Breakwaters

Lewes * Maritime History Trail

Two massive breakwaters shield Lewes Harbor from the punishing seas where Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean meet. They create an 800-acre anchorage that is nearly empty now, but in the early 1900s it was capable ...

Navigating the Golden Gate - Bonfires, buoys, and foghorns

Deep channels make San Francisco’s remarkable harbor accessible to immense ships. On the other hand, a narrow entrance, swift currents, high winds, rocks, and fog make navigating the Golden Gate treacherous. Early mariners looked for on-shore bonfires, painted rocks, ...

Delaware Pilots

Lewes * Maritime History Trail

Marine pilots know the shoals, lumps, and ledges of the Delaware intimately. They know the bends of the dredged channel, the characteristics of every lighthouse and range light, and the location of wrecks. They understand tides ...

Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse

Located on the eastern end of the Delaware Breakwater, this brown conical structure was built in 1885. The tower is composed of four tiers of cast iron plates lined with two feet of brick. It is twenty-two feet in diameter ...

Peoples of the Coast - Why did they live here?

Alson, Aptos, Carquin, Huchiun, Oljon, Tamien, Matsun, Rumsen, Yelamu … these are jst a few of the 50 or so Indian tribes that populated the coastal area from Carquinez Strait to south of Monterey Bay. For at least 10,000 ...

Home of Major Henry Fisher

Hero of the American Revolution

A native and lifelong resident of this community, Henry Fisher (1735-1792) was one of Delaware's foremost leaders in the struggle for American Independence. His prominence as a skilled pilot and his firm support of the Patriot ...

Wesley M.E. Chapel Cemetery

Site of 1st Methodist Chapel

Erected in 1806

Marker is on West Pine Street north of Gardner Avenue, on the left when traveling south.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Historic Shipwrecks - Lost at the Golden Gate

Swift tides, treacherous rocks, dense fog, and a narrow harbor entrance have always made San Francisco’s coast and port difficult to navigate. Over 300 known vessels have failed to make the passage and sank in the cold, treacherous waters.

General Alfred T.A. Torbert

Born in Georgetown on July 1, 1833, Torbert attended local schools prior to his appointment to the West Point Class of 1855. After the outbreak of the Civil War he rose rapidly in rank, serving as a regimental and brigade ...

Davis-Byrne Building

1895

This building was originally part of the small commercial district that grew up around Dwight Way Station where Shattuck Avenue commuter trains intersected with the horse-car line that ran up Dwight Way to the California Schools for the Deaf and ...