Overfalls named a National Historic Landmark

The big red ship that for decades has been a local Lewes landmark has gained national landmark status.

U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar on June 14 designated the Lightship Overfalls a National Historic Landmark.

The designation places the Overfalls on a list of 12 places or structures in Delaware selected because they are among the most significant places in American history.

The selection of the Overfalls is unique as it is the only ship in Delaware so designated and the only National Historic Landmark in Sussex County.

Built in 1938, the Overfalls served as a floating lighthouse. The vessel’s bright light and foghorn warned ships away from hazardous areas.

The lightship worked waters off New England’s coast and was renamed to recognize the lightship station on Overfalls Shoals when it came to Lewes. The Overfalls Shoals station marked the Delaware Bay’s southern entrance.

Bob Humes, Overfalls Foundation past president, said the designation increases the Overfalls’ prestige. “We’ve become national now. We hope it’s going to attract a lot more people. People go out of their way to see National Historic Landmarks,” Humes said.

He said last fall, he and Dave Bernheisel, who is also a foundation past president, went to Washington, D.C., where Bernheisel made a presentation to the National Park Service.

“It was accepted unanimously. It had to go to another committee on the West Coast, and Ken Salazar had to agree with it,” Humes said.

He credited Bernheisel with doing most of the work to gain the designation.

“It’s been a team effort, but Dave was the point guy who did all the heavy lifting to make it happen,” Humes said.

For more than six years, the Lightship Overfalls Foundation worked with Sen. Tom Carper on The Lightship Overfalls Project.

Through volunteer hours and federal, state and private foundation grants, the goal was to maintain and restore the ship and gain designation as a National Historic Landmark.

“The Lightship Overfalls is a historic gem in Delaware that has reached the important milestone of being named a National Historic Landmark, the first in Sussex County,” Carper said in a statement about the ship’s new status.

The importance of National Historic Landmarks in the fabric of American history is that they “illustrate and commemorate our collective past and help us to understand our national identity,” a National Park Service bulletin states.

There are now almost 2,500 properties designated as National Historic Landmarks.  Among the First State’s National Historic Landmarks are the Jacob Broom House in Montchanin, John Dickinson House in Kent County, Elueutherian Mills in Greenville, and Howard High School in Wilmington.

The National Park Service will provide a bronze plaque identifying the Overfalls as a landmark. The Overfalls Foundation plans a public ceremony at 2 p.m., Monday, Sept. 26, to unveil the plaque, which will remain on display near the ship.

As the date approaches, additional ceremony details will be available on the foundation’s web site, www.overfalls.org.

The Overfalls is docked in Lewes, at the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal just off Pilottown Road.