Slaughter Beach: The Jewel of the Delaware Bay?
Some call Slaughter Beach the jewel of the Delaware Bay because of its beautiful setting. While we’ve enjoyed several other beaches along the Delaware Bay, this is indeed one of widest and longest, with a good two miles of beach along the bay. It's great for beachcombing and sunbathing, but there are a lot of pebbles, so it’s not great for wading, swimming or walking barefoot. Slaughter Beach looking south There are several theories on why Slaughter Beach got its gruesome name. One is that the first postmaster here was named Slaughter. Another is that horseshoe crabs that come here to spawn every spring are often flipped over by waves and (unless flipped back by a volunteer) die, hence the “slaughter” of the horseshoe crabs. The most gruesome story is that early European settlers slaughtered local native Americans. [UPDATE 8/15/2021: I've learned yet another theory! In a letter to Delaware Online, Barbara Slavin, Ocean View Historical Society, says the name comes from t...