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.

Lewes Canalfront Park saved from condos

Nick Roth
1 day ago
The City of Lewes has transformed into a resort area over the last few decades. It was something...

Horn’s Pavilion destroyed by 1914 storm

1 week ago
Horn’s Pavilion was a popular ocean pier at the end of Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth Beach from 1899...

Faithful Steward wreck deposits coins near Indian...

2 weeks ago
The Faithful Steward, bound from Londonderry, Ireland, to Philadelphia, ran aground on a shoal Sept...

Cape 1991 Homecoming king and queen crowned

3 weeks ago
The Cape football team is set to face Hodgson Vo-Tech this Friday in the 2025 Homecoming game...

Lewes celebrates 350th birthday in 1981

4 weeks ago
Last week’s historic photograph showed a grand celebration around the Zwaanendael Museum for the...

FDR congratulates Lewes on tricentennial

Nick Roth
1 month ago
Before Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as the 32nd president of the United States, he served...

Devastating Rehoboth fire in 1962 destroys half a block

1 month ago
The year 1962 was an eventful one for the City of Rehoboth Beach. Several months after the infamous...

Protecting the highway from Mother Nature

Nick Roth
1 month ago
“Ocean Highway damaged by storm.” Sound familiar? Delaware officials have been battling with Mother...

Rehoboth paved its streets 100 years ago

Nick Roth
1 month ago
This year marks the 100th anniversary of paved roads in Rehoboth Beach. According to a July 17,...

The Dead Sea of Delaware

Nick Roth
2 months ago
A headline from June 27, 1925, reads, “No money for Rehoboth Bay.” The story that followed outlined...

Lightship Overfalls played important role in...

2 months ago
When the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal opened in 1829, the port in Philadelphia — and Wilmington —...

Lewes tries to steal county seat title from Georgetown

Nick Roth
2 months ago
Georgetown is commonly known as the county seat of Sussex County, but an effort was afoot in the...

Harbeson railroad station draws visitors

2 months ago
The introduction of the railroad created new towns throughout the country, including in Sussex...

1957 postcard surely grabs one’s attention

2 months ago
This postcard of a crying baby was available in many places around the country, as the blank area...

Fourteen Foot Bank Lighthouse stands off Bowers

3 months ago
Fourteen Foot Bank is an oval shoal in Delaware Bay situated three-and-a-half miles from the...

Harbor of Refuge Light under construction

3 months ago
The outer breakwater was completed in 1901 after nearly a decade of construction. As the breakwater...

Celebrating America’s independence in 1993

3 months ago
It doesn’t get more Americana than Lewes’ annual Fourth of July celebrations. From the old-...

Cape Henlopen Beacon battled Mother Nature

3 months ago
The Cape Henlopen Beacon is not the infamous Cape Henlopen Lighthouse. The beacon was located just...

East End Light replaced Cape Henlopen Beacon

3 months ago
A wooden tower stood on the east end of the inner breakwater in Lewes prior to the construction of...

Strickland Lighthouse stood on inner breakwater

4 months ago
Most people are aware of the red East End Lighthouse on the inner breakwater near the Point in Cape...

Green Hill Light towered over Lewes bay and marsh

4 months ago
In the overgrown area between Pilottown Road and the Great Marsh are remnants of a lighthouse and...

Lou Ianire’s Restaurant was a popular Lewes spot

4 months ago
Lou Ianire’s Restaurant was a popular spot along the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal in Lewes for a few...

Pole Family provided a fun mystery near Lewes

4 months ago
Cape Gazette reporter Ron MacArthur, who died May 14 after a long battle with liver disease,...

Funland bumper cars in 1987

5 months ago
Mother’s Day weekend marked the official opening of Funland on the Boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach. It...

D.F. Quillen & Sons operated on Sussex Street in...

5 months ago
Dennard F. Quillen Jr. died earlier this year. He left behind a legacy that dates back to the...

Royal Packing Co. thrived in downtown Milton

5 months ago
Royal Packing Company was once a prominent feature of downtown Milton. Standing in the area of the...

Students stop dune destruction in 1970

5 months ago
Fifty-five years ago, on the eve of the nation’s first celebration of Earth Day, a group of Cape...

Families celebrate Easter 1994 in Rehoboth Beach

6 months ago
For decades, the annual Easter Promenade brought crowds to Rehoboth Beach to celebrate the holiday...

Hudson’s Steam Bakery rises in first half of 20th...

6 months ago
Hudson’s Steam Bakery operated at the corner of North Race Street and New Street in Georgetown...

Fisher-Martin House dates back 300 years

6 months ago
The Fisher-Martin House on Kings Highway in Lewes is one of the oldest structures in the state,...

Henlopen Hotel has long history in Rehoboth Beach

6 months ago
The Henlopen Hotel has been welcoming guests to Rehoboth Beach since the city’s earliest days...

Sussex banks once issued their own money

6 months ago
The National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 created a system of nationally chartered banks, but not...

Zwaanendael Museum honors Lewes’ origins

7 months ago
The Zwaanendael House was built in commemoration of Delaware’s first European colony, Swanendael,...

African American Girl Scout Troop forms in 1960s

7 months ago
The Girl Scouts of America, founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Ga., has long been...

Otis Smith created workplace for all

7 months ago
During the time of segregation, Otis Smith ensured people of all races had a place to work at his...

Allen, Daisey families integrate Lewes schools

7 months ago
Ten years after the end of the Civil War, Delaware legislators passed a Jim Crow law that...

Cape Region’s connection to Philadelphia Maritime...

8 months ago
In 1875, a group of prominent maritime and business leaders, recognizing the strategic importance...

Rabbit’s Ferry was one of Delaware’s last one-room...

8 months ago
Rabbit’s Ferry School educated Native American and African American students of the Robinsonville...

Polar bears prepare to plunge in 1999

8 months ago
The Lewes Polar Bear Plunge has become one of the largest fundraising events in Delaware over the...

Habitat moves home in 1993

8 months ago
The recent death of former President Jimmy Carter shined a light on the great work he did after his...

Ground broken for Kmart in 1994

9 months ago
The stretch of Route 1 between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach has changed a lot over the last 30 years...

Snow covers state capital in 1985

9 months ago
Dover is the center of the Delaware universe this month. On Tuesday, Jan. 7, Gov. John Carney ends...

Epworth church predates Clear Space Theatre Company

9 months ago
Before moving out to Holland Glade Road in 2008, Epworth United Methodist Church was located on...

A Lewes Christmas in 1996

9 months ago
The Christmas season is always festive in the Cape Region, particularly in Lewes. The First Town...

An informational map of Fort Miles

9 months ago
This is an informational map of Fort Miles in what is today’s Cape Henlopen State Park. As most...

Pink Pony Club thrives on Rehoboth Boardwalk

10 months ago
Those tapped into today’s pop music may have heard the song “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan. The...

Kalmar Nyckel docks in Lewes

10 months ago
Delaware’s tall ship, the Kalmar Nyckel, is a replica of the original sailing vessel that first...

Bird’s-eye view of Rehoboth in early 1900s

10 months ago
Ever wondered what Rehoboth Beach looked like in its earliest days? Well, here’s a bird’s-eye view...

City of Lewes docks in First Town

10 months ago
A vessel by the name of the City of Lewes was built as a commercial fishing boat in 1912 by W.G...

Midway Drive-In opens in 1953

11 months ago
This photograph of the Midway Drive-In was recently shared by Jack Travis in the Growing Up in...

Ox roast is tradition at Return Day

11 months ago
Sussex County’s unique post-election tradition continues this week, as Return Day will welcome...

Cape May-Lewes Ferry in 1964

11 months ago
The Cape May-Lewes Ferry is in the news after Delaware’s congressional delegation announced $20...

The Royalton Hotel predates Royal Treat

11 months ago
The Royalton Hotel on Wilmington Avenue was once a popular place for family reunions and social...

Lewes High crowns Homecoming queen in 1966

1 year ago
It’s Homecoming season across the country. Cape Henlopen crowned its king and queen Oct. 4, while...

The early days of Milton High School

1 year ago
Well before the new and improved Milton Elementary School opened on Federal Street, teenagers of...

Lewes of the past

1 year ago
This undated aerial photograph in the Delaware Public Archives collection gives us a window into...

Long-lost Fort Miles barracks at The Point

1 year ago
Those who frequent Cape Henlopen State Park are familiar with the barracks at Fort Miles on the way...

Indian River Inlet has always been challenging

1 year ago
Gov. John Carney recently announced a major replenishment project to build up the beach and dune...

Schwartzkopf elected for District 14 in 2002

1 year ago
The day the print edition of the Cape Gazette is published is primary day in Delaware. Registered...

Lewes High football goes undefeated in 1951

1 year ago
In the fall of 1951, the Lewes High School football team put together a 9-0 record to be the only...