Since the eighteenth century, people have sought the refreshing,
invigorating effects of ocean bathing. Because of poor roads, Delaware’s
beaches remained relatively undeveloped until the late 1800s. As a result
of improved rail lines in the late 1800s, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach,
Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island were all founded between 1870 and 1900.
The Rehoboth Beach Camp Meeting Association, founded in 1872, provided
an opportunity for families to blend relaxation and religion at the beach.
Almost next door and in direct competition with the camp meeting, resort
hotels offered dancing and card playing. These two ways of life made
Rehoboth a bustling summer resort. By 1884 the railroad extended its
tracks into town almost to the beach. Later the DuPont Highway, completed
in the 1920s, enticed greater numbers of tourists, spurring tremendous
growth during the 1930s and 1940s.
Beginning in the 1960s, cooperative legislation passed by state and
federal governments has insured the continued wise use and preservation of
the natural resources and beauty of Delaware’s beaches.
Coastal
Zone Management Act
