Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inland ...

along the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It lies in the state of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, near the town of Lewes, where the

meets the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Off the coast on the bay side are two lighthouses, called the

Harbor of Refuge Light The Harbor of Refuge Light (originally Harbor of Refuge West End Light, though its east end counterpart has been long since discontinued) is a lighthouse built on the ocean end of the outer Delaware Breakwater at the mouth of the Delaware Bay, jus ...

and the Delaware Breakwater East End Light.

Early history

Cape Henlopen, originally spelled Cape Hinlopen (after its namesake Thijmen Jacobsz Hinlopen who was a prominent

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

trader), was New Netherland's southernmost border on the

37th parallel north The 37th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 37 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. At this latitude the ...

. In 1620, Thijmen Jacobsz Hinlopen became the business partner of Cornelis Jacobsen Mey in the now washed out Cape Cornelius and the incorrectly spelled Cape May with the ships Blijde Boodschap (English: "Good News") and Bever both of which focused on exploration and trade with the Indians on the Delaware River (then Zuidt Rivier). The area between the 38th and 40th parallels (i.e., the Delaware Bay area) as well as the Delaware River from north to south had previously been surveyed and charted by Cornelis Hendricksz from Monnikendam on the ship "Onrust" in 1614, 1615 and 1616. From August until November 1616, the New Netherland Company, which had an exclusive trading patent for the

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva P ...

territory between 40° and 45° latitude, had tried unsuccessfully to obtain an exclusive patent from the States General of the Dutch Republic for the territory between 38° and 40° latitude. Cornelis Jacobsz Mey was also unable to trade in the South River (Delaware River) at the exclusion of competing Dutch companies. Those Dutch companies came in conflict with one another but were eventually able to reach agreement in New Netherland. Discord arose again which was settled, finally, by a judgment of arbitrators at Amsterdam on December 23, 1623. The 38th and 39th parallels region came under the final jurisdiction of the Dutch West India Company on behalf of the States General with the delivery of the first settlers to

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk Channel. The National Park ...

in 1624. Those settlers were subsequently spread out onto Verhulsten Island (Burlington Island) in the Delaware, at

Fort Orange Fort Orange ( nl, Fort Oranje) was the first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland; the present-day city of Albany, New York developed at this site. It was built in 1624 as a replacement for Fort Nassau, which had been built on nearb ...

(now Albany) in the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

and at the mouth of the Connecticut River in order to finalize the claim to New Netherland as a North American province according to the Hugo Grotius Law of Nations (? year). In 1782 during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, the young Continental Navy

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Joshua Barney fought with a British squadron at Cape May and

. Barney's force of three sloops defeated a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

frigate, a sloop-of-war and a Loyalist

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

. The battle ended with the loss of two British vessels and one American sloop.

State Park

Cape Henlopen State Park is a 5,193 acre (21 km²)

Delaware state park Delaware State Park is a public recreation area on U.S. Route 23 near the city of Delaware in Delaware County, Ohio, in the United States. It is open for year-round recreation including camping, hiking, boating, hunting, fishing, and picnicki ...

on Cape Henlopen.

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

made the beaches of Cape Henlopen one of the first

public land In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countrie ...

s established in what has become the United States in 1682 with the declaration that Cape Henlopen would be for "the usage of the citizens of Lewes and Sussex County." Cape Henlopen State Park has a 24-hour and year-round

fishing pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

as well as campgrounds. The remainder of the park is only open from sunrise to sunset, and includes a bathhouse on the

, an area for surf-fishing, a disc golf course, and bicycle lanes, walking paths, and a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

-era watchtower which is open to the public. The beach at Herring Point is also a popular surfing spot. Camp Henlopen serves as the Eastern terminus for the

American Discovery Trail The American Discovery Trail is a system of recreational trails and roads that collectively form a coast-to-coast hiking and biking trail across the mid-tier of the United States. Horses can also be ridden on most of this trail. The coastal tra ...

, the only coast to coast hiking trail in the United States.

Timeline of Cape Henlopen

* 1682 William Penn designates the area as public land. * 1767-9 Construction of the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse completed at the ''Great Dune'' – the sixth lighthouse on American soil. This construction was funded by the merchants of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. * 1777 the

Cape Henlopen Light Cape Henlopen Light was a lighthouse near Lewes, in present-day Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware, United States. The lighthouse was on the north side of the Great Dune on Cape Henlopen, Delaware. It was the sixth lighthouse built in the colo ...

house was gutted by fire. * 1784 the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse was repaired and returned to active duty. * 1789 Pennsylvania cedes the lighthouse, associated land, and jurisdiction to the United States. * 1824 The ''Cape Henlopen Beacon'' was constructed on a 45-foot (14 m) tower about a mile (1.6 km) north of the ''Cape Henlopen Lighthouse''. * 1855 Construction of the ''Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse'' completed. * 1869 Construction of the ''Delaware Breakwater West End Lighthouse'' and stone breakwater barrier completed. * 1885 The steel ''Strickland Lighthouse'' replaces the lighthouse on the inner breakwater. * 1901 Construction of the 8,000 foot (2.4 km) long outer stone breakwater barrier completed. * 1903 The ''Strickland Lighthouse'' is retired from service. * c. 1915 to 1920 Radio Compass Station built * 1918 6-inch gun platform built (World War I era)Archives Search Report Findings,

Fort Miles Fort Miles was a United States Army World War II installation located on Cape Henlopen near Lewes, Delaware. Although funds to build the fort were approved in 1934, it was 1938 before construction began on the fort. On 3 June 1941 it was ...

Military Reservation (Final), May 1997,

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

, Louisville District, Appendix E-1 * 1920 Cape Henlopen Lighthouse badly damaged by a storm. * 1924 Cape Henlopen Lighthouse abandoned – lens removed. * 1926 (April 13) Cape Henlopen Lighthouse collapsed due to movement of ''Great Dune''. * 1941

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

established

at Cape Henlopen. * 1950 The Delaware Breakwater Lighthouse demolished and the East End Lighthouse was automated. * 1964 The

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

declared as surplus property and the State of Delaware established ''Cape Henlopen State Park''. * 1966 The was renamed MV ''Cape Henlopen'' and converted to a passenger and auto ferry. * 1978 The ''Fenwick Lighthouse'' is decommissioned. * Gordon's Pond Wildlife Area established. * 1982 The State of Delaware assumed ownership of the Fenwick lighthouse and it was electrified and returned to operation. * 1997 The State of Delaware purchased the East End lighthouse and placed it on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. * 2007 The two groins of Herring Point originally built in 1950 are cleaned up and rebuilt. National Harbor of Refuge, outer breakwater off Cape Henlopen. All metal, built in 1926 and automated in 1973. Maintained by US Coast Guard. Visible from Cape May-Lewes Ferry.

References

External links

delawareonline.comoutdoorplaces.comVideo of Henlopen PointPhotograph - Sailing in The BayPhotograph - Sunset at Henlopen State Park 3Photograph - SandbarsPhotograph - Windy Beach

RedKnot.org
links to shorebird recovery sites, movies, events & other info on Red Knot rufa & horseshoe crabs.
Palrb.us
Pennsylvania statute ceding lighthouse, land and jurisdiction to the United States {{Coord, 38.771484, -75.095501, type:landmark, display=title Henlopen Landforms of Sussex County, Delaware Delaware Bay de:Cape Henlopen State Park

Early history

State Park

Timeline of Cape Henlopen

See also

References

External links