West Wildwood

West Wildwood — The Bay Side of Five Mile Beach

West Wildwood occupies the bay-facing side of Five Mile Beach, looking out across the Wildwood back-bay toward the mainland rather than the ocean. The 1920 aerial shows the small bayfront community with its docks and boat slips — a working waterfront character very different from the ocean resort atmosphere on the barrier's other side. By 1944, the Great Atlantic Hurricane had demonstrated that even bay-side communities on Five Mile Beach were vulnerable: the storm's surge entered the bay from the north and south simultaneously, flooding the low bayfront streets. Comparing 1920 and 1944 shows how the community had grown and how the hurricane had reshaped the bay shoreline.