Milford chronicle., 1959-08-28
The Lighthouse At
Fenwick 100 Years Old

Observance of the Tooth year of
operation of lighthouse at Della
wares southeastern extremity has
served to focus attention upon
little publicized but growing Fen
wick Island, notes the Delaware
State Development Department.
While there are no special activ-
tiles planned to mark the Cen
tennial of the Fenwick Island
Lighthouse" the editor of the Del
marva News a weekly newspaper
published at nearby Selbyville,
thought the event significant
enough to publish special sup
plement, which, incidentally, has
added much to their readers know
ledge of the Lighthouse and the
Fenwick Island community. Gov
ernor j. Caleb Boggs also made
note of the passing of another mile
stone in the areas history by is
suing a special message commend
ing the services to navigation rend-
cred by the Lighthouse and by the
citizens of Fenwjck Island.
Located on a low, scrub-covered
dune about One-third mile inland
from the ocean, the Fenwick Is
land Lighthouse still guides voy-
ayers just as it has for the past 100
years. A favorite Photographic sub
ject, it has appeared in many a
tourists album and also in many
publications.
Because of the numerous ship
wrecks that, since early Colonial
times, had occurred in the area, the
u. S. Government began construc-
ton of the Lighthouse in 1857 with
the finished structure beaming its
light oceanward for the first time
on August /, 1859. Construction
cost was $23,784
During it's earlier years, light
was provided by a large lamp that
burned whale oil. In more recent
years, lighting has, of course, been
provided by electrical means with
two motors providing the necessary
current.
Despite its name, Fenwick Island
is not an island but instead is part
of a narrow 12-mile-long sandy
peninsula with bays and creeks
separating it from the mainland
on the west and with the Atlantic
Ocean forming it's eastern bound
ary. Several inlets, some created by
Nature but all since filled in,
served to make an island of the
area long ago; this combined with
Fenwick, name of its original own
er, is the basis for the now some
what erroneous name.
Today's .Fenwick Island, a thriv-
ing resort, bears little resemblance
to the earlier Fenwick Island
which had few inhabitants and was,
at times barely accessible. In these
earlier days, pirates. ravaged the
coast and this, together with its
remoteness and rugged appearance
hardly served to attract many pros
pective settlers. The few hearty
souls inhabiting the sandy, water
locked coastal strip raised some
cattle but mostly depended upon
the sea for their existence, supple
menting largely seafood diet with
flour, sugar and other necessities
purchased on the mainland; these
staples were, according to local le-
gend, often paid for with coins that
had been washed up on the beaches
from old wrecks off the coast.
Initially called Cape Henlopen
Ga name now borne by a true cape,
some twenty miles to the north,
that marks the entrance to Della
ware Bay, Fenwick Island strad-
died the lower line of William
Penn's grant; this boundary, how
ever, was disputed by the Calverts
of Maryland until 1750-51, when
surveyors ran a straight line from
cape westward to a point midway
of the Delaware Peninsula (near
present day Delmar) thereby form
ing present day Delaware's south
ern boundary. CA stone marker, set
in 1851 and bearing the coats-of-
arms of the Calverts and of the
Penns may still be seen adjacent
to the fence surrounding the Light
house). In late 1868, Charles Mason
and jeremiah Dixon surveyed from
the mid-peninsula point northward
to Pennsylvania, creating what is
now Delaware's western boundary.
At first only a few scattered
houses marked the site of today's
Fenwick Island. To those were add
ed dwellings for lighthouse per-
sonnel after construction of the
Lighthouse. Then, in 1898, Camp
Meeting founded near the Light