The contractor said pieces of the granite plaza under the monument fit together like a puzzle. A dedication ceremony is planned for Sept. 16. BILL SHULL PHOTO
Work continues at the DeVries Monument on Pilottown Road in Lewes. The granite marker is standing upright again at the center of a new plaza. The parking pull-off in the foreground will be repaved. The monument commemorates the first European settlement on Delaware Bay, which was sponsored by Dutchman David deVries. BILL SHULL PHOTO
An artist rendering shows the DeVries Monument at ground level. There will be granite benches and new interpretive signage.
SUBMITTED IMAGES
An overhead look of the new DeVries Monument plaza. Lewes in Bloom will maintain the landscaping around the border.
The contractor said pieces of the granite plaza under the monument fit together like a puzzle. A dedication ceremony is planned for Sept. 16. BILL SHULL PHOTO
Work continues at the DeVries Monument on Pilottown Road in Lewes. The granite marker is standing upright again at the center of a new plaza. The parking pull-off in the foreground will be repaved. The monument commemorates the first European settlement on Delaware Bay, which was sponsored by Dutchman David deVries. BILL SHULL PHOTO
An artist rendering shows the DeVries Monument at ground level. There will be granite benches and new interpretive signage.
SUBMITTED IMAGES
An overhead look of the new DeVries Monument plaza. Lewes in Bloom will maintain the landscaping around the border.
A makeover of the marker that commemorates the first European settlement on Delaware Bay is almost complete.
The DeVries Monument is located near the end of Pilottown Road, across from the University of Delaware campus.
The granite marker has been there since 1909, signifying the location of the first Dutch settlement in Lewes in 1631.
The settlement was sponsored by David deVries, whose statue sits atop the Zwaanendael Museum in town.
The monument is being reinstalled at ground level to improve accessibility – steps and railings have been eliminated.
It will now be surrounded by a granite plaza, with granite benches and bollards.
The contractor said all of the granite came from Minnesota. He said the individual pieces fit together like a puzzle.
The facelift is a partnership between the Greater Lewes Foundation and the Delaware Division of Historic and Cultural Affairs.
Mark Chura, GLF project manager, said they wanted to preserve the historical nature of the monument.
"We're creating a much more approachable monument," Chura said. "People will be able to walk around it. There will be new interpretive signage, starting with Indigenous people through the colonial period."
The parking pull-off will be repaved as part of the project.
The monument is expected to be a focal point when Lewes celebrates its 400th anniversary in 2031.
A dedication ceremony is planned for Wednesday, Sept. 16.
The contractor said pieces of the granite plaza under the monument fit together like a puzzle. A dedication ceremony is planned for Sept. 16. BILL SHULL PHOTO
Work continues at the DeVries Monument on Pilottown Road in Lewes. The granite marker is standing upright again at the center of a new plaza. The parking pull-off in the foreground will be repaved. The monument commemorates the first European settlement on Delaware Bay, which was sponsored by Dutchman David deVries. BILL SHULL PHOTO
An artist rendering shows the DeVries Monument at ground level. There will be granite benches and new interpretive signage.
SUBMITTED IMAGES
An overhead look of the new DeVries Monument plaza. Lewes in Bloom will maintain the landscaping around the border.Event Details :
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