BETHANY BEACH

BETHANY BEACH

BALTIMORE HUNDRED

SUSSEX COUNTY

Bethany Beach was established in 1898 when the coastal area of Sussex county beame more

easy to reach by transportation facilities. A religious group from Scranton, Pennsylvania, by name,

Christian Church Disciples, chose it as a summer camp for it's Missionary Society. The Scranton

group formed the Bethany Beach Improvement Company that agreed to purchase land, no less than

100 lots, develop it, and provide transportation to it.

The resort was dedicated on Juky 12, 1901, and a large octagonal tabernacle built to hold the

activities of the society.

At that time the nearest railroad station was at Rehoboth Beach, to the north and seperated by

several bodies of water. The steamer, “Atlantic” was put in service and transported visitors from

Rehoboth Station across two bays, up Whites Creek to Ocean View where they then continued the

trip by horse drawn carriages'.

The deeds to the lots had clauses by the staunch Christian society which barred the sale and

possession of alcoholic beverages in the town. This “prohibition” had outlast the origional

religious fervor and for years kept the development to a minimum, preserving a quiet charm of

the town. The missionary society has continued to used it's facilities however, the tabernacle was

torn down in the 1960's.

A National Guard Coastal Artillery Camp on the northern outskirts opened after WWI and is

used as a training ground during the summer months. Bethany also was the location of a Coast

Guard Lifesaving Station and during WWII was home to a Navy radio station.

Abstract October 31, 2017, by Harrison H., from Dick Carter's History of Sussex County,

Delaware Coast News, 1976.