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.

Rehoboth Beach’s longtime Easter tradition

2 years ago
In what looks like a scene from the Polar Bear Plunge, this photograph from the 1950s shows a...

A view of downtown Milton in 1957

2 years ago
While the businesses have changed, the look of Union Street in downtown hasn’t changed much since...

Future Homemakers of America at Lewes High in 1963

2 years ago
Things have changed a lot in the last 60 years. At Lewes High School in 1963, a group of young...

Cape Henlopen school board in 1972

2 years ago
There will be an election this year for the Cape Henlopen School District Board of Education. We...

Lewes High School girls’ basketball 1935-36

2 years ago
The Cape Henlopen High School girls’ basketball team is fighting for a state championship, after...

The long history of the Cannonball House

2 years ago
The historic Cannonball House in Lewes has been in the news recently after it was discovered a...

Sussex headquarters was once a post office

2 years ago
Before becoming the home of the Sussex County government, the building at 2 The Circle in...

Lloyd’s Market a staple of Lewes since 1971

2 years ago
There are few things synonymous with Lewes, but Lloyd’s Market is certainly one of them. Lloyd and...

Blue Diamond railroad lasts only six months

2 years ago
A Cape Gazette subscriber recently shared this historical item showing a train schedule effective...

Rehoboth’s lighthouse replica has long history

2 years ago
Millions of people have been welcomed to Rehoboth Beach by the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse replica...

Milton Masonic lodge dates back to 19th century

2 years ago
If someone from the late 1800s was transported to Milton in 2023, they might see a familiar...

Lewes Union School once stood on Savannah Road

2 years ago
If still in existence today, the Lewes Union School would stand on Savannah Road about where Beebe...

Houston-White Co. thrived in Millsboro

2 years ago
Houston-White Co. was a mill and basket company founded in the late 19th century that thrived in...

Unique look at Second Street in the 1940s

2 years ago
Thousands of people have wandered through the St. Peter’s Episcopal Church cemetery on Second...

Broadkill Beach in the 1970s

2 years ago
Broadkill Beach is an unincorporated beach community north of Lewes and east of Milton. For many,...

Lewes Polar Bears plunge into new millennium

2 years ago
As is tradition, a group of polar bears will jump into the ocean Jan. 1 at Cape Henlopen State Park...

Rehoboth Avenue bridge over the canal 60 years ago

2 years ago
The front page story of the Dec. 23 edition focused on the dissolution of the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal...

Celebrating Christmas in Rehoboth Beach

2 years ago
A Christmas tree at The Bandstand in Rehoboth Beach is a holiday tradition. This photograph appears...

Spreading Christmas cheer to Delaware’s troops

2 years ago
The entire country participated in the war effort during World War II, including providing...

Blue Moon Restaurant in Lewes in 1941

2 years ago
Before the Blue Moon on Baltimore Avenue in Rehoboth Beach, there was the Blue Moon Restaurant on...

Getting groceries at the Rehoboth A&P in 1960

2 years ago
Many longtime Cape Region locals will remember the A&P grocery store on the Forgotten Mile...

Camp Henlopen before establishment of Fort Miles

2 years ago
A few years before Fort Miles was established at today’s Cape Henlopen State Park, the U.S...

A very different Five Points

2 years ago
The front page of our Nov. 18 edition featured a story about the impending demolition of the Bests...

Aerial look at Lewes in 1939

2 years ago
Lewes is a town steeped in history, and some of that history is documented in this 1939 aerial...

Return Day in 1960

2 years ago
There have been two stories about Return Day in recent editions of the Cape Gazette – one in the...

Rehoboth train on the Avenue in 1925

2 years ago
The Rehoboth Beach Museum recently held a two-part lecture called, “Ferries, Trains, and...

Hotel Rodney hasn’t changed much in 96 years

2 years ago
If you stood on Second Street in Lewes across from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church today and looked at...

Blood clinic at Fort Miles gym

2 years ago
A few weeks ago, we shared a photograph taken before a 1940s boxing match at the Fort Miles gym. In...

Lewes School in the 1920s

2 years ago
Students moved into Lewes Elementary School in April, paving the way for Richard A. Shields...

Cape Henlopen State Park bathhouse under construction

2 years ago
Cape Henlopen State Park has been in the news recently, as state officials consider allowing a...

Boxing at Fort Miles in the 1940s

2 years ago
Athletic activities relieved stress and kept the men of Fort Miles in shape. In addition to boxing...

Silver Lake in Rehoboth, before fountains

2 years ago
Silver Lake in Rehoboth Beach has been mentioned a few articles in the Cape Gazette recently. The...

Thomas Tracy wrecks in Rehoboth Sept. 14, 1944

2 years ago
The 250-foot freighter Thomas Tracy was blown ashore at Brooklyn Avenue in Rehoboth Beach Sept. 14...

‘Then came Labor Day’

2 years ago
The four-word phrase on this postcard from the Delaware Public Archives’ Caley Postcard Collection...

Milton celebrates sesquicentennial in August 1957

2 years ago
The Town of Milton celebrated its sesquicentennial in August of 1957. Shown in this photograph are...

Du Pont connection to Henlopen Acres home

2 years ago
A few weeks ago, we featured an aerial photograph of Henlopen Acres in 1936. This home, commonly...

Camping thrived at Key Box Road in the 1950s

2 years ago
The popularity of camping at Key Box Road south of Dewey Beach exploded in the 1950s. According to...

The Great Milton Fire of 1909

2 years ago
Disaster struck in Milton the morning of Aug. 13, 1909. A fire was discovered about 1 a.m. by the...

The birth of Henlopen Acres in 1930

2 years ago
This photograph made around 1930 hangs inside Henlopen Acres Town Hall. It shows a group of people...

Delaware State Fair a century ago

2 years ago
The Delaware State Fair as we know it today was founded in 1919 as the Kent and Sussex County Fair...

Stokely Brothers & Company cannery in 1931

2 years ago
The Stokely Brothers & Company purchased a cannery along the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal just south of...

Rehoboth Beach Patrol in 1950

3 years ago
Although technically it’s the 101st anniversary of Rehoboth Beach Patrol this summer, the...

Aerial look at Rehoboth in 1932

3 years ago
Now that we’ve reached the peak tourist season in the Cape Region, let’s take a look at Rehoboth...

Doo-Dah Parade is a Lewes tradition

3 years ago
The Doo-Dah Parade has been a Lewes tradition for more than 50 years. Although it’s never been an...

Lewes pie-eating contest in 1950

3 years ago
A pie-eating contest has been part of Lewes’ Fourth of July tradition for decades. This 1950...

Rehoboth’s Bright House Hotel in the late 19th century

3 years ago
Cape Gazette reporter Chris Flood wrote an article in the Friday, June 17 edition about Rehoboth...

HMS DeBraak was found in Lewes 37 years ago

3 years ago
In 1985, salvagers used emerging sidescan sonar technology to detect the location of the sunken HMS...

Original MV Cape Henlopen participated in D-Day

3 years ago
The Cape May-Lewes Ferry has transported more than 45 million passengers across the Delaware Bay...

Drive-on beaches are a Delaware tradition

3 years ago
Now that the unofficial start of summer has arrived, the drive-on beaches at Delaware state parks...

Beach day at Cape Henlopen State Park

3 years ago
If this past weekend’s weather is any indication, summer temperatures have finally arrived in the...

Fort Miles soldiers check the weather

3 years ago
The Cape Region has had wild weather from winter through the spring. From one week to another,...

Mayor Otis Smith celebrates Lewes’ 325th anniversary

3 years ago
For the first time in many years, Lewes will have a mayoral election Saturday, May 14. Over the...

Sussex County Courthouse in 1924

3 years ago
The Sussex County Courthouse is one of Georgetown’s iconic historic structures. This photograph...

Lewes’ Fountain of Youth

3 years ago
If you’re searching for the Fountain of Youth, look no further than Lewes. It isn’t exactly a...

Rehoboth Beach Country Club’s original nine-hole layout

3 years ago
With temperatures consistently breaking 60 degrees, golf courses throughout the Cape Region are...

Cape Henlopen Lighthouse fell into the sea 96 years ago

3 years ago
On April 13, 1926, the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse fell into the Atlantic Ocean. Built in 1765, it was...

Lewes’ 1812 Park commemorates British bombardment

3 years ago
Lewes’ 1812 Park commemorates the defense of the First Town in the First State during an 1813...

Baseball season is upon us

3 years ago
High school baseball season kicked off last week, with Major League Baseball slated for a slightly...

Seeing a film at The Avenue movie theater in Rehoboth

3 years ago
Long before the Movies at Midway opened on Route 1, Rehoboth Beach had its very own single-screen...

A look at Milton’s inaugural St. Patrick’s Day parade

3 years ago
This week we’re traveling back to the spring of 2008. On March 16 of that year, the first St...