Lewes: The First Town in the First State
Lewes dates its founding to 1631, when a group of Dutch settlers from Hoorn established a whaling outpost called Zwaanendael on the western shore of Delaware Bay. The colony was destroyed within a year by a conflict with the local Lenape population, and the site sat largely abandoned until the 1680s, when William Penn claimed it for the English colony of Pennsylvania. The town takes its name from Lewes, Sussex, in southeastern England. The Zwaanendael Museum on Kings Highway, built in 1931 to commemorate the tricentennial of the Dutch settlement, recreates the facade of the town hall in Hoorn.
The town sits at the mouth of Delaware Bay, directly across from Cape May, New Jersey. The Cape May-Lewes Ferry, a service of the Delaware River and Bay Authority, runs roughly a dozen daily sailings across the bay during peak season. The 17-mile crossing shortens the drive between the mid-Atlantic coast and the New Jersey shore by several hours and carries both vehicles and foot passengers.
Cape Henlopen State Park, on the peninsula just north and east of town, occupies former Fort Miles, a coastal defense installation built in the 1940s to protect Delaware Bay during World War II. Several of the original fire-control towers still stand along the dunes, and the Fort Miles Historical Area interprets the bunker complex. The park includes more than six miles of Atlantic beach and some of the tallest dunes in the mid-Atlantic.
Lewes retains a walkable downtown along Second Street, with buildings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries housing independent shops, restaurants, and inns. The Lewes Historical Society operates a campus of restored buildings, including the 1738 Ryves Holt House, considered the oldest surviving house in Delaware. Year-round population hovers near 3,000, but summer swells the town as visitors base themselves here rather than in the more crowded beach resorts to the south.
Escortservice.com maintains a reviewed directory of escort websites operating in the coastal Sussex County area, including Lewes. The site catalogs listings only. It does not schedule meetings, verify licensing, or function as an intermediary between any parties. Access is restricted to visitors 21 and older.
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Lewes dates its founding to 1631, when a group of Dutch settlers from Hoorn established a whaling outpost called Zwaanendael on the western shore of Delaware Bay. The colony was destroyed within a year by a conflict with the local Lenape population, and the site sat largely abandoned until the 1680s, when William Penn claimed it for the English colony of Pennsylvania. The town takes its name from Lewes, Sussex, in southeastern England. The Zwaanendael Museum on Kings Highway, built in 1931 to commemorate the tricentennial of the Dutch settlement, recreates the facade of the town hall in Hoorn.
The town sits at the mouth of Delaware Bay, directly across from Cape May, New Jersey. The Cape May-Lewes Ferry, a service of the Delaware River and Bay Authority, runs roughly a dozen daily sailings across the bay during peak season. The 17-mile crossing shortens the drive between the mid-Atlantic coast and the New Jersey shore by several hours and carries both vehicles and foot passengers.
Cape Henlopen State Park, on the peninsula just north and east of town, occupies former Fort Miles, a coastal defense installation built in the 1940s to protect Delaware Bay during World War II. Several of the original fire-control towers still stand along the dunes, and the Fort Miles Historical Area interprets the bunker complex. The park includes more than six miles of Atlantic beach and some of the tallest dunes in the mid-Atlantic.
Lewes retains a walkable downtown along Second Street, with buildings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries housing independent shops, restaurants, and inns. The Lewes Historical Society operates a campus of restored buildings, including the 1738 Ryves Holt House, considered the oldest surviving house in Delaware. Year-round population hovers near 3,000, but summer swells the town as visitors base themselves here rather than in the more crowded beach resorts to the south.
Escortservice.com maintains a reviewed directory of escort websites operating in the coastal Sussex County area, including Lewes. The site catalogs listings only. It does not schedule meetings, verify licensing, or function as an intermediary between any parties. Access is restricted to visitors 21 and older.
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