An Explorer's Paradise in Delaware's First Town

The city's roots go back more than 375 years, according to the Lewes Historical Society. Henry Hudson, an Englishman working for the Dutch, discovered Delaware Bay in 1609. By the early 1620s, Dutch traders were thought to be the first Europeans to settle in the area, home to the Siconese Indians.

Later, representatives of the Dutch West India Co. "purchased" the area from the Siconese. In1631, colonists sailed from the Netherlands, arriving at what was then called Swanendael. That's the year being commemorated by the anniversary celebrations. A whaling business was set up. Not long after, the settlement was wiped out by the Siconese.

Eventually, William Penn, proprietor of Pennsylvania and what were then known as the Three Lower Counties (present-day Delaware), named the village Lewes and the county Sussex, after places in England.

For Carl Graber, working in a town so richly steeped in the past is what he enjoys most. On a recent afternoon, Graber, a professional fundraiser for James D. Klote & Associates in Falls Church, was walking the grounds of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, pointing out gravestones more than three centuries old. The church, founded in 1681, is one of the oldest congregations in Delaware.

Graber lives in the Midwest but is spending most of his summer in Lewes raising money for the church. He walked into the quiet sanctuary to discuss how the stained-glass images and aging roof could be upgraded.

"The first time I was here," he recalled, "I felt like I was walking through history. This is one of the churches that are so old, the community really embraces it."

Four years ago, Barbara Tobias bought a vintage house in the historic district for $300,000. According to a background search she did, the property was first sold at a public sale for $1,792 in 1902.

Tobias, 60, a retired nurse, said that she could now get twice what she paid for the three-bedroom, two-car-garage house. But she has other reasons to be satisfied about living in Lewes, she said.

"You can walk to everything. Every Fourth of July, we have a picnic in our backyard with our neighbors. Our yards are joined by a little flower bed. Last year, 60 people came. I like the water; we're close to the hospital, the pharmacy, the grocery store. And it's a great place to bicycle and fish."

A minute passed before a motor scooter puttered up to the house. The driver was her husband, Roy, 68. In cutoffs and a T-shirt, he looked the picture of relaxation. He said he understands why so many people from adjacent states are retiring in Delaware.

"My total taxes are less than $1,000 a year," he said. "In Mechanicsburg, Pa., my school tax alone was $3,800 a year."

Community involvement, he said, is important when you're new in town. By joining the Lewes Men's Chorus, he had the opportunity to connect with other residents.

Not everyone is a recent retiree, he pointed out. "The people in the back are in their 80s," he said. "And there are young people across the street. I wouldn't want to live in a neighborhood of all young people, and I wouldn't want to live in a neighborhood of people who are all 55 and over."

Downtown, at the Lewes Gourmet on West Market Street, you can buy lemon tea cookies, handcrafted soaps and jams and jellies. "There are a lot of Washington, D.C., weekenders here," said owner Lou Braithwaite, a North Carolina native and 14-year resident. "There are people here from everywhere. . . . They're well-traveled. They have a worldview, an open mind."

At the public library, where you can check out a book and read it in the quiet gazebo behind the building, Sandra Browning, the circulation chief and a 35-year resident, said many of her patrons are retirees from Washington. "They might be in their 60s, but they act young. They seem to come to the area and plunge into the community."