page_title: Bethany Beach, Delaware
section_title: The financial crisis of 1902–1903
hierarchical_section_title: Bethany Beach, Delaware / History / The financial crisis of 1902–1903
caption_attribution_description: English: Bethany Beach sometime between the completion of its original, surface-level boardwalk in 1903 and the destruction of that boardwalk by a storm in 1920.
context_page_description: Bethany Beach is an incorporated town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 Census Bureau figures, the population of the town is 1,060; however, during the summer months some 15,000 more populate the town as vacationers. It is part of the Salisbury, MD-DE Metropolitan Statistical Area.
  Bethany Beach, South Bethany and Fenwick Island are popularly known as "The Quiet Resorts". Assisting Bethany Beach's reputation as a "quiet" place is the presence of Delaware Seashore State Park immediately to the north of the town.
  Despite its small size, Bethany Beach contains the usual attractions of a summer seaside resort, including the short Joseph Olson Boardwalk, a broad, sandy beach, motels, restaurants, and vacation homes. Because Bethany Beach does not sit on a barrier island, residential areas continue some distance to the west of the town's limits.
context_section_description: Bethany Beach soon encountered financial problems which threatened to bring the planned town to an end almost before it could begin. Bankers in Georgetown, Delaware, hesitated to loan money for the development of Bethany Beach because they had lost money on the development of Rehoboth Beach to the north. Without sufficient financial backing, the Bethany Beach Improvement Company was unable to act on its plans, and little development occurred in Bethany Beach; basic services were lacking, construction stalled, work on the hoped-for railroad never began, and there was little agreement on how to address the new community's problems. In May 1902 the Christian Missionary Society withdrew its endorsement of Bethany Beach.
  Twenty-three landowners, mostly from the Pittsburgh area, concerned that the value of their Bethany Beach lots would drop, selected a committee to address the situation. The committee studied the problem, communicated with the Christian Missionary Society, and in September 1902 organized a meeting in Washington, D.C., which led to lengthy negotiations about putting Bethany Beach on a firm financial footing.  The negotiations dragged on until 1903, when six Pittsburgh-area investors agreed to buy all of the Bethany Beach Improvement Company's stock, selling three shares to a Delaware resident so that there would be at least some local ownership. This put the company on a firm financial footing and allowed the development of Bethany Beach to resume.
  The Christian Missionary Society eventually restored its endorsement of Bethany Beach, and summer programs modeled on the Chatauqua movement began in the town, meeting with modest success. Soon, the Bethany Beach Improvement Company dug a well to provide the town with fresh water. In 1903, the company completed the Tabernacle and built a surface-level boardwalk along the beach.
caption: A view looking north of the original, surface-level boardwalk at Bethany Beach that was completed in 1903. It was destroyed by a storm in 1920.[42]
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