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Though the sullen skies over Delaware’s Lewes Harbor were threatening to burst on the morning of October 1, 2006, local dignitaries and lighthouse preservationists were undeterred as they journeyed offshore to Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse where they would dedicate a state historic marker at the site.
As the motor launch arrived at the lighthouse, the rains began to fall, creating an atmosphere that conjured up memories of a bygone era when the 1885 Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse was a vital friend to mariners seeking safety from stormy seas and wind in Delaware Breakwater harbor.
The Delaware River & Bay Authority and the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation, partners in the effort to preserve the East End Light, along with Delaware Public Archives and local dignitaries, unveiled the handsome marker in a short ceremony that took place on the first level of the lighthouse. Judith Roales, president of the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation, noted that the dedication was taking place one day short of the light’s 121st anniversary, which was first lit on October 2, 1885.
There was a time when the 1885 Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse shone a brilliant fourth order white light varied by the foreboding warning of its red sectors to safeguard mariners from the wrath of the Atlantic Ocean, but the indomitable sentinel didn’t stop with just a visual warning. Even when dense fog or blinding snowstorms seemed to “snuff out” the beacon’s bastion of beams, Delaware Breakwater East End Light would spring into action with its raucous-sounding Daboll fog trumpet that would bellow an audible warning to mariners groping through the murky mantle seeking safe refuge.
Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse boasts of a connection to not only the United States Lighthouse Service and United States Coast Guard, but also to the venerable Pilots’ Association of the Bay and River Delaware, which occupied the lighthouse from 1963 into the 1970s during times when the Pilot boat Philadelphia was in dry dock.
The East End Light is also directly connected to three Delaware lighthouses that once stood in Lewes Harbor area. It took over the duties of the decommissioned Cape Henlopen Beacon Light in 1885, and later assumed the duties as the range front light for the Delaware Breakwater Range in 1903 from the Delaware Breakwater West End Lighthouse. After working in tandem with the Delaware Breakwater Range Rear Light for fifteen years, it returned to its normal lighthouse duties in 1918.
The Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse is also forever connected to two of the fiercest storms that have ever struck the Delaware capes. Prior to the outer National Harbor of Refuge Breakwater being built from 1897 to 1901, the Delaware Breakwater was the only safe refuge for ships transiting between Sandy Hook, New Jersey and Cape Charles, Virginia.
During both the dreadful blizzard of March 12, 1888, and eighteen months later, the horrific storm of September 1889, the Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse stood sentinel above terrible seas in an effort to protect mariners from the fury of King Neptune. On each occasion the beacon’s keepers worked diligently to keep a good light burning and the station’s fog signal sounding throughout the duration of the two deadly tempests, which ultimately claimed the lives of dozens of sailors at Delaware Breakwater.
In May 2006 the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation opened the offshore lighthouse up to the general public for educational tours. The addition of the historic marker at the lighthouse will be something new for visitors to admire in 2007 and at the same time, serve as a sparkling reminder that Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse is more than a guiding light, but also a unique portal to the rich maritime heritage that exudes from the sandy beaches of Cape Henlopen and history-laden streets of Lewes, Delaware.
This story appeared in the
December 2006 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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