Up the Coast to Lewes Delaware

…continuing with our road trip to the Delmarva Peninsula this past September.  The morning after we checked in to our hotel in Rehoboth, the sun came out and we decided to drive just a few miles north to the town of Lewes Delaware.  It turned out to be a good decision!

Anytime I can get near water and ships…it’s a good time for me.  As with trains, planes and automobiles, I’ve always been drawn to ships.  Lewes is an excellent place from that viewpoint.  It’s located on Delaware Bay near the Atlantic Ocean and the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal runs right through town.  The canal connects the Broadkill River and Delaware Bay to Rehoboth Bay and its part of the Intracoastal Waterway. 

One of the first ships I spotted was the RV Hugh R. Sharp, a 150 foot long research vessel that is operated by the University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean and Environment.  The ship is part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System.  This mid-size research vessel is operated by a crew of 8 and it accommodates a scientific party of 22 for up to 21 days at sea.

The M/V Del River was moored right next to the RV Hugh R. Sharp.  The good news is that this ship was moored and not at sea.  The 166 foot long M/V Del River was built in 1980 as a pollution control vessel.  While she is still ‘on standby’, more crude oil and oil products are being shipped by rail than by ship…and there have been many fewer oil spills.

This ship, and other smaller vessels, are operated by the Delaware Bay and River Cooperative.  They are the ‘fire department’ on standby just in case there is a spill.  Day and night the M/V Del River is manned by a 4-person crew.  She is equipped with 4,800 feet of ocean boom for oil containment and she’s capable of recovering 13,750 barrels of oil per day.  The last major spill in Delaware Bay took place in 2004 when 265,000 gallons of heavy crude oil leaked from a Venezuelan tanker.

As we followed the road along the canal/Intracoastal Waterway, we stopped to take a look at the Maull House.  It is the oldest Lewes building still in its original location with the least alterations. (Moving buildings seems to have been a ‘thing’ in Lewes)

The house was built ca. 1737.  The original builder/owner sold it to a prominent bay and river pilot.  This would have been a prime location for professional ship pilots.  The area around this home was in fact referred to as “Pilot Town”.  In 1803, Jerome Bonaparte and his bride were shipwrecked off Lewes and they were entertained at this home.  Thomas Maull purchased the home in 1836 and the house remained in the Maull family until 1957.  Joseph Maull (1781 – 1845) served as Governor of Delaware.

Proceeding down the canal we came to the former Lightship Overfalls (LV-118, also WAL-539) The 115 foot long Overfalls was built in 1938 at Boothbay Maine.  She was the last ‘lightship’ built for the United States Lighthouse Service before the Service became part of the United State Coast Guard.  When she was in service, she had a crew of 14 that served on a 2 week on/1 week off basis.  Her light was a duplex 375 14.8 inch lantern on a 57 foot mast. 

In fact, when she was donated to the Lewes Historical Society and put on display in Lewes, she was painted for the “OVERFALLS” station although she never served there.  The lightship that actually served on the Overfalls station is actually on display in Portsmouth Virginia.

The now designated Lightship Overfalls now serves as a museum.  To learn more, go to Home - Overfalls.

The Lewes Life-Saving Station Boathouse in located near the Lightship Overfalls.  The Lewes Life-Saving Station was established in 1884 as part of the United States Life-Savings Service and the facility included this boathouse.  In 1915, the USLSS was merged with the Revenue Cutter Service and the Coast Guard was formed.  The actual Lewes Life-Saving Station was eventually moved to Rehoboth Beach where it still serves as the Rehoboth Beach’s VFW building.

The Lewes Life-Saving Station Boathouse currently houses 2 Monomoy surfboats, a ‘life-car’, beach cart and a Lyle Gun.  Other displays explain some of the history of the Life-Saving Service as well as the use of the Lyle Gun and the breeches buoys, equipment that was used to rescue shipwreck survivors.

Lewes is also one end or port for a relatively long ferry crossing.  It’s about 17 miles across the mouth of Delaware Bay from Lewes Delaware to Cape May New Jersey.  This ferry service began on July 1, 1964.  More than 17,000,000 vehicles and 45,000,000 passengers have crossed the mouth of the Bay since operations began. 

Today this cross bay service operates 3 different ferry boats…the M/V Delaware, the M/V New Jersey and the M/V Cape Henlopen. (The latter pictured above) It takes about 85 minutes to cross from Lewes to Cape May.  We didn’t really have time to take this trip and reservations are required.  I don’t know what summer fares are but the current winter fares are $39.00 round trip for a car and $11.00 each roundtrip for seniors.

To learn more and to plan your mini-cruise across Delaware Bay, just go to Ferry with Us | Cape May-Lewes Ferry (cmlf.com).

The Touch of Italy Restaurant and many other buildings along a very shopper friendly commercial district along Market Street and others in the center of Lewes.  This restaurant is located at 101 2^nd Street but I couldn’t find anything about the building.  I didn’t know it at the time but another Touch of Italy location was in our future.  In any case, the entire shopping area had a friendly warm look to it, with lots of flowers and everything being well maintained. 

To learn about this restaurant, go to Touch of Italy - Lewes - Lewes Beach, Lewes, DE (touchofitalylewes.com).

This former 6 bedroom/4 bath home has been a restaurant for quite a while.  The home was built in 1894 and it is an outstanding example of the many Victorian, Queen Anne and Second Empire homes that comprise much of the Lewes Historic District. 

Currently this former home at 102 2^nd Street now serves as the Bramble and Brine Restaurant.  This restaurant opened in 2021 and based on the reviews, it definitely looks like a great place to dine.  Website: Bramble & Brine – Bramble & Brine at The Buttery (bramble-brine.com).

This is the same home as it appeared before the owners of Bramble and Brine apparently purchased it for $1,650,000 (Information from a real estate website) in March of 2021.  It had been the site of the 2^nd Street Tavern.  Interior photos from the real estate website show that it still had much of its original woodwork and layout...

This fantastical structure looks old but it is a relatively ‘new’ building in Lewes.  Built in 1932, the Zwaanendael Museum was created to honor to 300^th anniversary of Delaware’s first European settlement.  That settlement was in 1631 and it was named Zwaanendael.  The museum itself, with its 17^th Century Dutch elements, is modeled after the former City Hall in Hoorn, Netherlands.  The statue at the top of the structure is of David Pietersen de Vries, the leader of the expedition that first settled here.  FYI, Zwaanendael or Swaanendael is archaic Dutch for “Swan Valley”.

The museum’s exhibits cover the history of Sussex County Delaware and they include not only local events but also shipwrecks, lighthouses, the bombardment of Lewes in the War of 1812, pilots of the Delaware River and the Bay and much more.  To learn more, just go to Zwaanendael Museum - Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs - State of Delaware.

Yes we did some shopping!  Lots of shops were available but this was my favorite.  The Lewes Mercantile Antiques Mall featured a multitude of dealers with significantly better than average antiques, vintage collectibles and more, including lighting, furniture, art, glassware, jewelry and much more. 

The Lewes Antique Mercantile Gallery is located at 109 2^nd Street in the center of town.  They have been in business since the fall of 1991.  To learn more, go to Lewes Mercantile Antiques Home | Lewes Mercantile Antiques (antiqueslewes.com).

The Walsh Building at 108 2^nd Street was built in 1930 on the lot that used to house carnivals sponsored by the Lewes Fire Department.  The building was home to a 5 and 10 cent store in the 1940s.  In the 1950s it was occupied by an A&P Grocery Store.  Prior to 2021 the space, which is now the home of the Lewes Oyster House, served at Jerry’s Seafood for 16 years.  To learn more about Lewes Oyster House, just go to Lewes Oyster House | Tavern on 2nd Street.

This old bank building is located at 134 2^nd Street in Lewes.  The Sussex Trust Company was founded in 1898 as reflected on the name carved in granite at the top of the structure.  However, the date shown was the date the bank was founded, not the date of this impressive façade.  Sussex Trust Company actually moved to this location in 1911.  The company was absorbed by another banking firm in 1983 and, as you can see its now an M&T bank branch office.

The Lewes Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It consists of 122 contributing buildings and 6 contributing sites.  The District encompasses most of the 17^th century town of Lewes as well as part of the old Pilot Town area.  Lewes has a population of only about 3,300.

As I mentioned previously, we found Lewes to be a friendly and well maintained little town… We enjoyed wandering the streets, going in and out of stores, browsing with a little buying too.  Bonnie and Bill posed for this photo in a colorful little pocket park in the center of town.

Lewes lays claim to be “The First Town in The First State”.  As previously stated, a whaling and trading post named Zwaanendael was established by Dutch settlers on June 3, 1631.  However, this first settlement was short lived.  A local tribe of indigenous natives (Lenape Indians), killed all 32 settlers in 1632.  Another Dutch settlement was established in 1663 but it only lasted until 1664.  That’s when the English captured ‘New Netherland’ from the Dutch.  They ordered that the settlement be razed with reports that ‘not even a nail’ was left there.  In 1682, King Charles II gave the Delaware colonies to William Penn as payment for a family debt...

This eye-catching house of worship is St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.  It’s located close to the center of Lewes.  The church parish was founded in 1708 although members of the Church of England (Anglican) had settled in the area beginning around 1680.  The first iteration of St. Peter’s Church was built ca. 1721 and this structure replaced it. 

The current church building was consecrated in 1858 but the church was probably completed prior to that.  Episcopal churches can only be consecrated once all of the building debts have been paid.  That steeple was added in 1870.  The original communion table from the 1721 church is now used as the altar in this church.  In addition, the church also has the original Book of Common Prayer used by the first congregation.  For more information, go to Saint Peter's Episcopal Church | Home (stpeterslewes.org).

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave