Delmarva Back Roads

Fort Dupont parade grounds, looking east Fort Dupont has served many roles in its 120-year-old life: a coastal defense fort, headquarters for U.S. Army engineers, an Army training facility, prisoner-of-war camp, long-term care facility, storage facility for surplus state property, and now a "lifestyle community." Today Fort Dupont has buildings and structures from all these roles, making it a great place to learn about military life in the first half of the 20th century and how military installations have evolved as defense and regional needs have changed. The River View Trail along the Delaware River is also an opportunity to observe local wildlife. First, a little more on Fort Dupont's history, because it helped us understand and appreciate the buildings and structures we saw... In the late 1800s, the United States realized that its coastal defenses were severely neglected. Not only was there inadequate protection, but the forts and bases that existed weren’t using mode...

Along the Murderkill River in Bowers Beach In the 1800s, Bowers Beach was one of many popular resorts along the Delaware Bay. While some of the other bayfront resorts began to decline in the late 1800s or early 1900s, Bowers Beach continued to thrive into the first half of the 20 th century. Why? It was considered the fishing capital of the Delaware Bay. By the 1940s, over 100 “party boats” offered holiday-seekers a combination of drinking and fishing. An article in Delmarva Now explains that Bowers Beach was “a full-blown party town with bars, hotels, a dance hall, and a casino.” By the 1960s, however, overfishing ended the party boats and party-town atmosphere, leaving a town that’s friendly and charming. I’ve read that Bowers Beach Maritime Museum is one of the nicest museums on the Delaware Bayshore Byway, but when we visited it was closed. It’s in an adorable 1800s house on Main Street. Bowers Beach Maritime Museum It’s normally open Saturdays and Sundays, 2-4 PM, from Memo...

   Little Creek, also known as Little River Little Creek is a tiny village (less than 200 inhabitants) on the north bank of Little Creek (also known as Little River). Allegedly first inhabited pirates, by the late 1800s it was prospering thanks to oystering. As I note in my Delaware Bayshore Byway Overview , in the early 20 th century an oyster disease wiped out the Delaware Bay’s oyster industry, leaving Little Creek the quiet village it is today. A fishing pier and boat launching ramp on Little Creek have largely replaced the fishing boat docks.  Fishing pier on Little Creek Probably the best-known building in Little Creek is the Old Stone Tavern  on Main Street.  Old Stone Tavern on Main Street in Little Creek It was built in the 1820s and, despite its name, it was always a house, never a tavern. What’s interesting about the house is that it was built of stone. There’s no stone around Little Creek! I read two theories on how the stone got here. One is that...