Lewes, DE

To someone eating an ice cream cone from Kings Homemade Ice Cream Shop and gazing across the street toward the churchyard at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, the rich heritage surrounding the beach town of Lewes, Del., (pop. 2,932) isn’t immediately obvious. But the tombstones in the churchyard really tell the town’s story: of river pilots, shipwrecks, pirates, and buried treasure; historic battles fought and won; a busy fishing and shipping industry; and generations of families who have savored the town.

Located inside Cape Henlopen, a point of land jutting out where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic, the town was settled in 1631. Given that early settlement, and Delaware being the first state to ratify the federal constitution, it’s known as “The First Town of the First State.” Both the Dutch and the British ruled the area until the British effectively claimed it in 1674, and by 1682 the village was named Lewes (pronounced “Loo-iss”) after a town in Sussex, England.

Hazel Brittingham, a 73-year-old native of Lewes and local historian, speaker, and author, says, “Where we are is what we are. The town, the canal, the beach, the bay, and the ocean—that’s what makes Lewes rich. It is seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary that is the treasure in the sand here.”

The extraordinary attractions of Lewes made it a destination for summer vacationers as early as the late 1800s. Not only did steamer ships and the railroad bring families from East Coast cities, but many Lewes residents moved from their homes in town to beach houses for the summer.

Lillian Marshall Burris remembers her family’s move each summer. “On Memorial Day we went ‘over the beach,’ and on Labor Day we went ‘back to town.’” Today, while the area is still home to descendants of some of these families, Lewes is becoming increasingly popular for weekend getaways and summer vacations.

Tourists often see Lewes as a “fun place to live,” but most just scratch the surface of the town’s colorful history. Brittingham says visitors can’t grab it all with one visit and an ice cream cone. It takes time, she feels, to explore the town’s 17th- and 18th-century architecture, its churches, and its churchyards—the stones there testifying to the past—to learn about the people that made Lewes what it is today.

Most everything is within walking distance in downtown Lewes. Businesses featuring antiques, toys, clothing, and fine eateries dot Second and Front streets along the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal, the main artery of this maritime community. A number of historic sites are nearby. The Zwaanendael Museum, built in 1931 to mark the anniversary of Delaware’s first European settlement, is a beautiful adaptation of the 1613 town hall in Hoorn, Holland. The museum houses artifacts relating to that settlement, the British bombardment of Lewes in 1813, the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse (1765-1926), and the shipwrecked H.M.S. DeBraak, which went down in 1798 off Cape Henlopen. Other sites include the Ryves Holt House (c.1665), the Lewes Historical Society Complex, and the pilots’ homes on Pilottown Road.

Cape Henlopen State Park, just outside of town, has beaches, nature trails, bird sanctuaries, and a Seaside Nature Center. The lighthouse that once stood there—before it fell into the sea—guided mariners through treacherous waters. To many in Lewes, this erstwhile landmark personifies the town and its role in maritime history. Not far from the park entrance is the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, which makes 17-mile trips across the bay to Cape May, N.J.

It is an area of imagined, as well as real, treasures. Among several pirate legends is one that says Captain Kidd buried a chest of gold in the Cape Henlopen dunes while passing through on his way to the West Indies. No one today seriously looks for it, and whether it’s ever found is immaterial—the treasures Lewes already offers, every day, make living here a rich experience.

Amy Blades Steward, a freelance writer from Easton, Md., writes regularly for American Profile and for local and regional publications in Maryland and Delaware.

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