Green Hill Light towered over Lewes bay and marsh
In the overgrown area between Pilottown Road and the Great Marsh are remnants of a lighthouse and keeper’s residence that’s been abandoned since 1919.
Known as the Green Hill Light, a 100-foot black steel tower went into service in November 1881 to support the lighthouse on the western end of the Delaware Breakwater in Delaware Bay. In 1880, Congress appropriated $20,000 for the erection of the tower. In 1881, a two-story wooden dwelling was constructed for the keeper, and a brick oil house and barn were added in 1898.
In February 1910, a large concrete keeper's house was built, and the original house was sold and moved off the property. It was used by an area farmer until it burned down in 1970. What remains on the property are the concrete frame of the keeper's house and the barn.
The rear range light was no longer needed and was decommissioned in 1918. The steel light tower was sold, removed in 1919 and moved by rail to Gasparilla, Fla., where it is still in use today.
More about the west-end lighthouse, aka the Strickland Lighthouse, will be in the Tuesday, June 10, edition.
