Delaware Cape Region History in Photographs

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.

Funland is a staple of Rehoboth Beach

1 year ago
Funland has been the source of lasting memories for thousands of families visiting Rehoboth Beach...

Fourth of July traffic in 1996

1 year ago
One thing all Cape Region residents have become accustomed to is traffic. With the continued growth...

Rehoboth’s Belhaven Hotel in 1920s

1 year ago
The Belhaven Hotel was once one of Rehoboth Beach’s premier hotels. Located at Rehoboth Avenue and...

Lewes’ almost forgotten Kings Highway businesses

1 year ago
The stretch of Kings Highway between the library and the Zwaanendael Museum is full of beautiful...

Sea Air from the air in 1960s

1 year ago
Back in the 1960s, the stretch of Route 1 (then Route 14) wasn’t much but farm fields. To see what...

Visitors welcome at Rehoboth Laundry in 1936

1 year ago
When this picture was taken in 1936, Rehoboth Laundry was a thriving business – among many of its...

Indian River Yacht Basin in 1940s

1 year ago
The Indian River Inlet area has been a popular destination for a long time. This postcard from the...

Docking in downtown Milton

1 year ago
With Memorial Day weekend looming, boating season is upon us. In Milton, docks in the center of...

Lewes Little League barbecue in 1994

1 year ago
This photograph was recently found on a film roll in the Cape Gazette archives. It shows a Lewes...

Milton looks like Mayberry

1 year ago
The residents of Milton often refer to their town as Mayberry, a nod to the simpler, slower setting...

Queen Anne’s Railroad connected Milton with big cities

1 year ago
In February 1885, the Delaware Legislature authorized the Queen Anne's Railroad, a Maryland...

Ames thrived outside Rehoboth for decades

1 year ago
The lone remnant of the Ames department store outside Rehoboth Beach is Ames Drive in the Rehoboth...

Rehoboth lighthouse razed, rebuilt in 1996

1 year ago
The Cape Henlopen Lighthouse replica in the center of the Rehoboth Avenue roundabout has...

Cape Henlopen Lighthouse stands in 1926

1 year ago
Ninety-eight years ago April 13, the iconic Cape Henlopen Lighthouse fell from its perch on top of...

Zion Methodist Church burns near Milton in 1943

1 year ago
Just an hour before weekly Sunday service Oct. 10, 1943, Zion Methodist Church two miles east of...

Lewes High School baseball, softball takes field in...

1 year ago
Major League Baseball teams will take the field across the country to kick off the 2024 season this...

Maull House dates back to 18th century

1 year ago
The Maull House on Pilottown Road in Lewes is believed to have been built by Samuel Paynter, a...

First Street Station rises in Rehoboth

1 year ago
First Street Station has been a fixture in Rehoboth Beach since opening in 1997. Groundbreaking for...

Wyatt’s grocery store in Lewes

1 year ago
Walter Wyatt owned and operated a store at 123 Second St. in Lewes for a long time in the early to...

Nassau School served students until 1965

1 year ago
The Nassau School was built in 1922 near the current-day Five Points intersection outside Lewes. It...

William C. Jason High School served Black students

1 year ago
William C. Jason Comprehensive High School in Georgetown served the Black students of Sussex County...

St. Paul Church once thrived for African American...

1 year ago
In 1882, Charles Dunning Sr. and Charles Steward Sr. met with a group of inspired Christians and...

Jolly Jills parade draws big crowds to Lewes

1 year ago
The Jolly Jills Social Club, in conjunction with Lewes Junior High and William C. Jason...

UD wind turbine under construction in 2010

1 year ago
Offshore wind is a highly debated topic in the Cape Region right now. However, in the months...

Construction of Roosevelt Inlet’s jetties

1 year ago
This 1994 aerial photograph shows construction of the jetties at Roosevelt Inlet in Lewes...

Lewes theater thrived in mid-20th century

1 year ago
Rehoboth Beach had its share of movie theaters over the years, but many don’t know Lewes also had...

Route 1 before proliferation of shopping centers

1 year ago
This aerial photograph from the early 1990s shows Midway Shopping Center surrounded by open fields...

Cape Henlopen High School in 2007

1 year ago
The has been a lot of talk recently about the continued growth of the Cape Henlopen School District...

Dwight Howard wows at Slam Dunk 20 years ago

1 year ago
In its heyday, Slam Dunk to the Beach drew the very best of high school basketball talent. And...

Kathie Lee lights up the Rehoboth Christmas tree

1 year ago
Rehoboth Beach was center stage in 1996 when Kathie Lee Gifford brought a crew from her show, “Live...

Dewey Beach landmark transforms on Route 1

1 year ago
The historic Walsh property at the corner of Route 1 and Saulsbury Street in Dewey Beach is...

Five Points in the 1990s

1 year ago
These aerial photographs show the Five Points intersection near Lewes in 1994 and 1997. So much has...

Rehoboth Avenue Christmas scene of yesteryear

1 year ago
Now that Thanksgiving has passed, we are firmly in the holiday season. This holiday scene shows...

Queen Anne Pier in early 20th Century Lewes

1 year ago
The Queen Anne Railroad was formed in 1894 to connect passengers from Baltimore, Md., to Cape May,...

Welcome to Lewes Beach

1 year ago
Lewes is embroiled in controversy two years after city officials named the two guarded beaches –...

Rehoboth water fountain in the mid-20th century

1 year ago
For nearly a century, a water fountain has stood at the east end of Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth...

Oak Orchard was the place to be on Big Thursday

1 year ago
Oak Orchard has been in the news lately, as a developer is proposing to build 123 homes on a 57-...

Bird’s-eye view of early 20th century Lewes

1 year ago
This is most likely the second-earliest bird’s-eye view of Lewes ever made, according to the book...

Breaking ground for outlet shopping

1 year ago
It’s hard to imagine that the stretch of Route 1 between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach was once mostly...

Historic map shows lots for sale in Rehoboth Heights

1 year ago
In the 1920s, Rehoboth Beach was an up-and-coming community along Delaware’s coast. Founded as a...

Rehoboth Beach Saving Station in Dewey Beach

1 year ago
The original life-saving station at the end of Dagsworthy Street in Dewey Beach was commissioned in...

Before Grove Park, there was Shaw Park

1 year ago
Grove Park in Rehoboth Beach is meeting place for people of all ages, whether at the children’s...

White House Beach develops in Long Neck

1 year ago
The growth of the Long Neck area has been incredible over the last few decades. In 1970, White...

A familiar building in downtown Millsboro

1 year ago
Anyone who’s driven through downtown Millsboro should recognize this building at the corner of Main...

Broadkiln School served students near Milton

1 year ago
Students in the Cape Henlopen School district will head back to school Wednesday, Sept. 6. Many...

Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk 100 years ago

2 years ago
This is what the east end of Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth Beach looked like a century ago. This...

Walsmith’s opens in Rehoboth in 1948

2 years ago
Hundreds, if not thousands, of businesses have operated on Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth Beach since...

Henlopen Motor Lodge opens in 1959

2 years ago
The Henlopen Motor Lodge once operated in Rehoboth Beach next to the Henlopen Hotel. The lodge...

Railroad crossing at Cool Spring in 1924

2 years ago
There has been a lot of talk in recent years about the former railroad crossing at Route 9 in Cool...

Sailing to Lewes in the 1940s

2 years ago
Although the Savannah Road bridge is different, this Lewes background should look familiar to...

Legacy lives on at Delaware State Fair

2 years ago
The 2023 edition of the Delaware State Fair began July 20 and runs through Saturday, July 29, in...

Dolly’s Bait & Tackle Shop at Love Creek

2 years ago
A letter to the editor penned by Dr. James H. VanSciver appeared in the July 14 edition. In the...

Downtown Lewes in the 1930s

2 years ago
Just a week ago, this stretch of Second Street in downtown Lewes was filled with people of all ages...

Lewes celebrates Fourth of July in 1993

2 years ago
The Cape Gazette hit newsstands on Memorial Day weekend in 1993. And since that time, our staff has...

Replacing the Rehoboth Boardwalk in the 1980s

2 years ago
A lot of work goes into making the Rehoboth Boardwalk one of the premier oceanfront attractions on...

Rehoboth-Indian Beach Club thrived before WWII

2 years ago
Rehoboth-Indian Beach Club was once a popular destination for the Delaware elite in the southern...

Fort Miles chapel still stands today

2 years ago
In its hey day, Fort Miles in today’s Cape Henlopen State Park had just about everything a solider...

Memories of Rehoboth Beach grande dames live on

2 years ago
“An Early Rehoboth Love Story,” a local history lecture delivered Jan. 12 at the Boardwalk Plaza...

Arthur Morris’ Rexall Drugs store in Lewes

2 years ago
If these buildings look familiar, it’s because they’re still standing on Second Street in Lewes...

Lewes Beach in 1970

2 years ago
Lewes Beach is quite a bit different today than it was in this 1970 photograph. Spanning from Iowa...