When you come to Rehoboth Beach, you probably walk by Thrasher’s, Candy Kitchen, and Zoltar. But wouldn’t it be fun to stroll through Rehoboth as it was in the 1800s and 1900s? You can, thanks to self-guided walking tours available from the Rehoboth Beach Museum. You’ll want to access the tours on your smartphone so you can pull up information on each location as you reach it. Look for the links near the bottom of the museum’s homepage, rehobothbeachmuseum.org.
Currently, there are two tours: Rehoboth Avenue and Beyond, which features sites from Rehoboth’s history, and Women of Rehoboth, which highlights key women in Rehoboth’s history. I’m told there may be more walking tours to come, so be sure to check for updates. Note that there are also guided tours at scheduled times, so you may want to check if one of those is available, as well.
Some locations on the Rehoboth Avenue and Beyond tour, such as the building that currently houses the Back Porch Café at 59 Rehoboth Avenue, have changed very little over the years. The Back Porch is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a fine dining restaurant, but the building is one of the original cottages built by the Rehoboth Beach Camp Meeting Association as part of its camp meeting ground and Christian seaside resort in 1873. Other locations, such as 42 Rehoboth Avenue, have changed substantially. This site was also one of the original camp meeting properties, and over the years it served as a hotel (under five different names), but it is now home to the Penny Lane shops. So, while you’re browsing around town, soaking up the surf and sunshine, be sure to soak up some of Rehoboth’s rich and varied past, too.
Nancy Sakaduski is a local award-winning writer and editor who finds inspiration in the natural world.
