William Tremper Tappan farmhouse added to Rehoboth diorama

A major working-class contributor to early Rehoboth, William Tremper Tappan moved to the area in 1896 and purchased property at the west end of Maryland Avenue, where the Breakers Hotel is today. The original house at that location was a boardinghouse for workers excavating the canal in the early 1890s.

At that location, Tappan built a sand block manufacturing business, from which he would provide many of the city's early sidewalks. He also would establish an insurance business and a real estate business, and serve as assistant secretary of the Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners for 20 years.

In 1915, Tappan contributed the lot on which the Rehoboth water tower now sits, at the commercial center of Rehoboth. Along with his hunting buddy, Benjamin Shaw, Tappan constructed the town's first water system and piping network. Shaw, it should be remembered, also gifted the Beebe brothers their first (40-bed) hospital. Their water system is credited with confining a 1919 fire to three structures: the town's first merry-go-round, Blackiston's Pavilion and the Queen Anne Railroad Excursion Building, all on the south side of Rehoboth Avenue opposite the railroad station. It was thought that a much larger portion of the city would have been destroyed without the newly installed water system.

Tappan would serve as the president of the city's first public works organization and its first fire chief. He was also the founder and president of Sussex Trust Company, and president of the Rehoboth Beach hunting and anglers’ clubs.

The model on the diorama is sponsored by Tappan's great-granddaughter Alice Cannon, currently residing in Virginia. She maintains ardent memories of Rehoboth. Cannon is the daughter of the recently deceased Til Purnell, daughter of Nettie Tappan Horn and a prominent Rehoboth resident in the mid-1900s.

The diorama is a multi-year project to replicate Rehoboth Avenue during its railroad era, which lasted 85 years. The miniature village is on display in the Rehoboth Beach Main Street building between Grove Park and the Rehoboth Beach Museum. To learn about the project, go to goldenageofrehoboth.com. By appointment, Lovett hosts free, informal gatherings at the diorama so visitors can schedule a time, bring their coffee and hear the stories. Contact Paul Lovett at paul@pdlovett.com or call 302-893-9391 to confirm a time.