Interested in Local History? These Four Towns Are A Great Place to Start...
With a recorded history dating back to the early 17th century, southern Delaware is teeming with old buildings, museums, architectural wonders and grand stories dating back more than a century before the United States came into being.
It is the “First State,” after all, and Delaware’s story began humbly on a tiny strip of land on what is now Pilottown Road in historic Lewes.
We’ve written about several of our area’s wonderful historic sites in past blog entries, including the Indian River Inlet, the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse, Fort Miles, the Indian River Life-Saving Station and the original Swanendael settlement.
But today, we’re going to delve into some of the actual historic districts that make the storied history of southern Delaware such a unique treasure in the eastern United States.
We’re going to focus on four Sussex County towns, in particular, with historic districts that we feel best illustrate the history of our area. These are not writeups about the entire towns, but just about the concentrated historic districts located within their borders.
So, let’s get started…
Lewes
Where else would we begin a feature on southern Delaware history than in the place where it all began? And that, of course, is Lewes.
Known today as the “First Town in the First State,” Lewes residents embrace this title enthusiastically. I mean what other town in the region has a special flag just for themselves?
The town flag's background was adapted from one used in the Zeeland Province in the Netherlands, where the original settles were from. The wavy blue and white background is meant to represent the sea and the seal of Lewes, England (the town’s namesake) has also been incorporated into the flag.
As we mentioned before, the history of Lewes dates back to 1631 when a group of explorers from Holland settled a whaling colony in the region. Named Swaanendael (and later changed to Zwaanandael by the British), the story of this colony is told every day at the nearby Zwaanendael Museum, probably Lewes’s most well-known landmark.
The museum rests on the corner of King’s Highway and Savannah Road and is directly across from the town’s main historic district, which runs up and down Second Street.
At the end of Second Street, on ShipCarpenter Street, you’ll also find the main campus of the Lewes Historical Society, a local treasure that sees a lot of activity during the warm weather months.
Other points of interest in historic downtown Lewes include the Lewes Life-Saving Station, the Lightship Overfalls, the Cannonball House, the Rhves Holt House (the oldest home in Delaware) and a large number of homes that used to belong to ship captains and other early Lewes residents.
If you want a historic district that gives the best glimpse into 18th century life, Lewes is a great place to start your journey.
Milton
Moving just a little bit west of Lewes, you’ll find the quaint Sussex County town of Milton and another of the area’s treasured historic districts.
Named for English poet John Milton, the town, as with many in the area, once boasted a thriving shipbuilding industry. But Milton really came known for the three Bs – Boats (as mentioned), Buttons (button shops) and Beans (the old Draper King Cole plant).
While all three industries are long gone, they are forever remembered at the Lydia B. Cannon Museum on historic Union Street downtown.
The downtown region of the sleepy little southern Delaware town, with the picturesque Broadkill River running through it, is really a look back to the town's early days.
With antique shops, one of the region’s nicest public libraries and lots of places to shop and eat, downtown Milton (comprised mainly of Union and Federal Streets) is a special place.
Points of interest in the historic district include the aforementioned Lydia B. Cannon Museum, the one-of-a-kind Milton Theatre and the original home of King’s Ice Cream, founded in Milton in 1972.
The best way to explore downtown Milton is on foot, so keep on the lookout for a nice day and have fun!
What other historic districts are worth exploring in Southern Delaware? Find out here...
