Maritime history docks at reimagined Lewes museum

Historic Lewes unveiled its reimagined Maritime History Museum with an April 15 soft opening.

The museum is located in the Rollins Community Center at 101 Adams Ave. It had been closed for renovations for an entire year.

The new museum focuses on the city’s nautical heritage, going back hundreds of years.

A wooden canoe, made by the Nanticoke Indians, is a centerpiece of the museum, as is a model of an 18th-century sailing vessel.

“We really wanted to establish that maritime identity,” said Andrew Lyter, curator of maritime history. “When you think of New England towns, they have an inherent salty feeling to them, and we have the same history. We’re going to bring that to the forefront.”

Lyter said storytelling is at the heart of the museum’s mission.

“I’m a big practitioner of bottom-up history,” Lyter said. “I want to tell the stories of the common people. Lewes is built on the backs of maritime laborers, male and female, enslaved and free. We’re going to focus on those people and tell history through their lens. We’re not focused on George Washington or other household names; we’re focused on Eleanor Hitchcock, probably the first female lighthouse keeper in the country, right here in Lewes.”

A 2023 feasibility study by museum consultants Gallagher & Associates recommended that the 11-year old Lewes History Museum should remain in its current location. The review projected that fresh exhibits could more than double attendance at the museum in the next five years.

The renovation is about one-third complete, according to Erik Hein, Historic Lewes board chair. The full museum is scheduled to open in early December.

One of the spaces that is finished is a larger theater room. Visitors will first watch an interpretive film to familiarize themselves with the city before fanning out to other points of interest. That film was shot on the Historic Lewes Shipcarpenter Campus during the week of April 6. It is due to debut later this year.

“It seemed like a great gateway point to orient people to the history of Lewes, sit down, watch a brief film, serve as a starting point to all of our other offerings, the Cannonball House, Ryves Holt House and our main campus,” Hein said.

Hein said they will be moving the boat from behind the Cannonball House into the museum. A cannon is already there, sitting in a corner waiting to be put on display. There is also a maritime library with material dedicated to the city’s nautical history.

Hein said the nonprofit will also rent out the museum as an event space to generate much-needed revenue.

Their first event will be the Delmarva Archaeology and History Symposium, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 25. The program is run by the Delaware State Historic Preservation Office and features presentations from archaeologists and historians.

“One of our objectives was to be able to make this space more flexible so we could have special events. We have moveable walls that will have exhibits that will actually move out of the way,” Hein said.

Hein said they will also have more access to the outdoor space behind the building.

Marianne Zweig was one of the people who came to see the museum on opening night. She said she likes what she sees.

“It’s like the Smithsonian. I’m very impressed,” she said. “They have new artifacts. I watched a slideshow that brings up the history of how Delaware separated from Pennsylvania. They’ve got work to do, but it’s a good start. We need that here.”