The Queen Victoria Bed and Breakfast

The Queen Victoria building was built in 1881 by Douglas Gregory, a Cape May native and Delaware River pilot, as a home for his small family. He purchased the land for his home from Charles W. Potts for $3500 from Philadelphia merchants Charles Potts and paid about $4000 for the construction of the home. The building sits on the former site of the huge Columbia Hotel, which burned down in the last great Cape May fire of 1878. Mr. Gregory sold the home in 1889 to Elizabeth Baker. In 1913 Dr. Franklin Hughes purchased the building at a Sheriff’s sale for $6,750. He leased the building to the Navy for use as a war camp community service facility from 1913 until 1918, before moving his family in. Dr. Hughes made many improvements to the building during his stewardship of property, including the purchase of the building we call the Crown Jewel, which he had moved from Camp Wissahickon (the current Coast Guard Training Center).