Delmarva Back Roads

  New Castle Court House The Delaware Bayshore Byway’s northern terminus is New Castle. Full disclosure: While I’ve experienced the rest of the Byway as a first-time visitor, I know New Castle very well—I’ve been a volunteer tour guide for New Castle Historical Society  for several years. And I’m biased—I think New Castle is the most historic town in Delaware as well as the most beautiful. In this post, I’m focusing on what I think of as essential New Castle: what any first-time visitor should try to see. Fair warning: it’s a long list! The sign announcing the northern end of the Delaware Bayshore Byway is, oddly, on South Street, on the periphery of New Castle and outside New Castle's historic district.  Keep going! Stay on South Street another block, then turn left on West 4 th Street. Go two blocks on West 4 th Street, then turn right on Delaware Street. In a block, you’ll reach the heart of Historic New Castle, the Green: a square block bordered by Delaware Street...

  Most stops on the Delaware Bayshore Byway are either towns or land preserved and managed for wildlife. Both are relatively easy to learn about. Port Mahon is neither, making it hard to piece its story together. Fortunately, wonderful people in the  Delaware History/All Things Delaware  Facebook group shared memories and photos that helped me understand Port Mahon's story.   I think Port Mahon’s story began with a lighthouse near the mouth of the Mahon River built in  1831 , built primarily to guide commercial oyster boats operating in this part of the bay. The lighthouse immediately faced problems: storms continually eroded the shoreline here and damaged the lighthouse. To try to keep the lighthouse on solid ground, it was moved in 1850. When the new site also eroded, a new lighthouse was built in yet a different location in 1862. When that site also eroded, a new lighthouse was again built in a new location in 1876. I found a photo of it at the Lightho...