Big Stone Beach: Tales of a Farming Failure, a Conservationist Recluse, and War
In many ways Big Stone Beach is like other beach hamlets along the Delaware Bay. There’s a row of houses facing the water, with a road behind them running parallel to the shoreline. The beach is great for beachcombing—there’s supposed to be sea glass along the shore. But the beach gets mucky in the water, so it isn’t great for swimming or walking barefoot. But two things here are different. The first is a large tower. Observation tower at Big Stone Beach This was an observation tower used during World Wars I and II to watch for enemy ships. It’s the last of five such towers in Delaware. It was used to reinforce Fort Saulsby , which was built near Slaughter Beach for World War I and decommissioned after World War II. There was indeed once a big stone out in the water, but it was destroyed during World War II. I’ve read two stories about why it was destroyed: either as target practice or out of fear that it would obscure sight of an enemy ship. Histor...