One of the earliest shipbuilders, William Beverly, is listed in court records as early as the 1670s, and the industry’s legacy is reflected in street names like Shipcarpenter Street.

Records indicate dozens of ships were built in Lewes, including the Delaware pilot schooners Mathew L. Bevan and Louisiana.

Now, the Lewes Historical Society is hoping to revive this tradition on the shore of Delaware Bay with the Lewes Wooden Boat Program. The society is fortunate to have in its collections four small wooden working craft indigenous to Delaware with a Delaware Ducker believed to have been used on the marshes north of Lewes, a surf boat, a Delaware pilot skiff and a wooden canoe.

Initial plans call for cleanup of the Delaware Ducker and Delaware pilot skiff. A small shed behind the Cannonball House Lewes Maritime Museum at Front and Bank streets is on the initial list of needed activities, as it is full of boat patterns, sails and shipwrights’ tools.

Work will commence on the Delaware pilot skiff and the shed at 9 a.m., Monday, Nov. 23. As part of the program, the society hopes to plan for a Family Boat Building Program in the summer of 2010.

Restoration efforts will take place at Freddie’s Barn at the Lewes Historical Society Complex at 110 Shipcarpenter St. and in nicer weather at the society’s Lewes Life-Saving Station Museum on the canal adjacent to the Lewes Little League fields.

Anyone interested in participating in restoration or building efforts or who would like more information can call 302-645-7670 or email info@historiclewes.org