In the early 1800s, a log cabin was built in the area that is now Villas, and was used as a school and a community center of sorts for various activities like Saturday evening meetings. When that building fell into disrepair, the Fishing Creek Schoolhouse was built in 1888 where the community activities and school studies continued until around 1925.Once students were bused to other schools, Fishing Creek closed, but it was purchased by a family as their summer home. Today, the Fishing Creek Schoolhouse is on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. It remains the only one-room schoolhouse in all of Lower Township. Villas, as part of Lower Township, is run under a Council-Manager form of government consisting of five members (one mayor, one Council Member-at-large, and three wards). Students attend school in Lower Township for preK through sixth grade. Beginning in seventh grade and commencing with high school graduation, students attend Lower Cape May Regional School District. There are various restaurants in Villas, including Fish and Fancy on Bayshore Road, which serves up Manhattan clam chowder, fried shrimp, and steamed crabs. Also located nearby are Castaway Café and the Back Bay Bistro. Villas is quiet and off the beaten path away from Wildwood and Cape May but close enough that residents often travel across Route 9 and the bay to spend the day looking at the Atlantic Ocean.
