Smyrna times., 1904-02-17
LAST REMAINING VESTIGE
COLLINS BEACH REMOVED
ONCE POPULAR RESORT OF SMYRNA AND
VICINITY A THING OF THE PAST.
Old Forty room Hotel Weather Beaten and De.
Cayed. Being Torn Down and Removed to
Woodland Beach to be Used as Lumber.

UI0 FOIly -tOOm HOleI WedtneT Deaten ana De-
cayed, Being Torn Down and Removed to
Woodland Beach to be Used as Lumber.
THoROUGHFARE NECK, Feb. 16.-The
well-known landmark at Collins Beach
the only remaining relic of this once
famous resort, the old hotel, will soon
be thing of the past, as it is being
torn down and will be transported by
means of lighters to Woodland Beach,
where it will be used in repairing the
hotel there and IN building summer
cottages. The work of destruction
was begun last Wednesday and will
be completed in about two weeks.
The lumber is in a good state of pres
ervation, in fact the inside work such
as the turned bannisters, stair cases,
lath, etc., are as good as new. A great
number of bricks and stone will be
gotten out of the several chimneys and
the huge cistern under the kitchen.
This large fOur-story building, con-
tanning over forty rooms, has been
abandoned for several years, with the
exception of occasional campers, and
the surrounding grounds are thickly
covered with trees and bushes which
almost obscure the building, making
it impossible to get a photograph of
the front view. Many of the doors,
windows, and anything movable have
been carried away by unscrupulous
persons, and the present owner, Mr..
James r. Mott, proprietor of Wood
Iona Beach, decided that the only way
to save his property was to move it
away. Mr.. Mott purchased the Col
Inns Beach property nine years or
more ago, the consideration being
S1,1OO. Beside the hotel the deed calls
for forty acres of land.
Swept by Disastrous Tidal Wave Of 1876.
The hotel was built in the year
1850 by Mr.. George Collins, who
it is said spent over fifty thousand
dollars on it and the surrounding
grounds, which were popular resort
until the tidal wave of 1876, which
washed away the road, cutting off
communications with the main land.
Since that time as a pleasure resort it
gradually went down until it was to-
tally abandoned, Mr.. Frank Rothwell
being the last proprietor, about five
years ago. The grounds were always
expensive to keep up. Tons of stone
have been filled IN IN front of the no
tel to keep the Delaware Bay from
trespassing beyond her bounds. All
that remains of the piers and pavilions
of the palmy days of Collins Beach are
few old piles twisted out of shape by
the storms of years. The hard sandy
beach made this a pleasant and pop
ular watering place, but when one
views the miniature ice bergs and the
ice packs lodged against the old pier
pilings at present, this part Of the old
resort, the former bathing places, has
little attraction. There is only one
way of reaching the hotel by land at
present and that is by the road from
Taylor's Bridge down to what is known
as 1.-The Meadows" " and following the
old dyke, which is thickly covered
with brush, on foot as far as possible,
and thence by following the sandy
beach. This dyke or bank over a mile
in length was built by the National
Dredging Company some years ago,
and over one thousand acres of valu-
able farming land was wrested from
the marsh land. The tidal wave. how.
ever, broke down part of the bank,
which has never been repaired, and
Nature again shows her supremacy
over mans feeble works, and where
broad fields of grain and hay once
grew the tide now ebbs and flows Ovel
mireY muskrat marsh.
Thousands of Dollars Went to Waste.
Beyond doubt thers is no other place
In Delaware where so much money has
been spent on property that Is as
worthless as the present Collins Beacl
and the surrounding marsh land
Here side by side are two financial
ventures that proved a failure ant
there is an air of abandonment and
desolation that suggests how unceas
ing the efforts of man must be to keel
his works from succumbing to the de
struction of the elements.