5 Historic Sites to Visit in Lewes Beach, Delaware
Although most families may come to Lewes Beach , Delaware for beach vacations, the town offers much more. A great alternative to those hot summer beach days is to take a stroll into town and learn about its history. The historic buildings are hosted by volunteers who are more then happy to not only give you a tour, but also answer any questions you may have.
Ryves Holt House, Circa 1665
Upon entering the home, kids and adults alike will feel like giants under its low ceilings. Designed to keep the heat in during the winter, the house served as a tavern for many years, allowing English colonists to learn of news and stop for a friendly chat. This is also where sailors would find Lewes river bay pilots to help navigate their ships up to Philadelphia. Families will see one of the rooms set up as the tavern would have looked in the 1700’s. This home also serves as the Lewes Historical Society Visitor Center, where you can receive information about the town of Lewes, and local events and surrounding sites.
Fun fact: When everyday plates, cups or other home items broke, the property owners would throw them in the latrine. Archeologists dug up the original latrine to discover many of the homes artifacts.
211 Mulberry St, Lewes
Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, Established 1681
I can remember running around the grave site as a kid, ice cream in hand. I still find the cemetery interesting to stroll through, still with an ice cream in hand and my own kids running through. The original church was completed in 1724, but has been replaced twice by larger structures. In the front yard of the church lies a graveyard with some noteworthy graves of the inhabitants of Lewes. You can walk through the graveyard reading the tombs and looking for the oldest grave there (hint–it dates back to 1707).
2nd Street Lewes
Lightship Overfalls, Built in 1938- Retired in Lewes 1973
The lightship, used originally in New England, was an aide for navigation. With the use of the light and foghorn, she helped many ships navigate safely in difficult and different weather conditions. However, with increased automation and radio signals, these ships became obsolete. Now, families can take a guided tour of the lightship and learn about her structure, various functions and how the crew lived on the ship. Watch your head though!
219 Pilottown Rd, Lewes
The Cannonball House, Circa 1760
This was one of my favorite houses as a child. As a kid, looking at a cannonball from the war of 1812, lodged in the brick foundation of the house, was the coolest. It is still fascinating to me today and for our kids; they love to pass by and admire the cannon and the large anchors outside. However, it is more than that. It is a maritime museum filled with artifacts from the river bay pilots of Lewes. This is also the most haunted house in Lewes Beach, Delaware haunted by three spirits. One who died in a fire in one of the original rooms of the house. The house was built in 1765, and was owned by two river bay pilots originally.
Here you will also learn about pirates invading Lewes Beach, the bay’s fishing industry and pilots, and the important role they played navigating ships into Philadelphia. Lewes was typically the first stop for many of the colonists and traders. There’s even an iron Spanish treasure chest on display.
Fun fact: An old English custom, when you rebuild or put an addition on a house, you put a shoe in the wall for good luck. Shoes were found in the walls of this house.
118 Front Street, Lewes
Zwaanendael Museum
Lewes Beach, Delaware was first settled by the Dutch in 1631, until this colony was wiped out by the native Lenape Indians. The Dutch returned in 1658 and resettled until the English eventually took over. The museum was modeled after the town hall in Hoorn, Netherlands, commemorating the town’s Netherlandish heritage. They have a wonderful exhibit of the English warship DeBraak, which was lost off the shores of Lewes Beach, Delaware. Kids can learn about all of her cannons, crew while seeing actual artifacts from the ship.
102 Kings Highway, Lewes
More Tips and Places of Interest
The five sites mentioned above should take no more than an hour and half to two hours to visit. Prior to visiting them, you can grab a wonderful brunch at Nectar Lewes. They have an array of breakfast favorites and an assortment of blended fresh juices and vegetables.
Lewes Historical Society
They offer a walking tour of select historic buildings, offered on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 2pm from July – beginning of September. These start at the Ryves Holt House. I would not recommend this tour for younger kids as it is an hour with a lot of historic detail. However, for older kids who have learned some American history will find this tour interesting. The tour is will take you the Shipcarpenter street campus, home to 9 historic buildings including a blacksmith house, doctors office, school and an example of a plank house constructed by Swedes in the late 17th century.
The Lewes History Museum
A small but interesting museum into Lewes’s past with a focus on it’s famous families, decorative arts, maritime history with a strong emphasis on the bay pilots. The Chamber of Commerce and the Historic Society are excited to open a Children’s Discovery Center in the fall of 2018. It will feature an interactive general store and a scale replica of the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse.
110 Shipcarpenter St, Lewes
Thank you to Mike Michael DiPaolo, Executive Director of The Lewes Historical Society for sitting with me in the The Lewes Bake Shop to share his enthusiasm, in-depth information of Lewes, and upcoming additions to the historical town of Lewes Delaware.
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Wow. this is perfect for a day trip for us. My kids love going outside and play. This also will be an education for my kids to learn as well. Thx!
Day trips are the best!
I’ve been to Lewes, DE – but only the beach. I never realized the history!
A lot of history for a tiny town. So much to learn!
Indeed a cool alternative trip for all. Guess it was a great educational trip as well for your kids. They must have learned a lot.
That’s nice! I have never been to Delaware and had too google Lewes to see where it was. It looks like a super cute area
It’s super cute
so many great places to visit! They have some great educational content! I hope one day I get to visit the US and walk through some of these attractions!
Each state is remarkable in its own way.
We love history and we especially love to base our vacations around it. This looks like a very educational place to visit, great tips! Thanks for sharing!
I didn’t realize there was so
Much cool places to see in Delaware. Good to know. Would be a really nice place for a family vacation I think.
For a small state lots to do!
Lots of history in this town. I have never been to Delaware, I think I need to add it to my list.
Cool list. My family likes to rent a big house every summer and check out new places and I’ve been eyeing Delaware for next year. I’ll keep this in mind.
You will hopefully love it
What wonderful adventures you discover when you don’t follow the crowd and step off the beaten path. This is true for most towns.
Actually, I haven’t been to Delaware but with this post you’ve given us a very good glimpse of what this place history is. Loved this kind of article where we get to see and know vintage structure that has been in history.
I love this type of posts. there is nothing like traveling knowing exactly where to go and what to visit.
I have only been to Delaware once but we didn’t get the chance to check out any of these places. I hope to take a road trip with my kids next Summer!
This looks like a fun place to visit! I really haven’t visited the states except for Florida and NY.. lol Canadian all the way
Kind of like me only visiting Montreal Quebec and la malbaie. Have so much more to see in Canada.
Those are some great places listed above. It’s nice visiting places where there is a historical meaning behind it and learn a lot about the past.
I know where I’d start first, at the very top of the list. I love all things history and museums are like a candy store to me.
Thanks for sharing these! I can’t wait to see some of these historical spots when I make it to the East Coast!
I’ve been to Delaware a long time ago but I don’t remember going to so many nice places. I’m earmark this so that I’ll can go visit again.
Wilmington too has some great spots, but I love the beach towns.
I have never been to Delaware, and to be honest, have never read anything about it. Thx for the interesting post about Lewes.
Wow! So much history!!! How cool!
Delaware is one of the 8 states I still need to visit. Now I know where to go! Lewes sounds like a fun place.
So fun and a ton to do!
I love this list. I’m a big sucker for historic sites and always intersperse them with more “kid-like” activities on our trips.
Honestly, I’ve never been to Delaware and hadn’t really thought of a place to put high on my list, but I love history and these sites look amazing – I know where to go now when I eventually visit!
I never knew of Delaware as a beach destination and all of those amazing buildings make it totally worth it!
Yes and has a town nearby with a fun boardwalk, rides and a good stroll
I’ve never been to Delaware. I would definitely check these sites out though.
I’ve only ever driven through Delaware, but this definitely makes me think that we should stop! What a fun little town.
So much history! It’s so neat to see how tiny homes used to be back then.
I hated history in school. But now that we’re traveling places, I really enjoy seeing all of the historical places in person. It’s such a different learning experience. So excited to share all of these places with my children and learn together.
I totally agree, hated being stuck in a classroom. IRL is much better way to learn.
This sounds like a great little place to stop on a road trip. How much time do you think we’d want to leave for it?
Depends, if you want to take some time on the beach relaxing or just a quick stop. If it’s the latter, you could do 2 days as there is also a fantastic state park down the road with warld war II pill boxes and a small science center. Down the road a bit is a larger beach town with a boardwalk and rides (only open in summer months). Keep in mind the ride area is small, but quaint with so fun ones and original kid rides dating back to I believe the 40’s or 50’s.
This looks like such a fun place to visit! The next time I’m up that way, I hope to be able to add Lewes, Delaware to my must see list. Thanks!
What a fun day trip. I bet it would be an awesome field trip for homeschool too!
I would love to hear about the children’s museum when it opens!
It will be opening this fall and will have a small kid-sized light-house and a pilot-boat for kids to play in and explore among many other kid appropriate exhibits that are also interactive. Hope you get there as it will be a great homeschool based lesson.
It is great to learn the history of the area. Fun facts are great.
We are passionate about history and historical artefacts and hence Lewes is right up our alley. The place seems to be steeped in history with buildings dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. The Canon Ball house had my attention riveted and so too the Ryves Holt House. Both sound really fascinating. Lewes is definitely a place that holds the promise of some interesting times.
Learning local history is one of my favourite activities when travelling so Lewes looks like one to add to my list!
Nice to know about these pieces of history, always interesting to know more about the early settlers in a town. Zwaanendael Museum looks interesting for sure.
Lewes looks so charming, and I love the history you reference. I’ll have to check this place out!
I love historic tours like this! I especially love historic boats – makes me wonder all the beautiful places they’ve been.
Great post! I feel like Delaware is a overlooked state so it’s great to see such a great compilation for it!
Added to my bucket list 🙂
Awesome day trip with family. Sounds like a perfect family of adventurers. I can totally relate to this.
You make me want to visit Lewes – thanks for sharing! I love to read about the history of the place.
I am always on the lookout for history wherever I go. And I love reading posts like these because they help me find historical stuff even in the most non-historical places. Seems like Lewes definitely had exciting 17-18th centuries. This is great for history addicts like me! Thanks for sharing.
My family and I like to visit historic places or museums like these. It’s a way to learn about the local history. And the fun facts at Ryves Holt House and the Cannonball House are so interesting. I also like strolling around old cemetery, looking for names that you barely hear at this day.
I have a memory of having visited a national park in Delaware. It was a short visit, like touch and go. These historic sites do call for another trip as the perspective of seeing any place changes when we get to know the story behind them.
I always love to explore the history of a new place, so I enjoyed reading this. The Cannonball House in particular sounds fascinating!
Such a great way to explore places with children as well, as it’s a great educational experience for them.
So much history! These sites seems must visit for history buffs. Would be nice to take your children along too.
we would love to visit Lewes especially coz of it’s rich history.We love culture and history travel as well,loved your post .Thanks for sharing!
we loved this post! thanks for sharing.We enjoy history and culture travels as well, we would love to visit Lewes especially coz of it’s rich history.
I loved reading this! I’ve never been, but the history and the architecture look and sound amazing. If I ever end up nearby I’ll be sure to keep this post in mind 🙂 Thank you!
I think I loved the ship the most 🙂 i am an engineer and I have weird obsession with old engineering. Red color is also cool.
What a great, educational family adventure giving a historical peek into a maritime world that shaped part of the country … pirates, shoes in the wall, and more. Perfect stories for kids!
Never been to Delaware before but this post has convinced me to go. Great photography by the way 🙂
I love historical places and there Historic Lewes is now on my wishlist. Thanks for sharing hidden attraction!