#29 - The Lewes Historic District

 This week and next will be spent looking at more technical documents. First will be the Lewes Historic District’s amended National Register for Historic Places Registration Form from 1993. Next will be a document from the National Park Service about the First State National Historic Park of which the Ryves Holt House is a part. I thought it would be good to visit these documents for multiple reasons. As this blog has hopefully started to gain some traction, I want to help new readers understand why I am so interested in this house and its town by showing its statewide and national importance. Much of the town of Lewes is a Historic District, this makes sense once you set foot here, or dive in on Google Street View. The charm and historic buildings are evident as soon as you enter the town. Everywhere you turn you see old houses, most of which have been lovingly restored including decorative trim and even some gas lamps!

To be entirely honest, the Historic Places Registration Form is pretty dry. It starts with a brief intro to the history of Lewes and its historic importance - oldest permanent settlement in Southern Delaware, history spanning nearly 4 centuries, socio-economic importance spanning multiple industries - fishing, piloting, lumber, railroad, merchants, etc. The amendment is to increase the physical footprint of the Historic District and thus include buildings representing the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th; it also expands the district to include a small African American settlement at the northern end of town. The form lists 642 contributing buildings in the Historic District, of which 122 were on the original register, So, this 1993 amendment is a marked increase in size and scope. 

The Thomas Maull House, c.1737, photo by author.

What follows is an exhaustive list of the buildings included in the Historic District. I found it to be rather unwieldy. This organization of the list doesn’t really make sense. It is not chronological or by street address, nor does it seem to abide by some ranking of importance. So, it’s a little confusing to read, but each building is given an address or cross streets, a vague description, and an estimated date of construction. Pulling Street View up alongside the list was absolutely illuminating; I think in the future I may use it and some of the local articles/brochures I have to create an architectural tour of the Lewes for the blog…

Anyway, the Historic Register Form is hard to read, but will be extremely helpful in the long run. I had not yet found a systemized listing for the buildings in Lewes, just ones that mentioned famous houses like the Ryves Holt House, the Cannonball House, and the buildings at Shipcarpenter Square. So, this list will be very helpful when I try to understand what buildings were standing at certain points in time, so as to describe the state of the town during certain events. It does seem rather unlikely, however, that this form will aid me in my quest to understand Lewes before William Penn and the history of the Ryves Holt House, but perhaps once I dig into some primary sources describing land grants I can mesh names and dates to build a clearer picture of early Lewes. I may also try to track down the original Historic Places Form of the Lewes Historic District to see the argument for the creation of a smaller, more constrained district. 

In conclusion, the simple fact that Lewes is mostly a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places gives you all the arguments you need to rationalize the importance of understanding the history of Lewes. It is one of the oldest European settlements on the Atlantic seaboard, but it's more substantial history starting in the early 18th century combined with its lack of major industry and commerce allowed the buildings in Lewes to survive at an extraordinary rate. It would be very surprising to find another town with a higher density of vernacular historic architecture in the US. It is a hidden tourist gem because it was overshadowed by nearby tourist destinations like Atlantic City, NJ and Ocean City, MD. Closer afield, it was even overshadowed by neighboring Rehoboth Beach. This means that Lewes exists in almost a time capsule of architectural history between the 18th and 20th centuries. A short walk around town lets you time travel through the centuries. ...Yeah, I really should do a digital walking tour of Lewes for the blog…