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Rehoboth had mass transportation once; maybe again?

April 13, 2021

Starting in about 1878, passenger train service began bringing summer tourists south from Wilmington and Philadelphia to Rehoboth Beach.  The Junction and Breakwater Railroad, its tracks and beds long since converted to the Junction and Breakwater Trail, extended from Lewes into the heart of the infant resort.  The rails came right up the center of Rehoboth Avenue almost to the Boardwalk.  The Rehoboth Beach train station stood for many years at the southeast corner of First Street and Rehoboth Avenue.

Grotto Pizza founder Dominick Pulieri donated the structure to the city which relocated it to the far end of Rehoboth Avenue where it has long served as a visitor center.  If traffic continues to grow as a problem for the resort area, transportation planners may have to consider the return of rail service to the resort area.

  • Delaware Cape Region History in Photographs, published every Tuesday in the Cape Gazette, features historical photos from Delaware's Cape Region - particularly - and from throughout Sussex County and Delaware generally.

    Readers are invited to submit photos of historic interest. They can be mailed to the Cape Gazette at PO Box 213, Lewes, DE 19958, or via email to newsroom@capegazette.com.

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