Parks & Beaches - City of Lewes, Delaware

The 1812 Memorial Park is located a stone's throw from downtown Second Street and serves as the entrance to the Otis Smith City Dock.The park was created to commemorate the defense of Lewes against a two-day bombardment by the British fleet on April 6-7, 1813. Many cannon balls from the attack were collected by local residents and preserved to this day. The site was a defense battery during the War of 1812 and is marked by a granite monument placed by the National Society, U.S. Daughters of 1812. Four large guns on the upper lumps were contributed by the government. Between them is a small gun believed taken from a pirate vessel abandoned in the creek. A three-inch naval gun on the lower terrace, used during World War 1, was placed by the American Legion in 1930.

The Zwaanendael Park surrounds the Zwaanendael Museum where exhibits depict the history of Sussex County and Lewes, Delaware, settled by the Dutch in 1631. The museum building, highlighted by an ornamental gable with carved stonework, is adapted from the old town hall in Hoorn, Holland. It was built in 1931 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the first European settlement in Delaware.

Situated at the corner of Market and Front Street, Mary Vessels Park is the ideal location to stop and rest, eat an ice cream cone and watch the people passing by.  A large magnolia tree provides a shady umbrella over a delightful gazebo. 

George H.P. Smith Park is located at the end of Dupont Avenue, where there is a paved parking lot right next to the Children's Playground. Boasting a pond shaded with native flora and inhabited by indigenous fauna, Smith Park is the perfect place for a family picinic and exercise.  Facilities to help make your visit enjoyable include a fenced children's playground, a butterfly garden, a walking path with benches an a horseshoe pit. Fishing is allowed and encouraged.

Bay and ocean beaches in and near Lewes, Delaware provide swimming, fishing, boating and a host of other watersports. Weddings are sometimes conducted on one of Lewes' beaches - for additional information or to schedule a beach wedding, contact Lewes City Hall.

Named for Former Lewes Mayor Al Stango, twelve-term Mayor of Lewes. Mayor Stango retired from office in 1992, after serving 12 consecutive two-year terms. Former Mayor Stango, longtime city council man and mayor, and a man who is remembered for his forceful personality and his role during Lewes' transition from a mostly blue-collar working town to a city driven by upward-spiraling real estate, died on May 10, 2008 at the age of 93.