In the late 1890’s Congress authorized the construction of a breakwater located approximately 1-1/4 miles to the northeast of the Delaware Breakwater off Cape Henlopen. Completed in 1901 this new, outer breakwater created a much larger and safer harbor called the National Harbor of Refuge.
To assist mariners navigating the dangerous entry into the harbor a lighthouse was erected on the original, inner breakwater. Named the Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse, it was built on the eastern end of the Delaware Breakwater near Lewes, Delaware. This red-brown, conical structure was built in four tiers of cast iron plates and lined with brick two feet deep. It is twenty-two feet in diameter at its base and it rests on a circular concrete foundation.
The lighthouse was originally equipped with a fourth-order Fresnel lens and showed a fixed white light with a red sector facing seaward to help warn mariners of dangerous shoals hidden from sight near the sands of Cape Henlopen. The light’s focal plane was sixty-one feet above sea level and was visible out to thirteen nautical miles. A steam-powered Daboll fog trumpet was added to the lighthouse in November 1885.
From 1903 until 1918 the lighthouse served as the front light of the Delaware Breakwater Range, and was ultimately automated on July 11, 1950. It was decommissioned in 1996 and, on February 5, 1999, the Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse was formally conveyed by the U.S. government to the State of Delaware.
This image of the Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse was taken in the month of November when sunset skies favor dramatic colors. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, creating vibrant oranges reaching up into deep blues, when I took this photograph from the bay side of Cape Henlopen State Park. The view of the lighthouse from this location is also quite spectacular in mid-August as the sun sets. It sets just to the right of the lighthouse as you view it just off the north end of Cape Henlopen Drive.
Growing up in Wilmington I visited Cape Henlopen often, usually to surf fish with my brother and future brother-in-law. The three of us would depart Wilmington around 3:30am in order to arrive just as the local bait shops in Lewes were opening around 5:30am, so that we could arrive at the beach around 6:00am to see the sunrise and fish in the early morning. When fishing did not prove to be too productive, the sights, sounds, and smells of the beach and surf never disappointed.
Travel . Scenics . Portraits