stop and read all of the information outside of the tower.

The fire tower is New Jersey's last free-standing World War II tower, part of the Delaware Harbor Defense. It was built in 1942 and the tower was one of 15 towers used as an observation post to try to detect enemy vessels. It's a really interesting story to read...especially if you're history buffs like us.

Around the back of the tower you'll find the "All Veterans Memorial" which pays respects to all of the veterans who fought in World War II and other wars to defend our great country. The memorial is called the Veterans Eternal Flame and you can read information about it while you're there.

If you decide to go inside the tower to visit the museum you'll have to pay a small admission fee. You'll then climb a lot of steps and a spiral staircase to get to the top. Along the way you'll see photographs, memorabilia and you'll learn more about the tower's history and about the Cape May area. It took us about 10 minutes to get to the top because we stopped along the way to check out the photos.

Once you climb back down you can visit their tiny gift shop to pick up some souvenirs. They don't have a lot to choose from...so if you're looking for souvenirs & gifts, I recommend walking down to the gift shop that sits on Sunset Beach. While down on the beach you can check out the S.S. Atlantus, better known as the concrete sunken ship. You can check out our previous post on that right here on our blog.

There are a lot of things for you to see and do in Sunset Beach. Within walking distance of the tower you'll find 3 Sunset Beach gift shops, the Sunset Beach Grille (great for lunch), the S.S. Atlantus Concrete Ship, the evening Flag Ceremony and Sunset Beach Mini Golf.