<P> Congress Hall was first constructed in 1816 as a wooden boarding house for guests to the new seaside resort of Cape May ; and the proprietor , Thomas H. Hughes , called it `` The Big House . '' Locals , thinking it too big to be successful , called it `` Tommy 's Folly . '' In 1828 , when Hughes was elected to the House of Representatives , he changed the name of the hotel to Congress Hall . It burned to the ground in Cape May 's Great Fire of 1878 , but within a year , its owners had rebuilt the hotel in brick . </P>
<P> Congress Hall was first constructed in 1816 as a wooden boarding house for guests to the new seaside resort of Cape May ; and the proprietor , Thomas H. Hughes , called it `` The Big House . '' Locals , thinking it too big to be successful , called it `` Tommy 's Folly . '' In 1828 , when Hughes was elected to the House of Representatives , he changed the name of the hotel to Congress Hall . It burned to the ground in Cape May 's Great Fire of 1878 , but within a year , its owners had rebuilt the hotel in brick . </P>
when was congress hall in cape may built
when was congress hall in cape may built
in 1816
in 1816