REHOBOTH 1935

LOOKING AROUND DELAWARE

REHOBOTH 1935

Rehoboth is much more than an ocean beach town in southeastern Sussex County,

it is an institution, broad sands, the boardwalk, balsom scented lakes, pine forest close to

the ocean. The salty sea air, with the balsom scents, adds a healthy tang.

Rehoboth is of a Biblical origin and means “wide open spaces “ and was so

named by the Methodists who found the place to hold it's annual camp meeting after

the Civil War.

Rehoboth Hundred and a bay had been named since 1698.

To the , north, over the dunes of Cape Henlopen, lies Lewes, the cradle of

Delaware, settled by the Dutch in 1631.

The natural advantages of the spot as a bathing beach, or as it was once called, a

watering place, were recognized long ago, but it was not accessible easily, so development

was difficult.

In 1855, the state legislature incorporated :”Rehoboth Hotel Company” to build a hotel within five years, but this did not happen.. Rehoboth Hotel Company held five acres of the state beach lands, between the Indian River inlet and property of Robert West.

This same charter was renewed March 22, 1875 to Sussex Hotel Company of

Rehoboth City and land on the Rehoboth Bay was developed, a hotel and few cottages.

A mile up the coast, to the north, was the Rehoboth Association of 1871 with several

hundred acres laid out for a Methodist Camp Meeting and Resort with a religious

influence, laid out in building lots at $50 each, wide streets and many parks. Hotels and

cottages followed.

In January of 1873 the name was changed to “ Rehoboth Beach Camp Meeting

Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church” . A half mile from the beach in a grove of

evergreens, were the meeting grounds.. The camp meeting feature was discontinued in

1881. Rehoboth then grew to a considerable cottage settlement within a few years.

The Queen Ann Railroad of Maryland Delaware & Virginia came to town in 1878

from Love Point Ferry to Baltimore. The community boomed. The people came by

train loads from Baltimore and Washington, Wilmington and Philadelphia. It is known as a\

rendezvous of the Washington diplomatic corps.

Scotts Chapel, a non sectarian place of worship, was established in 1880 by the

Methodist Bshop Levi Scott. Old Cool Springs Presbyterian Church, established prior 1734

existed since 1700.

Other than bathing and sunning, there are bays and lakes for canoeing and fishing,

and a golf course.

Abstract: Wilmington Morning News, December 24, 1935, Looking Around Delaware/

Rehoboth.