The History Press

Learn about efforts underway to save the historic and environmentally important Fourth Street Preserve.

IIn 1670, the first officially deeded land in Lewes was granted by the Duke of York to the town’s earliest settler, Helmanias Wiltbanck—30 of the original 104 acres of Wiltbanck’s beloved preserve remain pristine and undeveloped today, right in the heart of Lewes. Three families owned this land for 312 of the past 355 years. Their tales involve attacks by pirate ships and the British, death and survival during the “fever years” and a prominent but forgotten judge who helped write the original Delaware Constitution and fund its Revolutionary War troops.

Local author and preservation leader Michael Rawl tells these stories and unfolds the long history of this piece of the heart of Lewes.

“Delaware will be written on my heart.”

In 1972, a young Delaware attorney made an audacious bet, challenging the state's most formidable politician in a race for the US Senate. Joe Biden won that election at age twenty-nine, but weeks later, his wife and daughter died in a car crash that also injured his two sons. This is the story of Delaware’s preeminent political leader, his family and their journey over the decades since. From the Charcoal Pit to the Hotel DuPont, St. Joseph’s on the Brandywine to the Wilmington train station, these tales reveal Joe Biden’s deep roots in Delaware and how they helped carry him to the White House.

Author Dan Shortridge examines Biden family lore and traces the history of the institutions that shaped their lives and the First State.

Uncanny stories, local legends and ghostly encounters from the First State.

Delaware may be small, but every corner of it is filled with strange and unusual history. Horrifying tales of ghosts haunt places both old and new. The Castle contains many stories of mysterious specters, but the mystery of the house’s first owners is the truly creepy tale. The legend of the Devil’s Road, called a myth by some, will chill your bones and make your spine tingle. In a state so close to the sea, stories of murder and mayhem include tales of piracy and maybe even cannibalism.

Delaware native and paranormal historian Josh Hitchens invites you to join him on a journey through the spooky side of the First State.

Discover the stories of two legendary leaders of the Revolutionary War

Robert Kirkwood and Peter Jaquett were close contemporaries and comrades in the Delaware Continental Regiment during the Revolutionary War. Battle buddies who relied upon one another on and off the field, they led their respective companies through 32 battles over almost eight years of war. They endured difficulties and hardships and exercised daring and initiative on the path to victory. Under their leadership, the Delaware Regiment gained a lasting reputation for punching far above its weight.

Local author Kennard R. Wiggins tells the stories of the daily lives of these two men and their soldiers in the field.

Former Delaware journalists Rachel Kipp and Dan Shortridge document the past, present, and sometimes the future of Delaware’s landmarks and legends.

Originally part of Pennsylvania and called “the three lower counties on the Delaware,” the First State’s present has been shaped by both colonial culture and modern industry. Many landmarks of its past, including the Greenbaum Cannery, the Rosedale Beach Hotel, the Nanticoke Queen restaurant, the Ross Point School and the Kahunaville nightclub now live solely in memory. The tales of airplanes and auto plants, breweries and bridges, cows and churches provide insight into the state’s many communities, including its Black heritage. Read about fallen hospitals, long-ago lighthouses, crumbling mansions, demolished prisons and theaters that no longer hold shows.

From the beginning of World War II, Delaware’s movie theaters played a starring role in the state’s war effort. Delaware and every town in it – from Claymont to Delmar – did its part to support the war. From base theaters to opera houses to movie palaces, Delaware’s theaters sold hundreds of millions of dollars in war bonds. They served as WAAC recruiting stations. They were collection points for resource drives. They screened countless newsreels and documentaries about every aspect of the war. And they hosted the likes of Fay Wray, Gene Lockhart, Gail Patrick, Paulette Goddard, and other Hollywood stars who came to the state to keep morale high, support strong, and dollars flowing. /Author Michael J. Nazarewycz recounts how the First State, the Greatest Generation, and the Dream Factory joined forces when America’s forces needed them most.

Daring raids, sporadic gun fights, and midnight chases filled the headlines in 1920s Delaware.

Prohibition attempted to kill John Barleycorn, the personification of intoxicating drinks, but in Delaware the notice of his death was premature. Government agents tried in vain to stop bootleggers and rumrunners who fed the speakeasies that quenched the thirst of the people of the First State. Against the backdrop of the Roaring '20s, bootleggers sped up and down the new Du Pont Boulevard while enforcement agents, such as the bible-thumping Three Gun Wilson, tried in vain to stop them. The stock market crash and the Great Depression ended dry laws and brought about Barleycorn's resurrection.

Local author and historian Michael Morgan recounts dramatic tales of rumrunners, bootleggers, dry laws and wet politicians.

From the opera house and movie palace to the modern multiplex, the big screens in Delaware have been delighting moviegoers for more than a century.

Hollywood legend Cary Grant visited the Playhouse Theater in 1955, fondly recalling his days on its stage as a child actor. Clint Eastwood came to Wilmington for a secret test screening of his film The Gauntlet at the Branmar Cinema. The groundbreaking history of Star Wars includes a Delaware theater that was one of only forty-five in the country to open the film. Author Michael J. Nazarewycz recounts the cinematic history of Delaware’s grand movie theaters.

The disappearance of Horace Marvin, Jr. became a national sensation.

In early March 1907, young Horace, just a few weeks shy of his fourth birthday, was playing in the yard of his father's new farm in a sparsely populated area near Dover, Delaware. The family had just moved from Iowa and this was the first day Horace had to explore their new home. In the farmyard with Horace were his brother John and cousin Rose, all visible to neighbors helping the previous owner move off the farm. Then Horace disappeared without a trace. Within two weeks this heartbreaking event was being reported to hundreds of other families in newspapers across the country and around the world.

Horace's disappearance would be the most publicized missing child story until the Lindbergh kidnapping exactly twenty-five years later. Local author Brian G. Cannon tells the full story of this tragedy for the first time.

On the first of September 1785, with night coming on and the weather deteriorating, the crew of the shipFaithful Stewardsailed toward Delaware’s notorious False Cape.

In the summer of 1785, a group of Irish migrants took to the Atlantic to escape the abuse and persecution of the ruling classes at home. They sought a new life in the United States, a place “where the banner of freedom waved proudly” and “every good was possessed.” Their ship was new and sturdy, and its captain had a good reputation. On this voyage, however, it was overloaded with migrant families and a massive cargo of counterfeit coins. By the first of September the ship was lost, somewhere off the mid-Atlantic coast. Michael Timothy Dougherty tells the story of the wreck and the people on board.

Read the stories of freedom seekers as they passed through Delaware in the decades before the Civil War.

Countless men and women traveled to freedom on an informal network of back roads and friendly houses that comprised the Delaware Underground Railroad. Traveling at night and guided by the North Star, Harriet Tubman journeyed through the First State on her initial escape from enslavement, and she heroically retuned here more than ten times to lead others out of the prison of slavery. Frederick Douglass, the eloquent spokesman for abolition, traveled the Delaware Underground Railroad on his escape from bondage. Often assisted by the Quaker businessman Thomas Garrett, these freedom seekers blazed an unmatched trail of cunning and bravery.

Local author Michael Morgan tells the remarkable story of this dark and neglected chapter in Delaware history.

Journey to the coast with Michael Morgan as he looks back at the area's most deadly storms.

Coastal Delaware, Maryland and Virginia have always been vulnerable to the power of storms. In the early nineteenth century, storm-driven shipwrecks led to the construction of the Delaware breakwater. In 1933, a storm created an inlet on the south edge of Ocean City and changed the character of the Maryland resort. The Ash Wednesday nor'easter of 1962 devastated oceanfront communities, led to the creation of beach replenishment projects that pushed the ocean back from the new multimillion-dollar buildings that sat on the sand and spurred the creation of Assateague Island National Seashore. Michael Morgan narrates the stories of these storms and reminds us of the power of wind and water.

Sit back and buckle up for a fast-paced thrill ride into Delaware's rich racing history!

The earliest Delaware drivers raced on dusty tracks carved into a farmer’s field. Characters like Johnny Martin and Paul Walker helped establish racing in the state shortly after World War II. The latest generation races at the famed Georgetown Speedway and Delaware International Speedway, and drivers, owners and promoters like Ricky Elliott, Curt Michael and Brett Deyo make racing the thriving sport it is today. Through interviews and extensive research, author, Delaware native and racing historian Chad Wayne Culver has captured the stories of some of the state's best-known racing legends.

Delaware native and paranormal historian Josh Hitchens invites you on a spooky road trip through the First State, telling scary stories of the most frightening phantoms that lurk in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties.

Read the legend of Fiddler’s Bridge, meet the ghosts in the Governor’s Mansion, learn the truth behind the Selbyville Swamp Monster and many more terrifying tales that will chill your bones. Combining historical facts with fearsome folklore, The Haunting of Delaware: Ghosts and Legends from the First State is sure to keep you reading long past midnight…if you dare. Experience Delaware’s ghostly history and the echoes it creates in the present day, places where the souls of the dead have not yet found rest.

Memories of lost pirates' treasure, daring rescues off the coast and prowling German U-boats linger amidst the dunes and sea grass of Rehoboth Beach.

From modest beginnings as a religious retreat, the town has survived fierce storms and gales to blossom into a vibrant community and the nation's summer capital. Though today the town’s population is in decline on par with many small towns, but during the summer months, this little Delaware community can expect as many as 25,000 tourists soaking up the sun and playing in the surf. With spirit and a touch of wry humor, Delmarva journalist Michael Morgan regales his audience with tales of intrepid explorers, brave guardians of the beach and ever-evolving trends in swimwear. Morgan invites his readers beyond the boardwalk to catch a glimpse of the true Rehoboth Beach.

Proudly laying claim to the title of the first town in the first state, Lewes, Delaware, has a history brimming with little-known tales of gentleman pirates, desperate acts of cannibalism and a failed British bombardment in the War of 1812.

Another attempted invasion occurred in 1853, when raucous New England fishermen intent on having a good time were repelled by residents armed with clubs and an old cannon. In 1926, the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse toppled onto the beach. With the light extinguished, bootleggers had an easier time plying their trade. On January 5, 1932, a captured rumrunner was accidentally set ablaze when an oil slick caught fire on the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal. Author Michael Morgan explores stories of impromptu presidential dips, charismatic preachers, German POW camps and other lost tales from the history of Lewes.

Discover the thrilling, mysterious history of the shipwrecks found beneath the waves of Rehoboth Beach.

Under the hot summer sun, vacationers stroll the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk, chewing saltwater taffy and listening to the gulls' raucous cackle. Few realize that under the sparkling water rests a graveyard. Horrific nor'easters, treacherous shoals and simple human error caused the demise of countless ships, giving birth to legends of treasure and terror. There is De Braak, rumored to hold millions of dollars in gold; the Mohawk, which burned like a torch in the Delaware Bay; and the vessels that fell victim to the Great White Hurricane, which froze dead men to the mast. Journey with local author Pam George as she deftly picks her way through the history of Delaware's most intriguing and mysterious shipwrecks.

The fascinating origins of this once peaceful resort town are explored in Michael Morgan's Bethany Beach.

Before a 1901 ceremony opened the peaceful resort town, the wild dunes of Bethany Beach were part of the rough-and-tumble New World and the deadly land wars between Delawareans and Marylanders. The twentieth century brought crowds eager to partake of a healthy saltwater bath and chicken-and-waffle socials. Local author Michael Morgan chronicles the history of this quiet resort with stories of rumrunners who concealed their illicit goods in local chicken coops, World War II residents who anxiously kept a weather eye on the Atlantic and the devastating 1962 nor'easter. Join Morgan as he deftly narrates the storied history of this beloved Delaware beach town.