[24] Washingtonian "named Avalon the 'chicest beach' in the mid-Atlantic, the place to see women in diamonds and designer swimwear.

[28] Around 14,000 years ago, the barrier islands of Cape May County formed, likely from spits and lines of dunes.

[29] Originally a thriving juniper forest occupied by Lenni Lenape Native Americans, the area was purchased by Aaron Leaming in December 1722 for 79 pounds.

Known as Seven Mile Beach (which included present-day Avalon and Stone Harbor), it was owned and retained by the Leamings for approximately 100 years.

Unconfirmed legends say that pirates buried their bounty on Seven Mile Island, and that Henry Hudson may have dropped anchor somewhere offshore.

The Leamings eventually sold the land, and the island exchanged hands in a number of transactions afterwards.

The native juniper forest was graded and cut, and the sandy hills were leveled off, making the island mostly flat.

Avalon was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 18, 1892, from portions of Middle Township, based on the results of a referendum held two days earlier.

This 197-ton ship was en route from New York City to Philadelphia with a cargo of molasses, coffee, tobacco, tea, coconut oil, and camphor.

However, after a week trapped in the sandy bottom of the inlet, the ship began to come apart in the waves.

The Whitebriar was managed for two seasons in the mid-1950s, one of the future 'great hosts' of several hotels in the Greater Philadelphia area, Robert C. Bennett.

Currently the most widely used method of transportation to and from Avalon is by car or boat; however, buses run on a regular schedule all over the shore towns.

[2][3] Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the borough include Peermont.

[8][45] As of July 2023[update], Avalon's mayor is John M. McCorristin, whose term of office ends on June 30, 2027.

[50] In July 2015, William G. Burns Jr., was appointed to fill the vacant seat expiring 2017 of David Ellenberg, who resigned from office earlier that month.

[51] Mayor Pagliughi and Councilmembers Covington and Dean ran unopposed in the May 2011 municipal election.

[54] In the May 2013 election, incumbents Ellenberg and Hudanich were re-elected, as newcomer John McCorristin won the seat that had previously been held by Joseph Tipping who didn't run for another term of office.

[57][58][59] For the 119th United States Congress, New Jersey's 2nd congressional district is represented by Jeff Van Drew (R, Dennis Township).

[61] For the 2024-2025 session, the 1st legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Mike Testa (R, Vineland) and in the General Assembly by Antwan McClellan (R, Ocean City) and Erik K. Simonsen (R, Lower Township).

[62] Cape May County is governed by a five-person Board of County Commissioners whose members are elected at-large on a partisan basis to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year; At an annual reorganization held each January, the commissioners select one member to serve as director and another to serve as vice-director.

[63] As of 2025[update], Cape May County's Commissioners are Director Leonard C. Desiderio (R, Sea Isle City, 2027),[64] Robert Barr (R, Ocean City; 2025),[65] Will Morey (R, Wildwood Crest; 2026),[66] Melanie Collette (R. Middle Township; 2026),[67] and Vice-Director Andrew Bulakowski (R, Lower Township; 2025).

[80] In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 66.1% of the vote (766 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry, who received around 32.6% (377 votes), with 1,158 ballots cast among the borough's 1,419 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 81.6.

In March 1962, a major Nor'easter, the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, tore through the U.S. East Coast causing massive ocean swells.

While there have been many strong storms since 1962, extensive rock jetty construction on Townsends Inlet (as recent as Summer 2006) has mostly succeeded in protecting the inlet-side homes.

However, beaches and property facing the ocean at 8th through 12th Streets have struggled to prevent further loss of this barrier island through various anti-erosion schemes, including extending the 8th Street rock jetty, the installation of an artificial reef and the beach replenishment.

Several times, in 2015, the causeway leading north from Avalon to Townsends Inlet has been closed by flooding during stormy weather.