1609 Aug. 28 – Entrance to Delaware Bay is discovered by Capt. Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the employ of the Dutch, in the Half Moon.
1610 Aug. 27 – Capt. Samuel Argall, English, anchors in the bay and names the cape in honor of the Lord de la Warre, Sir Thomas West, Governor of Virginia. “de la Warre” is soon applied to the Bay & River.
1614 – Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, Dutch, sails the Fortune between the capes of the bay. He names the northern cape for his surname, now Cape May, the southern cape for his given name, Cornelius, and the “False Cape”, now Fenwick Island, he names Hindlopen. The name Henlopen appears alternately at the “False Cape” and its present location for years causing confusion and controversy.
Early 1620s – Dutch traders probably represent the first Europeans to inhabit the area – for the purpose of commerce with the natives. Natives are said to be Siconese Indians who lived at Sickoneysincks Kill.
1629 – Representatives of the Dutch West India Company “purchase” area land from Siconese.
1631 – Colonists from the Netherlands arrive at Swanendael in the Walvis (Whale). Gillis Hossitt is in charge of establishing a whaling operation. Soon thereafter, the settlement is annihilated by the Siconese.
1632 Dec. 6 – Capt. David Pieterson DeVries arrives at Swanendael to find the colony destroyed. He determines that a whaling colony is not feasible and returns to the Netherlands.
1638 – Swedes under Peter Minuit establish Delaware’s first permanent settlement, Wilmington. Colonists arrive in the ship Kalmar Nyckel.
1659 – Former area of Swanendael is refortified by the Dutch fostering the settlement of Lewes. At this time it was called Hoerenkill by the Dutch and later Whorekill by the English. This translates to Harlot’s Creek. An early settler was Helmanus Wiltbank with his family who settled the land where the Historic Complex now sits.
1663 July – Mennonite colony is established under Pieter Cornelisen Plockhoy as “41 souls” arrived from Amsterdam on the ship St. Jacob.
1664 – Forces from the English Duke of York seize Dutch holdings in New Netherland, concluding with the dispersal of the Plockhoy colony.
1671 May 8 – Whorekill census: 47 residents and 7 visitors.
1673 Dec. 24 – Whorekill is raided and houses and buildings burned by Lord Baltimore’s soldiers from nearby Maryland.
1673-1674 – There is a brief interlude of Dutch authority before England takes possession by Treaty of Westminster in 1674.
1680 – Village and county are known for two years as Deale or New Deale.
1680 – Log courthouse is authorized. Cost to be 5,000 pounds of tobacco. The house is not constructed for a period of time. It stood where the Churchyard of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Second Street is today.
1681 – A Church of England Congregation probably exists prior to 1681. The present building of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is the third on the site and dates from 1854.
1682 – William Penn arrives from England as proprietor of Pennsylvania and the Three Lower Counties Upon Delaware. Delaware delegates are part of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania.
1682 – Penn gives name of Lewes to the village and Sussex to the county. Lewes is the county seat. Names are from England.
1683 – A jury of 12 women serves during a murder trial. It is believed to be the first all-female jury in Western tradition.
1690s to mid-1700s – Tales of exploits of pirates and privateers includes names of Cannot, “Blueskin”, Captain Kidd, and James Gillam. In 1709, Lewes was ravaged by a French privateer.
1691 – The Rev. Samuel Davis comes to the Presbyterians in Lewes. Their first meeting house is erected in 1707. Current building is dedicated in 1832.
1693 – Thomas Lloyd, deputy governor of Pennsylvania, sends his two younger daughters to Lewes for their education.
1704 – The Three Lower Counties are granted an assembly of their own, meeting in New Castle. Pennsylvania and the Three Lower Counties, however, share the same governor throughout the colonial period.
1709 – Quakers. The Society of Friends is represented in the Lewes area. Meetings are held in homes; no meeting house is erected in Lewes. Quakertown, outside of Lewes, reportedly was a small settlement of about 15 homes as early as 1725.
1721 – Ryves Holt (1696-1763) arrives as naval officer of Port Lewes. He becomes prominent in official duties through numerous appointments.
1721 – Lewes is referred to as “a handsome town on the banks of the Delaware.”
1739 – The Rev. George Whitefield brings the spirit of Methodism as he leaves his ship in the bay, preaches in Lewes, and proceeds to Philadelphia on horseback. He returns to Lewes the following year and preaches from a house known as the Hitchens House at the corner of King’s Highway and Madison Avenue. It is 40 years before a Methodist congregation comes to fruition.
1765 – Cape Henlopen Lighthouse is under construction.
1775 – Lewes’ first bridge is built to cross the creek. It is the Market Street Bridge.
1776 – British Man-of-War Roebuck first appears off of Cape Henlopen. It remains in the area, sometimes upriver, throughout the Revolutionary War. Lewes is a hotbed of Tory sentiment.
1776 January-June – Esek Hopkins, Commander-in-Chief of the young United States Navy orders a convoy assembled in Delaware Bay. In February, a flotilla sails out of the Delaware Capes bound for Nassau, Bahamas.
1777 July 30 – Patriot Henry Fisher notifies Caesar Rodney, Delaware militia commander, that 228 enemy ships are approaching the capes. This armada convinces the local populace of the “seriousness of the situation.”
1779 July – Freeborn Garretson, a Methodist itinerant preacher, conducts a preaching mission in Lewes. Bethel United Methodist Church dates its congregation from this effort.
1780 & 1781 – Delaware’s General Assembly meets in Lewes in spring of each year. Caesar Rodney notes the freshness of the sea air and the quality of oysters.
1791 – The Sussex County seat is moved from Lewes to Georgetown.
c. 1795 – An academy is conducted at the site of today’s Zwaanendael Museum. It is believed it provided an opportunity for young women to matriculate.
1798 May 25 – The DeBraak sinks off Cape Henlopen.
1802 – Lewes resident David Hall becomes Delaware’s 15th governor. He practiced law and attained the rank of colonel during the Revolutionary War
1803 – A Post Office is established in Lewes.
1803 – Jerome Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, and his bride, Betsy, seek refuge in Lewes from their disabled ship. Hospitality is accepted from the Maull family.
1813 Apr. 6-7 – Lewes is bombarded by the British during the War of 1812.
1814 – Daniel Rodney becomes Delaware’s 19th governor. He also served as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, a member of Congress, and a U.S. Senator. He is buried at St. Peter’s, Lewes.
1818 Feb. 2 – Lewes is incorporated by an act of the Delaware Assembly.
1818 – A “Commission for Lewes Bridge” is in existence.
1822 – Life-long Lewes resident Caleb Rodney is sworn in as Delaware’s 23rd governor. He served in the Delaware General Assembly, becoming Speaker of the Senate. He ran a mercantile business in Lewes. He is buried at St. Peter’s, Lewes.
1824 – Samuel Paynter takes office as Delaware’s 26th governor. He operated a mercantile business in Drawbridge, several miles north of Lewes on the Broadkill River. He served as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Sussex County and as a U.S. Representative. He is buried at St. Peter’s, Lewes.
1829 – Construction of the Delaware Breakwater, the inner wall, is commenced.
1830 June 7 – Daniel Clifton Baker forms the Association for Decayed and Distressed Pilots, Their Widows and Orphans. Baker was born 1805 June 30 in Broad Creek Hundred, Delaware and died 1849 July 7 in Philadelphia. Dan Baker Shoal in Delaware Bay is named in honor of him.
1846 – Joseph Maull, who was born in Pilottown, becomes Delaware’s 34th governor, serving only nine weeks before dying on 3 May 1846. He was a physician and served in Delaware’s General Assembly. He is buried at St. Peter’s, Lewes.
1847 December 4 – Atlantic Lodge No. 15 I.O.O.F established in Lewes; first meetings were held at the Long House on Mulberry Street.
1850 October 28 – Brandywine Lighthouse, about seven miles off Lewes in Delaware Bay and the first screw pile lighthouse in the U.S., is lighted for the first time.
1852 – A telegraph office is established in Lewes.
1855 September 15 – The Breakwater Lodge of the Good Templars meets for the first time at Atlantis Hall.
Early to mid 1860s – Little effect of the Civil War on Lewes is noted, but the story is different for western Sussex where units for both sides of the conflict are enlisted.
1866 – John and Peter Maull construct what is believed to be the last boat built at Lewes. The shipbuilding industry moved closer to sources of lumber and mills at Milton and Milford, Delaware.
1869 September 20 – Western Union extends marine telegraph service to Lewes. The service is expected to aid ship reporting capabilities.
1869 – The Junction & Breakwater Railroad is extended to Lewes. At this time, Lewes is expanding as a resort area from which connections may be made across the bay or upriver.
1872 – It is noted that thirty pilots reside in Lewes with Thomas Rowland, 83, the eldest.
1875 October 12 – Ocean Encampment No. 9 I.O.O.F. was established. Meetings were held in Atlantis Hall.
1875 – Lewes Union School, with a high school department, is established, through the tenth grade.
1875 – The Philadelphia Maritime Exchange establishes a reporting station on the Delaware Breakwater. It is located at various sites in the following years.
1876 – The Cape Henlopen Life-Saving Station is commissioned.
1879 – Four young ladies comprise the first graduating class of the Lewes Union School. It is located where today’s Beebe Medical Center sits.
1880 – The United States government establishes a marine signal station on the Delaware Breakwater.
1884 – The Lewes Life-Saving Station is commissioned.
1884 – Delaware Breakwater Quarantine Hospital, later Station, is established on Delaware Bay.
1884 – Railroad repair shops moved to Georgetown. Their location at Lewes had increased the population and their removal, with the abandonment of lines of steamers, seriously affected the commercial prosperity of the town.
1887 – The number of pilots in residence at Lewes is recorded at nearly sixty.
1888 Mar. 12-14 – Many lives lost and ships destroyed in famous Blizzard of ’88.
1889 Apr. – Pilot boat Enoch Turley disappears with five pilots and five crew members during an April storm. This tragedy is often mentioned as occuring in September 1889.
1889 Sept. 10-12 – Large human and shipping loss is experienced during “The Great Storm of 1889.”
1896 – Pilots’ Association for the Bay & River Delaware is formed.
1897 – Lewes resident Ebe W. Tunnell becomes Delaware’s 50th governor. He also served in the Delaware General Assembly. He is buried in Lewes Presbyterian Church.
1897 – Work begins on the National Harbor of Refuge Breakwater. Note the many government installations in the area during this era.
1898 – Spanish-American War is remembered through street-naming of the time: Manila, Dewey, and Schley Avenues.
1898 – Queen Anne’s Railroad arrives in Lewes.
1901 Mar. 15 – Board of Public Works established by Delaware General Assembly.
1901 Dec. 11 – National Harbor of Refuge (outer breakwater) completed. This project was directly related to the loss of the pilot boat Enoch Turley on 6 Apr. 1889 during a gale.
1907 Thanksgiving Day – Cornerstone laid for Groome United Methodist Church.
1909 Sept. 22 – Dedication of DeVries Monument at foot of Pilottown Road.
1911 May 21 – Dedication of Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church (present building, Bethel United Methodist Chruch).
1912 – Lewes & Rehoboth Canal authorized by U.S. River and Harbor Act of 1912. Digging began on 5 Nov. 1913. First boat through the new passageway on 8 October 1916.
1913 Mar. 10 – Contract for current Lewes Post Office Building executed. After delays and overruns, the office opened for business in April 1915.
1914 June 2 – Daughters of 1812 unveiled monument commemorating the bombardment of Lewes by the British in 1813 during the War of 1812. The monument is located in Memorial Park on Front Street opposite the Post Office).
1916 – Beebe Hospital founded by Drs. James and Richard C. Beebe.
1916 July 18 – Ebe T. Lynch, prominent citizen and postmaster, fatally shot on Second Street.
1918 June 3 – The Herbert L. Pratt, a 7150 gross ton oil tanker, was struck by a mine laid down by German submarine U-151 off Cape Henlopen. While sustaining damage to her forward sections, she able to be salvaged.
1920 Dec. 6 – A business-district fire destroyed much of the west side of Second Street and damaged properties on the opposite side.
1921 Sept. – African American students occupied a new school on DuPont Avenue. It was known as both the DuPont Avenue School and Lewes Junior High School (initially housing grades 1-9). In October 1980 the building was renamed the Frederick D. Thomas School in honor of the late educator who had served Lewes youth for many years.
1922 May 9 – Dedication of Lewes Public School. For years the building housed white children in grades K-12. It served high school students in the Cape Henlopen District until the new high school was ready for classes in 1976. This structure currently serves as Lewes Middle School.
1923 – Present volunteer fire department reorganized and incorporated as Lewes Fire Department, Inc. In 1996 the department celebrated its 200th anniversary.
1924 Sept. 30 – Cape Henlopen Light illuminated for the last time.
1925 Jan. 28 – Hotel Rodney destroyed by fire. Situated at corner of South (Savannah) and Front Streets. See reference to New Year’s Eve fire, 1970 at same location.
1926 Apr. 13 – Cape Henlopen Lighthouse destroyed as it was undermined by wind and tidal forces. Fell around 12:45 PM. Was the second oldest lighthouse in the U.S.
1930 July 7 – After the death of Mayor James Thompson, William Walsh, the then-Secretary of the Commissioners of Lewes, assumes the posiiton of “Acting Chairman” of the Board until the January 5, 1931 election of Dr. Ulysses W. Hocker as Mayor of Lewes.
1932 – Lewes Yacht Club formed.
1932 May 7 – Lewes Tercentenary Celebration featured dedication of Zwaanendael House, currently the Zwaanendael Museum.
1933 – Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)unit established in Lewes. Company No. 1224 performed work that was forerunner of Delaware’s Mosquito Control Program. Today, Huling Cove occupies the site of the CCC camp.
1937 – Lewes Hosiery Mill established through efforts of the Lewes Chamber of Commerce. It represented initial step in industry having marked effect on economy of Lewes for many years.
1937 May 5 – Roosevelt Inlet opened.
1938 – Lewes Yacht Club clubhouse erected.
1940 Oct. 29 – The first draft for what eventually will escalate into World War II is held and the first number drawn is 158. Ernest R. Lynch, who holds that number, is the first from Lewes to be drafted into the conflict, among others from around the country. Lynch passes away July 1, 2005.
1941 – Easter Monday marked the final festivities at the Great Sand Hill featuring egg rolling on that holiday. The Easter Monday activities were probably the longest-lasting tradition in the coastal area. The Great Sand Hill area was soon closed to civilians as the harbor defense fortification became Fort Miles.
1941 Aug. 8 – Harbor Entrance Control (HEC Post) for the Bay and River Delaware christened Fort Miles in honor of late Lt.-Gen. Nelson A. Miles (1839-1925) on his 102nd birthday.
1953-1956 – Lewes was contender for the nation’s number one fish port based on quantity of menhaden netted. The local menhaden industry was terminated by 1966.
1954 – Colonel David Hall Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (organized Oct. 1951) erected historical markers – coat-of-arms adopted from Lewes, England – to denote historic significance throughout Lewes.
1956 Aug. 9-12 – Lewes celebrated its 325th anniversary. Parade on the 11th, Pageant of the Years, highlighted the observance.
1960 May 30 – Dedication of Cape Henlopen Memorial U.S. Army Reserve Center.
1961 – The Lewes Historical Society formed with an initial meeting at 330 Pilottown Road over Labor Day Weekend; incorporated in January of 1962, the Society would go on to celebrate anniversaries in years ending in “2” or “7.”
1961 Dec. 3 – Dedication of Lewes Town Hall. Dignitaries from Lewes, England participated.
1962 Mar. 6-7 – The March Storm caused much flooding and damage throughout Lewes and the coastal communities.
1964 February 26 – The Board of Public Works fluoridates Lewes’s water supply; the Lewes PTA supported the project.
1964 June 30 – Dedication of Cape May-Lewes Ferry.
1964 Oct. 17 – Dedication of Cape Henlopen State Park.
1964 Oct. 31 – Death of astronaut-in-training, Theodore C. Freeman, in a freak jet crash.
1966 – Ferry approach road, the Theodore C. Freeman Highway, was opened. It was named through Senate Concurrent Resolution approved 21 Dec. 1965.
1966 – Total racial integration of students in Lewes Special School District on opening day of school.
1967 Oct. 22 – Dedication of Richard A. Shields Elementary School.
1968 Good Friday – Initial kite flying at Cape Henlopen State Park became a State of Delaware institution known as the Great Delaware Kite Festival.
1969 – Barcroft Company began operations in Lewes.
1969 – The school districts of Lewes, Milton and Rehoboth Beach reorganized into the Cape Henlopen School District under the State Educational Advancement Act.
1969 July 17 – Legislation signed by Gov. Russell W. Peterson changed the designation of Lewes from “town” to “city.”
1970 – University of Delaware Graduate College of Marine Studies established in Lewes.
1970 Dec. 31 – Fire at corner of Savannah and Front Streets.
1971 Nov. 28 – Dedication of Bethel Fellowship Hall (of Bethel United Methodist Church).
1974 May 18 – Planting of trees and raising of Bicentennial Flag announced planning for the nation’s bicentennial in Lewes.
1975 Sept. 13-14 – Sussex Heritage Festival opened Bicentennial activities in Sussex County and Lewes. A large parade on the 13th included units from throughout the country. A “Memorial at Sea” was observed on the 14th.
1976 Oct. 24 – Dedication of the new Cape Henlopen High School.
1976 Dec. 20 – Contract signed for the first phase of Blockhouse Pond project.
1977 Oct. 25 – Groundbreaking for the “housing of the elderly” at Huling Cove.
1979 June 9 – Shore base of the Pilots’ Association for the Bay and River Delaware opened at the former U.S. Coast Guard Station constructed in 1938. Same location of Lewes Life Saving Station, est. 1884.
1980 Dec. 3 – Fisher-Martin House moved into Lewes. Restoration was feature of Lewes’ 350th anniversary in 1981. Friends of Fisher-Martin House first membership meeting was 27 Sept. 1983. The organization was dissolved on 25 Jan. 1994.
1981 Apr. 24-26 – Tulip Festival opened Lewes’s 350th anniversary.
1981 12 Sept. – “Eight Flags Over Lewes” parade marked the finale of many months of activities.
1983 May 7 – Opening of Savannah Road bridge after replacement; bridge had been closed since Sept. 1981.
1983 May 27 – Memorial service and plaque unveiling at Ferry terminal marked Unknown Sailors’ Cemetery. Participants were the Delaware River and Bay Authority, Lewes Historical Society, and the Colonel David Hall Chapter, DAR.
1983 – First house moved into Shipcarpenter Square.
1986 – First Punkin’ Chunkin’ which evolved into the World Championship Punkin’ Chunk by 1998.
1986 Aug. 11 – Portion of hull of the HM Brig DeBraak raised. The ship foundered on 25 May 1798 off Cape Henlopen.
1987 May 3 – Annual “Blessing of the Fleet” inaugurated. This tradition continues the first Sunday of May each year.
1988 – Beebe Hospital officially changes its name to Beebe Medical Center.
1988 May 1 – Dedication of new building of Lewes Public Library.
1990 Sept. 22 – Dedication of Alfred A. Stango Park, formerly Railroad Park.
1991 Oct. 22 – New link of Fourth Street opens connecting New Road to city streets.
1992 Dec. 12 – Dedication of Lewes Fire Department, Inc.’s New Station No. 1.
1994 Jan. 5 – Dedication of Lewes Community Playground at NW corner of Blockhouse Pond Park.
1995 Mar. 19 – Lewes landmark of Old Mill on Railroad Avenue demolished through controlled burning by Lewes Fire Department, Inc.
1996 May 11 – The first electronic voting machines used in a Delaware election debut at Lewes’ municipal election.
1996 May – Lewes Chamber of Commerce hosts first British Motor Car Show.
1998 May 2 – Dedication of new Police Department Addition at rear of Town Hall.
1998 May 25 – Commodore Colin Sharp of the Royal Navy speaks at the solemn re-burial of the remains of British sailors who perished in the sinking of HMB DeBraak, 200 years ago to the day.
1998 July 24 – Opening ceremonies of Biden Environmental Center at Cape Henlopen State Park on former site of Lewes Naval Reserve Center.
1999 – Greater Lewes Foundation established to purchase canal front property to become park area.
1999 – Controlled burn of Children’s Beach House on Lewes Beach.
2000 June 15 – Dedication of Mary E. Vessels Memorial Park at the corner of Market and Front Streets.
2000 July – DeBraak building on Lewes beach destroyed; beach houses subsequently built on site.
2000 New DuPont’s Children Beach House erected on Lewes Beach.
2001 November 11 – Deed for lands of Canalfront Park transferred to City of Lewes.
2001 December 7 – Lightship Overfalls tranferred from The Lewes Historical Society to the Overfalls Maritime Museum Foundation.
2002 February – Lou Rickards, President of the Lewes Fire Department, is killed in a tragic automobile accident near Snow Hill, Maryland.
2002 December – The Lewes Historical Society is featured on Good Morning America.
2003 May – Angler’s Motel, Market Street and Angler’s Road, Lewes Beach, demolished.
2003 July 22 – Quonset hut on Lewes & Rehoboth Canal formerly used as a boat shed and workshop removed from canalfront.
2003 October – SportCraft/DressCo factory on Third Street demolished.
2003 November – Peck’s Pilothouse, corner of Shipcarpenter and Front Streets, demolished.
2003 December – Lewes-in-Bloom committee wins first place in national America-in-Bloom contest for beautification; the following year Lewes is eligible for the international competition.
2003 – Original Lewes Yacht Club demolished to build new club house on Lewes Beach.
2004 January – Lewes City Council approves Historic Preservation Ordinance protecting structures within the defined historic district.
2004 October 1 – Historic Preservation Ordinance goes into effect but not before three houses are issued demolition permits in the weeks before including 126 Kings Highway and the Lib Stewart CCC house on Fourth Street. Pierre Hansot is first Chairman of the HPC, as the new commission is known.
2005 July 10 – Two small planes practicing for an airshow clip wings and crash into Delaware Bay in the late morning killing both pilots. The event draws nationwide attention.
2005 November – The Doxsee Seafood building at the end of Pilottown Road is demolished to make way for a new state-operated boat ramp.
2006 January 11 – The University of Delaware’s College of Marine Studies new research vessel, RV Hugh R. Sharp, arrives in Lewes. It replaces RV Cape Henlopen.
2006 April 21 – Special Joint Session of the Delaware General Assembly held at St. Peter’s in honor of Lewes’s 375th anniversary in morning and rededication of DeVries Monument in afternoon. Representatives of the Royal Netherlands embassy are in attendance as is the Mayor of Lewes, England.
2006 June 11 – Second Street formally reopened by Mayor James L. Ford III after Second Street Revitalization Project. Work began December 2005 and finished June 2006 at a cost of $3.5 million through sale of bonds.
2006 July 17 – Paul Timmons becomes first person on record to swim across the mouth of Delaware Bay, leaving from Cape May and arriving at Cape Henlopen. Timmons needed 7 hours, 15 minutes to accomplish the feat.
2006 August 4 – The Delaware Symphony Orchestra performs in honor of Lewes’s 375th Anniversary at the College of Marine Studies and is sponsored by the Lewes & Delaware 375th Anniversary Commission.
2006 September 15-17 – Sail Lewes 2006, the capstone of the 375th Anniversary celebrations, sets sail in Breakwater Harbor on Friday the 15th with the Kalmar Nyckel, Alliance, A.J. Meerwald, Virginia and Dove under a beautiful, breezy evening sky. The festival continued through the weekend.
2007 January 23 – A fire is detected by the Lewes Police Department early in the morning at Dodd’s Corner on Second Street, preventing a catastrophic loss. As is, nearly $500,000 of damage is done.
2007 March 26 – A fire destorys the Lewes Anglers Association building on the canal, then housing the Irish Eyes Restaurant. Starting around 3:00 AM, the fire engulfed the structure resulting in complete loss. A Lewes landmark since its construction in 1936, the building was well known for its distinctive red-neon “ANGLERS” sign over the canal.
2007 June 2 – Dedication ceremonies are held for the Canalfront Park.
2007 June 4 – Dedication ceremonies are held for the opening of the Lewes & Rehoboth bike trail that utilizes the railroad right of way through Cape Henlopen State Park between the two communities. State Senator Gary Simpson, DNREC Secretary John Hughes, Lewes Mayor Jim Ford and Rehoboth Mayor Sam Cooper are among the dignitaries in attendence. Talk of a bike trail linking the two communities had been discussed for nearly thirty years.
2007 October 6 – The first class of the Delaware Maritime Hall of Fame is inducted at ceremonies at the Lewes Yacht Club.
2008 April 9 – Beebe Medical Center dedicates the Joseph R. Hudson Wing. The wing expands the emergency department and provides more beds for the hospital. A new helipad is also located atop the structure.
2008 April 25 – The Board of Public Works dedicates the Howard A. Seymour Waste Water Treatment Facility on American Legion Road. The facility is named in memory of former BPW member Howard Seymour. Governor Ruth Ann Minner attended and made remarks.
2008 October 14 – The Lightship Overfalls was slowly towed from its muddy slip, made its way down the canal out to Delaware Bay, through the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal and down to the Colonna Shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia for hull repairs. The Overfalls Maritime Museum Foundation plans work on the slip while the vessel is away.
2008 October – The Cape Henlopen Motel, at the corner of Savannah and Anglers Roads, is demolished.
2008 November 27 – The Division of Natural Resources & Environmental Control (DNREC) opens the new Lewes Boat Ramp at the location of the old Doxsee Processing Facility at the foot of Pilottown Road near the mouth of the Broadkill River. The old boat ramp in town will make way for a village green, part of the Canalfront Park.
2008 December 15 – The Lewes Fire Department receives its new fire boat. It is a 44 foot, aluminum-hulled, 1,200-horsepower, jet-drive catamaran built by Moose Boats Inc., of Petaluma, Calif. Cost of the vessel was approximately $900,000. Before it arrived in Lewes it was on exhibit at the 2008 International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans.
2008 December 31 – Irish Eyes Restaurant is engulfed in smoke and fire as it begins to burn around 12:30 pm.
2009 June 7 – A stone monument is erected at Stango Park on Kings Highway in memory of the late Mayor Al Stango.
2009 August 1 – The first “Cape-to-Cape” sailing race is held between sailors from the Lewes Yacht Club and the Corinthian Yacht Club of Cape May, New Jersey. The race, which started from Cape May and ended in Lewes, was won by the Corinthian Yacht Club.
2009 November 19 – The City of Lewes hosts an open house for the newly renovated and expanded City Hall.
2009 – The College of Marine & Earth Science, formerly the College of Marine Studies is now known as the College of Earth, Ocean & Environment.
2009 December 26 – Lewes is the scene of national news as pediatrician Dr. Earl Bradley is arrested on charges that he sexually molested over 100 patients. Many news outlets, such as ABC News covered the story.
2010 February 5,6 & 10 – The Great Blizzard/s of 2010 pound Lewes and the Mid-Atlantic. Snow falls in Lewes and its countryside range from 15″ – 25″ in a 24 hour span with an additional 5″-10″ on the 10th. Cape Henlopen schools are closed for the entire week of February 8.
2010 June 11 – The University of Delaware’s College of Ocean, Earth & Environment dedicates its new wind turbine at its campus on Pilottown Road. The turbine is capable of powering the entire campus and can feed into the Lewes electical grid.
2010 October 2 – The City of Lewes dedicates the City Dock in memory of former Mayor Otis Smith.
2011 August 23 – At approximatley 1:50 pm an approximately 5.8 magnitude centered in Mineral, Virginia is felt from Ohio to Maine, including Lewes.
2011 August 27– Hurricane Irene stalls over the Delmarva peninsula but causes little damage. Tornados touch down west of Lewes causing damage at Tradewinds Estate and Nassau Station off of New Road outside of town.
2013 August 17 – Leonard Maull, who died in late 2012, orders by his will to release $10,000 in $20 and $50 bills over the Anglers Marina from a helicopter. Patrons at Irish Eyes in Lewes scavenged the canal banks with some gathering close to $200. The event garners national attention.
2013 October 5 – The Lewes Chamber of Commerce holds the last Lighted Boat Parade associated with Boast the Coast Weekend due to consistently low turnout. The 2013 parade had only four participating boats.
2013 October 29 – Beebe Medical Center announces it is changing its name to Beebe Healthcare at a program in Georgetown, Del.
2014 September 15 – A monument is dedicated in Zwaaendael Park to the memory of Lewes Police Officer Charles W. Futcher, Sr., who died in a high-speed chase on Savannah Road in 1939. At the time of the dedication, he was the only Lewes officer to die in the line of duty.
2014 December 10 – The Lewes Public Library breaks ground on a new $10.89 million facility at what will become Adams Avenue Extended. The project is expected to be complete in 18 months. Governor Jack Markell is in attendance makes remarks.
2014 December 19 – Legislation signed by President Barrack Obama elevates First State National Monument to First State National Historical Park and by doing so officially makes the Ryves Holt House a part of the Park. Senator Tom Carper comes to Lewes on December 30, 2014 with First State NHP Superintendent Russ Smith to make the announcement official.
2015 January 31 – A vote is held to consider annexation of the Highland Acres community (Sussex Drive) into the City of Lewes. It passes by the following margins: Lewes residents 298-53; Highland Acres residents: 61-32.
2015 February 28 – Heavy ice prohibits the Delaware Pilots from providing service to ships at the mouth of Delaware Bay. A launch is moved to the Indian River Coast Guard Station and a pilot sent from Indian River Inlet. It is the only time in memory that a pilot has been sent from Indian River.
2016 January 23 – Winterstorm “Jonas” pounds the Mid-Atlantic with heavy snow, up to two feet in Washington, DC, but while Lewes sees only a few inches of snow, coastal flooding exceeds that brought by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. See Washington Post for details: undefined
2016 June 23 – The new Lewes Public Library building (111 Adams Avenue) is formally dedicated and opened to the public after a week-long soft-opening. Governor Jack Markell and other dignitaries make remarks. The former library building, now addressed as the Margaret H. Rollins Community Center (and marked as 101 Adams Avenue) will become a new site of The Lewes Historical Society.
2017 May 29 – The American Legion Post 17 hosted a parade in honor of Memorial Day for the first time in many years.