Civilian Conservation Corps

Allee House

The Allee House at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge stands today, as it did in the eighteenth century, overlooking the fields and marshes of Kent County. It is one

of the most handsome and best preserved examples of an

early brick farmhouse in Delaware.

The Allee House was built about 1753 by Abraham Allee,

the son of John Allee, a Huguenot refugee from Artois,

France.

Abraham Allee served as a member of the Assembly in

1726, was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1738, and

was Chief Ranger for the county in 1749.

A Brief Histor A Brief Histor A Brief History of Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge ildlife Refuge ildlife Refuge

Early Settlement

Known to the Native Americans as Canaresse, meaning

"at the thickets," and later referred to as Ruyge-Bosje,

meaning "shaggy bushes" or thicket, Bombay Hook received its final name from the corruption of the Dutch

"Bompies" or "Bompies Hoeck" meaning "little-tree point."

In 1679 Mechacksett, chief of Kahansink sold Bombay

Hook wetlands to Peter Bayard, an early Dutch settler.

The price for the area was 1 gun, 4 handfuls of powder, 3

waistcoats, 1 anchor of liquor and 1 kettle.

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge was established

March 16, 1937 as a resting and feeding area for migratory and wintering waterfowl. The Refuge was purchased

from local land owners with federal duck stamp funds.

Today the Refuge totals 15,978 acres.

Civilian Conservation Corps

On April 1, 1938, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

based at Leipsic started work on the refuge. The CCC

constructed dikes, buildings, water control structures and

impoundments. The CCC built Raymond Pool, removed

timber from Shearness and Finis swamps, transplanted

300 ash trees, built a 99 foot look-out tower and a boat

house, ran ditches for mosquito control, and conducted

various wildlife surveys. The camp ended March 18,

1942. Nationally, the CCC built facilities at many of the

refuges and parks across the country.
Allee House

The Allee House features fine brickwork laid in Flemish

bond with a few glazed header bricks. The interior of the

house is distinguished by the handsome wood paneling of

the parlor. The cornice in this room has a dentil course

that is particularly well formed, and the splendid panels of

the chimney breast are joined on either side by two striking recessed, arched china closets. These closets have

paneled doors and graduated butterfly shelves against a

barrel back with a fluted center post.

Port Mahon Lighthouse

Port Mahon, located at the southern boundary of the

Refuge was named after the capital of the Spanish Island

of Minorca. Built about 1890, Port Mahon included a

blacksmith shop and a general store and was once the

center of port activity in the Little Creek area.

The lighthouse was built in 1903 and the lighthouse keeper

tended the kerosene lamps faithfully. General supplies

were brought in yearly when carts were able to carry them

over the marsh-lined dirt road from Little Creek. All of

the light station, with the exception of the support pilings,

was destroyed by fire in 1984.

Bombay Hook Lighthouse

The Bombay Hook Lighthouse was constructed by the

U.S. Government in 1829. In 1830, former Delaware

Governor Jacob Stout, laid out the road between Bombay

Hook Lighthouse and Smyrna. In 1831, President Andrew Jackson and his Secretary of Treasury, Louis

McLane appointed Duncan Stewart as the Bombay Hook

Lighthouse Keeper. In 1850, Duncan's daughter, Margaret Stewart, was appointed to her father's position.

Bombay Hook Lighthouse

In September of 1912, the lighthouse was "discontinued"

and an unmanned light was installed at Smyrna Range

Light. In the early 1970's vandals burned the abandoned

structure.

Occupations

Many of the families in the region were farmers who enjoyed the rich soil of the area. From the earliest times, the

settlers cut sizable amounts of salt hay from Bombay Hook.

Salt hay was marketed as livestock fodder in Delaware

and New Jersey. This practice continued into the 20th

Century.

Port Mahon Lighthouse

2
Settlers also trapped muskrat and hunted waterfowl. Fish,

crabs, and oysters were plentiful. Many of the local residents today still farm, trap muskrats, fish, and hunt waterfowl.

Natural History

While the refuge is home and stopping place for a wide

variety of birds, mammals, and reptiles, the most popularly recognized species utilizing the refuge are eagles, deer,

and vast flocks of migrating waterfowl and shorebirds.

Eagles

Eagles have been a documented nesting species

throughout the history of the refuge. During the 61 year

period from 1937-1998 there have been 19 successful

nests with 28 eaglets fledged. There were 11 years

when eagles did not attempt to nest. Nesting data from

four years is incomplete and hatching data is also missing

from three years. During all other years eagles attempted to nest, but were unsuccessful at either hatching

eggs or rearing their young. (See chart this page -

Bombay Hook - Number of Eaglets Fledged)

In the years of 1949, 50,

and 54, two nests were

present on the refuge. In

1982 an eaglet was

placed in the nest but was

rejected by the nesting

pair. In 1986 an undiagnosed type of toxin adversely affected the nesting pair. One eagle disappeared, and one was

successfully rehabilitated.

A second pair established territory on the refuge at approximately the same time but did not attempt to nest. In

1987 this pair successfully hatched and fledged two young,

the first production of two eaglets at Bombay Hook since

1976.

There was a noticeable absence of eagles on the refuge

during 1942-1945. This can be explained by the presence of military activity on the refuge during that period.

Beginning in the 1950's pesticides, e.g. DDT, had begun to

be used in the general vicinity of the refuge and on the refuge. A noticeable decrease in hatching success was seen,

beginning in the mid 1950's and continuing through the

1970's. Egg shell fragments collected from unsuccessful

nests in the 1970's confirmed that there was a thinning of

the shell and that DDT residues were present.

 Bombay Hook - Number of Eaglets Fledged

 0 1 2 3 4

 Year

01234

 Number of Eaglets Fledged

? - Data missing or incomplete.

Note: For years not listed, nesting eagles were

unsuccessful.

1938

1939

1940

1941

1942 did not nest

1943 did not nest

1944 did not nest

1945 did not nest

1946

1947 ?

1948 did not nest

1951 did not nest

1952 ?

1953 ?

1954

1955

1956 ?

1959 ?

1960 ?

1961 ?

1962 did not nest

1964 did not nest

1965 did not nest

1970

1976

1979

1983

1984

1986 did not nest

1987

1988

1992

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998 did not nest

1999 did not nest

2000 did not nest

3 Continued on page 6
Continued from page 3

Deer

The first record of deer on the Refuge was in 1941 when the herd consisted of four individuals. The deer

population built up to 45 animals by

1947. By 1948, the first complaints

of deer damage came from farmers

adjacent to refuge lands.

The first refuge shotgun deer hunt

was held during the 1953 statewide

deer hunting season. Of the 120

animals on the refuge, 56 were

taken. During the first archery season in 1955, 8 deer were harvested.

By 1970 the deer herd had expanded to 150 animals, and

in 1972 the first primitive weapon deer season was held.

Gradual increases in the deer herd throughout the 1980's

resulted in a healthy herd estimated at about 225-250 animals, and by 2000, over 500 deer.

Canada and Snow Geese

During the early 1940's waterfowl usage of the refuge was

very low due to the necessity of using three sections of the

refuge for aerial bombardment testing during the war effort. By 1957 refuge cropland management programs and

changes in agricultural patterns of the Delmarva Peninsula

resulted in an increase to 15,000 Canada geese and 5,000

 200,000

-

 180,000

-

 160,000

-

 140,000

-

 120,000

-

 100,000

-

 80,000

-

 60,000

-

 40,000

-

 20,000

-

 0

 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

 Years 1977/78 - 1999/00 -- The season is October through March

During the 1980's and the 1990's the increase in snow goose

usage of Bombay Hook was phenomenal. Snow goose

peak numbers have spiraled upward from 5,500 in the 1978/

79 season to 20,500 in the 1979/80, 46,235 in 1984/85

and to 198,000 in the 1997/98 season. The large rises in

snow goose populations at Bombay Hook has resulted in

certain management problems. The snow goose does not

graze like the Canada goose but rather pulls the saltmarsh

grasses out by the roots; resulting in a large area of marsh

becoming a tidal mudflat instead of the buffering estuarine

salt marsh it once was.

Beginning in 1983, a limited snow goose hunting program

was initiated by refuge personnel in an attempt to disperse

the concentrations of snow geese from the salt marsh. This

management technique proved successful, significantly reducing the amount of grazing damage the birds inflicted on

the fragile salt marsh habitat, and continues to be used during the fall and winter months. The incredible snow goose

numbers attracted the attention of National Geographic's

"Explorer" and in October 1986, film crews broadcast live

from the refuge amidst a tremendous storm of landing snow

geese. The 1990's have seen even a sharper increase in the

numbers of snow geese that migrate through or winter in the

Delmarva area. In 1997, the high count of snow geese at

Bombay Hook was 198,000.

Canada Geese

Snow Geese

snow geese. Throughout the 1960's, snow goose peaks

averaged around 3,000 to 4,000. In 1977 Canada geese

peaked at 69,000 while snow goose populations remained

stable.

6

Canada and Snow Goose Populations at Bombay Hook
During the late 1970's and early 1980's peak duck populations on the refuge declined, reflecting the lowered continental populations due to loss of wetlands. In the season of 1977/78, ducks peaked at about 38,000, while in

1980/81 they peaked at 24,800. From 1981 to 1984

duck populations decreased to a low of about 13,800.

Duck numbers on the refuge rebounded beginning in 1985

due to initiation of intensive management of the impoundments and resulting abundance of food plants. The 1996/

97 season saw a peak population about 76,521 ducks.

PEAK NUMBER

OF DUCKS

BOMBAY HOOK

DUCK POPULATIONS

1977-2000

SEASON

OCTOBER - MARCH MONTH

January

January

February

December

February

November

November

December

October

November

November

November

October

November

December

November

December

December

November

December

December

November

November

37,970

26,254

16,315

24,799

15,797

12,700

13,749

25,160

23,713

16,752

16,347

29,500

22,550

26,157

20,500

25,700

26,912

76,676

36,876

76,521

25,468

25,935

24,530

1977-1978

1978-1979

1979-1980

1980-1981

1981-1982

1982-1983

1983-1984

1984-1985

1985-1986

1986-1987

1987-1988

1988-1989

1989-1990

1990-1991

1991-1992

1992-1993

1993-1994

1994-1995

1995-1996

1996-1997

1997-1998

1998-1999

1999-2000

Ducks

The duck population of Bombay Hook in 1939 was recorded at 10,000, mostly Black ducks. A series of impoundments, totalling 1,100 acres, were constructed between 1939 and 1961 to provide a diversity of habitat for

waterfowl. Rice was cultivated on the refuge during the

1950's to also encourage waterfowl usage. Records of

1952 document an overall increase in Black duck usage

to about 70 birds per square mile of refuge. In 1953

Black duck/Mallard hybridization was noted as increasing.

7
Shorebirds and

Horseshoe Crabs

Its location on the Delaware Bay gives Bombay Hook

the ideal opportunity to provide major resting and feeding

grounds for hundreds of thousands of migrating shorebirds. The annual shorebird flight from wintering grounds

in South America to their nesting grounds above the Artic

Circle, coincide precisely with the egg-laying activities of

horseshoe crabs along the bay shores.

Each year in May, the crabs lay their small, green eggs at

the shallow water's edge. Migrating shorebirds, particulary

Ruddy turnstones, Red knots, Dowitchers, Dunlins, and

semi-palmated Sandpipers take advantage of this source

of protein, concentrating along the shore of Delaware Bay

in numbers not seen anywhere else on the East Coast.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Bombay Hook is one of over 500 refuges in the National

Wildlife Refuge System administered by the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is

a network of lands and waters managed specifically for

the protection of wildlife and wildlife habitat and represents the most comprehensive wildlife management program in the world. Units of the system stretch across the

United States from Alaska to the Florida Keys and include small islands in the Caribbean and South Pacific.

The character of the refuges is as diverse as the nation

itself.

The Service also manages National Fish Hatcheries, and

provides Federal leadership in habitat protection, fish and

wildlife research, technical assistance and the conservation and protection of migratory birds, certain marine

mammals and threatened and endangered species.

For further information, contact:

Refuge Manager

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

2591 Whitehall Neck Road

Smyrna, DE 19977

Office: (302) 653-9345

Visitor Center: (302) 653-6872

Hearing impaired may call the Delaware Relay Center at

1-800-232-5460 TDD/ 1-800-232-5470 voice.

Graphics by Bob Jones, Karen Boylan, and USFWS.

Allee House by Eileen Doran.

Bombay Hook Lighthouse by Hometown Collectibles.

Port Mahon Lighthouse and CCC Refuge's photo archives.

Conclusion

The history of the Bombay Hook area provides us with

an appreciation of how people, land resources, and wildlife have co-existed and collectively shaped the current

surroundings. Although the recorded events span a period of over 300 years, it only represents a snapshot in

the earth's history. Conservation of our natural resources

will help preserve the area as we know it today, provide

habitat for wildlife in the future, and provide natural resources for future generations.

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

8
1679 - Chief

Machackett

sold Canaresse,

meaning "at the

thickets," to

Dutch settler,

Peter Bayard.

Bompies Hoeck,

meaning "littletree point," has

evolved to the

current name of

Bombay Hook.

1878 - A severe storm referred to by local residents as the

"great tidal-wave" destroyed summer resorts on Collins and

Fraland Beach. The storm changed the biological make-up

of Bombay Hook. Prior to 1878, the inner marshes were

protected from storms and high tides by the dunes and

banks fronting the bay. These dunes were breached by the

storm and were never repaired, the effects of which are

evident to this day.

1753 - The Allee

House, located on

the refuge, was built

by Abraham Allee,

a Huguenot refugee

from Artois,

France.

1848 - A hotel was

built on Bombay

Hook Island and the

island became a

popular resort area.

1831 - Bombay

Hook Lighthouse (aka

Smyrna River

Lighthouse) was

built by the US

Government.

1682 - A canal was

built from Smyrna to

the bay; this waterway became the

Smyrna River.

1870 - The

steamer,

PILOT BOY,

made regular

trips between

Bombay

Hook and

Philadelphia.

1912 - The BH

lighthouse was

"discontinued"

and an unmanned

light was installed. Vandals

burned the abandoned structure

in the early

1970's.

1920-1930's -

4 -5 million

horseshoe crabs

were harvested

on the Delaware

Bay.

BOMBAY HOOK

TIMELINE
1938 - The

Civilian Conservation Corps

constructed

dikes, buildings,

water control

structures and

impoundments.

They built

Raymond Pool,

removed timber,

transplanted ash

trees, ran ditches

for mosquito

control, and built

a 99' tower. The

camp ended in

1942.

1937 - Bombay Hook

National Wildlife Refuge

was established as a

resting and feeding area

for migratory and wintering waterfowl. The

property contained

12,000 acres and was

purchased with Duck

Stamp funds.

1941-1945 - The refuge was used by the

U.S. Army Air Force: A

tower was used to

locate a radio direction

finder, part of the refuge

was used as a ground

gunnery range, and

research on aerial rockets was conducted on

the refuge.

1980 - Atlantic

Beaked Whale

beached at

Bombay Hook.

1990 - Federal,

State, and private

organizations

joined together

to determine the

status of the

horseshoe crabs.

Volunteers continue to survey

the Delaware Bay

during peak

spawning season

in May and June.

1986 - Bombay

Hook represented

the US in "World

Safari" a satellite

program by National

Geographic, BBC,

and Turner Broadcasting. BH was

selected because of

its high concentration

of snow geese.

1993 - Bombay

Hook NWR

acquired Steamboat Landing,

increasing the

acreage to

15,978.

1999 - Volunteers won the Governor's

Outstanding Volunteers Award. Volunteers have donated over 34,100 hours

of hard work since 1983. The

"Friends of BH" has donated over

$55,590.00 to environmental education

and interpretive brochures since 1990.

1934 -

Migratory

Bird Conservation

Act passed.

Later

Bombay

Hook was

purchased

with this

funding.

2000 - 10 Years of Horseshoe Crab

Surveys result in tighter restrictions on the

harvesting of Horseshoe Crabs.

BOMBAY HOOK

TIMELINE