Belltown’s history dates back to middle 1800s
Belltown’s history dates back to the Civil War era, when African-Americans established their own self-supporting villages apart from white society. Motorists, busy to get to another destination, pass through the hamlet daily without a thought about its past.
Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) officials did an extensive cultural resources survey on the Belltown area in 1990. The Belltown Historic District was established as a small African-American community in the middle 1800s on land owned by Jacob “Jigger” Bell, a free black man. The district includes a school, church and 27 houses dating to before 1930.
According to the survey, during the time when these structures were built, most of the residents were poor, earning a living by working on nearby farms or walking into Lewes to work. Many supplemented their income by raising vegetables, chickens and pigs in their small yards.
Although most descendants of those original families have moved or passed away, a few remain. One of those residents, Hilda Norwood, is surrounded by relatives at her Route 9 home.
Norwood, who was born in Belltown, grew up in the area and has lived there for more than 70 years, said it is important to preserve some of the history. “It seems to be disappearing,” she said.
She said with a commercial-residential zoning, businesses would eventually outnumber homes along Route 9.
She remembers Route 9 when it was a dirt road for horses and buggies. She said if you didn’t want to walk to Lewes, you could catch a train in Nassau.
Many men worked at Nassau Orchard or made the trip to work as waiters in Rehoboth Beach restaurants.
“Everybody knew one another and half of the people were related,” Norwood said. “Everybody worked hard.”
The boom time for Belltown was during the Prohibition years of the 1920s when some Belltown residents made moonshine and sold it to the people of Lewes.
George and Catherine Bundick have lived in a comfortable home off Beaver Dam Road in Belltown since 1966 on family land where Catherine was born 91 years ago. The couple has been married 60 years.
It’s an understatement to say they have seen changes, as houses have replaced cornfields and apple orchards that for decades covered hundreds of acres around Belltown. Both worked in the orchards in Nassau and met in the apple-packing house.
Just as the corn and apple trees have disappeared, so have the young people. “Our young people get out of school and don’t stay around,” George said. “There are no children in Belltown.”
“It was beautiful around here,” Catherine recalls. She remembers when Beaver Dam Road was a dusty, dirt road and two stores, Norwood’s and Williams’, served Belltown’s needs.
She said Belltown residents, who were all black, stayed to themselves during segregation years. “We didn’t pay it no mind and only went where we were supposed to go,” she said.
Catherine said residents of Belltown were hard workers who went to church on Sunday. “Everything was always around the churches, and it was an all-day event,” she said.
The church she grew up in was John Wesley U.M. Church, which has been combined with two other churches with services at Faith U.M. Church in Rehoboth Beach. The first church was built in 1873 near Wescoats Corner, an area George still refers to as Wesley Corner, named after the church.
In 1908 a new church was built in Belltown on the north side of Route 9. That church was eventually torn down and another church was built across the road in 1946.
Israel U.M. Church, just outside Belltown on Plantation Road, was founded in 1840.
George, at the age of 87, works for Gay Knapp Marini, who is the daughter of Halsey Knapp of Lewes and granddaughter of Leslie Knapp, former owners of Nassau Orchard. The farming business was a mainstay in the area from 1916 to the early 1990s.
George said most of the land around Belltown was farmland owned by the Knapp family. It was far cry from the developments and businesses that occupy the land today. He recalls a large peach orchard where Lowe’s is now located.
Like all other children in Belltown, Catherine attended the Nassau School for “colored” students until the sixth grade when she had to walk with other children into Lewes to attend school.
Norwood’s three older sisters attended Nassau School, but Norwood attended Rabbits Ferry School No. 201-C (C for colored) because the family moved to a farm on Route 23. Part of Norwood’s 44-year teaching career was spent at Rabbits Ferry.
Norwood said the Nassau school was rustic, with no running water or electricity with a coal stove and kerosene lamps.
Future of Belltown
What is the future of Belltown? George and Catherine Bundick said they were approached about three years ago by a developer wanting to purchase their home; the lot behind them has been sold.
“The younger ones might sell out and go, but we aren’t going anywhere,” Catherine said.
“I don’t think anyone is interested in getting rid of Belltown,” George said. “It’s going to be here for years to come.”
Others don’t share that optimism. So far, no action has been taken to acknowledge the history of Belltown or even erect plaques at historic spots, said Jules Jackson, who has family roots in the Belltown area. In addition, she said, county officials have approved conditional-use projects and commercial zoning within the heart of the small community. There doesn’t seem to be any move to stop that trend, she said.
“All proposals near historically African-American/Indigenous communities need to be evaluated in terms of community preservation. Sussex County doesn’t even have a certified planner, let alone one who specializes in saving communities that are facing eradication due to racism caused by gentrification,” Jackson said.
She recognizes that residents need to speak out.
“The government is not the sole bearer of responsibility. We must mobilize to save what is left of our legacies and we must educate ourselves. Our children are not even learning about these communities in school,” Jackson said.
