ENTERTAINMENT

HISTORY: Forts, shipwrecks and centuries-old architecture

Debbie Gates

LEWES – As vast as the spread of beaches, some mobbed with festive, fashioning bathers, others quiet and family oriented and remote, is a landscape of homes, monuments and goings on that celebrate peninsula history and culture by land and sea.

It is rural and slow and coastal, with metropolitan pockets and emerging sophistication, and meanders to endless points of interest in one of the nation's earliest regions and destinations.

Skipjack work boats, some still active, dock at marinas in communities up and down the peninsula including Somerset County, Md., towns of Crisfield and Deal Island.

Towns along the stretch of Virginia's Eastern Shore are named for Native Americans, and there are occasional sightings of artifacts from the early settlers. The region shares the NASA Flight Facility and wild ponies that roam in nearby Assateague.

Trendy Delaware towns, such as, Rehoboth Beach and Lewes are family friendly and blend sophistication with historical monuments and attractions as ghost towers and lighthouses, museums, estates and beaches.

Delaware Beaches

• Lightship Overfalls in Lewes. It is one of 17 remaining lightships built between 1820 and 1952. The National Historic Landmark was among a total 179 build during the period, and today is one of seven in the country still open to the public.

• Lewes Historic District includes architecture dating to the 1660s, from Colonial saltboxes to Victorian grandeur. Structures include David Rowland House on Front Street, known for a cannonball in its foundation from the War of 1812 and the Bombardment of Lewes in 1813.

• Cannonball House Museum in Lewes. The home to the Lewes Historical Society's maritime museum showcases pieces of art and memorabilia including the Fresnel Lens of a 14-foot Bank Light.

• Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes. A showcase of local maritime, military and social history. It commemorates the founding of Delaware's first European settlement by the Dutch in 1631.

• Fort Miles Historic Site in Lewes. The fort, key in coastal defense during World War II, is in Cape Henlopen State Park and on the National Register of Historic Places. It has a WWII observation tower used for defense along the Delaware River. It is ideal for a family picnic and learning about the Delaware shore and its role in the war.

• Rehoboth Beach Museum in Rehoboth Beach. The museum displays artifacts illustrating the community's development. Among exhibits are vintage postcards, swimwear and Civil War-era maps and train schedules.

• DiscoverSea Shipwreck Museum on Fenwick Island. The collection of shipwreck artifacts from around the region and the world, which expands with new discoveries, is one of the largest along the Mid-Atlantic.

• The Indian River Life-Saving Station, a precursor to what is today's U.S. Coast Guard, takes a visitor back in time in this section of the picturesque Delaware Seashore State Park. The station is restored to its 1905 splendor, with a diamond-shaped trim and featuring gift shops, although the station was originally built in 1876 to respond to numerous coastline shipwrecks. The station is open to self-guided tours.

• The Milton Historic District on the Broadkill River is one of Delaware's first to become a White House "Preserve America" community, an initiative to promote and teach about focal points in the nation's history. In the 19th century, the town of Milton was a ship-building area and an inland port for passengers and trade between Sussex County and nearby urban areas. The town where time seems to stand still also was once a hub of the button-cutting industry. Today there is fishing and canoeing, a local world-famous craft brewery, Dogfish Head, and historic architecture ranging from poultry sheds to Second Empire mansions.

• Tunnell-West House in Ocean View officially joined the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. The 1860s house was built by John Tunnel, whose daughter married a Capt. George Tunnell whose son was John T. West. The house is among more than 100 historic properties in the town, and includes an installed pitcher pump for visitors who want to try pumping water from a well. The house is at 39 Central Avenue.

• Old Sussex County Court House in Georgetown was completed in 1793 and became a focal point of the town that is the county seat. The building, first located on The Circle, was functional as a court house until 1837. A new, bricked structure replaced it, and the Old Sussex County Court House moved to 10 S. Bedford St., where it was restored in the 1970s. It is currently used for special court activities.

Maryland

• Oxford, a former colonial port in Talbot County, is one of America's oldest towns. It is where watermen remain a fixture among the fewer than 1,000 residents, and unlike other waterfront towns of sprawling condominiums, amusements or hordes of hotels, historic charm prevails in this 1680s village. Hop a ride to nearby Bellevue on the seasonal Oxford-Bellevue Ferry, or enjoy eateries, fishing and boating.

• A trio of hamlets make up Smith Island, the only offshore inhabited community on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore. Combined, the hamlets have fewer than 400 residents, many of them tied to a livelihood on the water. Life stands still in Smith Island hamlets of Ewell and Rhodes Point on the same island mass, and in Tylerton, accessible by boat. A notable feature is the local dialect similar to that of portions of 17th-century England.

• Annual Skipjack Race, held Labor Day weekend in Deal Island in Somerset County, is a display of historic oyster-dredging boats, some still in use. The race is a show of might of work boats from the region and elsewhere, some a century-old.

• The fishing village of Deal Island has a functional island harbor that is an active marina for work boats. It is listed on the National Register of historic places.

• The Crisfield Historic District in Crisfield, in Somerset County, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Labor Day Weekend hosts the annual National Hard Crab Derby, a race of crustaceans celebrates the coastal region's industrial seafood heritage. A Derby weekend highlight is the annual crab-picking contest featuring workers in the crab-picking industry.

• In mid July, a Crisfield attraction is the JM Tawes Crab & Clam Bake that gathers locals, tourists and politicians for all-you-can-eat seafood, corn, watermelon, beer and more.

• The Somerset County seat, the historic district of Princess Anne, sits on the Manokin River and offers historic structures and landmarks, including the Teackle Mansion on Mansion Street built in the early 1800s.

• Olde Princess Anne Days in Princess Anne is a two-day 1812 heritage festival featuring walking tours of historic homes including Teackle Mansion, landmarks, gardens and more. The festival is held annually in early October.

Virginia

• Kiptopeke State Park in Northampton County's Cape Charles, has recreational access to the Chesapeake Bay and is a haven for bird watchers. The park belongs to a region explored in the early 1600s by explorer, Capt. John Smith.

• The Eastern Shore Railway Museum is in the Accomack County town of Parksley. The hamlet of picturesque, Victorian homes has a museum stocked of railroad memorabilia dating to the 1800s.

• Tangier Island sits in the Chesapeake Bay some 12 miles from the mainland of Crisfield, Md.. Most travel is by foot, bicycle and golf cart. Beaches are unspoiled, homes are quaint and seafood is fresh. It is known as the nation's "soft crab capital." The Tangier Island Museum tells the history of life on the island.

• Assateague Island National Seashore on the island of Assateague is home to the infamous herds of wild ponies believed to have arrived with early Spanish explorers. Seashore beaches are pristine and remote, and the island's bay side offers canoeing and kayaking. Marshes are perfect for birdwatching, with wildlife that includes deer and waterfowl.

Historical Societies

• South Bethany Historical Society in South Bethany can be contacted through the Town of South Bethany, 402, Evergreen Road, South Bethany, or learn more at www.southbethany.org

• Chincoteague Natural History Association in Chincoteague, at PO Box 917, 23336 or cnha@verizon.net

• New Friends of the Fenwick Island Lighthouse, Selbyville, at 302-436-8100.

• Georgetown Historical Society, 510 S. Bedford St., Georgetown, at 302-855-9660 or info@georgetownoc.com

• Lewes Historical Society, 110 Shipcarpenter St., Lewes; 302-645-7670 or Delaware Scene.com. The Lewes Historical Society Complex in Lewes houses architectural examples dating to the 1660s.

• Milton Historical Society, 210 Union, Milton, at 302-684-1010 or info@historicmilton.org

• Ocean City Museum Society Inc., in Ocean City, a department of the Ocean City Convention Center and a member of the State of Maryland Bureau of Tourism, at 410-289-4991 or curator@ocmuseum.org

• Ocean View Historical Society in Ocean View, at 302-539-3052 or www.ovhistoricalsociety.org

• Rehoboth Historical Society & Museum, 511 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth, at 302-227-7310 or www.rehobothbeachmuseum.org

• Somerset County Historical Society in Princess Anne, Md., at Teackle Mansion, 11736 Mansion St., for information about Crisfield, Deal Island, Princess Anne, Smith Island and more, at 410-651-2238 or moreinfo@somersetcountyhistoricalsociety.org

• Historical Society of Talbot County in Easton, Md., with information about the riverfront town of Oxford and more, 25 S. Washington St., Easton, at 410-822-0773.

• Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society for more about Chincoteague, Assateague, Tangier Island and more, 69 Market St., Onancock, Va., at 757-787-8012.

• Worcester County Historical Society in Snow Hill, serving Snow Hill, Berlin, Ocean City and other communities, at 410-632-1265 or 410-632-2600.