Editing Lewes, Delaware (section)

==History==
Lewes was the site of the first European settlement in [[Delaware]], a [[whaling]] and trading post that [[Dutch people|Dutch]] settlers founded on June 3, 1631, and named [[Zwaanendael Colony|Zwaanendael]] (Swan Valley).<ref name="COLONIAL DELAWARE">Munroe, John A.: ''Colonial Delaware: A History'': [[Millwood, New York]]: KTO Press; 1978; pp. 9–12.</ref> The colony had a short existence, as a local tribe of [[Lenape]] Indians killed all 32 settlers in 1632.

The area remained rather neglected by the Dutch until, under the threat of annexation from the [[Province of Maryland|colony of Maryland]], the city of Amsterdam made a grant of land at the Hoernkills (the area around Cape Henlopen, near the current town of Lewes) to a group of [[Mennonites]] for settlement in 1662. A total of 35 men were to be included in the settlement, led by a [[Pieter Corneliszoon Plockhoy|Pieter Cornelisz Plockhoy]] of [[Zierikzee]] and funded by a sizable loan from the city to get them established. 41 persons came with Plockhoy from the Netherlands to the Hoernkill onboard the Dutch ship the Sint Jacob, one of whom was [[Otto Wolgast]] from the town of [[Wolgast]], [[Pomerania]]. The settlement was established in 1663, and lasted until the very next year; in 1664, the English captured New Netherland from the Dutch, and they ordered the settlement razed with reports indicating that “not even a nail” was left there.<ref>Scharf, Thomas J., ''History of Delaware, 1609–1888'', 1888</ref>

The Dutch colonists proved slow to regroup, but a new settlement gradually regrew around the Hoernkills.  In late December 1673, when the area was briefly held again by the Dutch, the settlement was attacked and burned down again by a group of [[Province of Maryland|Maryland colonists]]. In 1680, under the authority of the [[James Stuart, Duke of York|Duke of York]], who had been granted such authority by his brother, [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]], the village (and county) was reorganized and known for two years as New Deale, Deale County, Delaware. A log courthouse was authorized to be built at this time. An [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] congregation was established by 1681 and a Presbyterian church was built in 1682.

In 1682, the Delaware colonies were given to William Penn by King Charles II as payment for a family debt. When Penn arrived in the New World later that year, he renamed the county as Sussex and the Hoernkills settlement as Lewes, in commemoration of the [[Sussex|county]] and [[Lewes|town]] in [[Kingdom of England|England]]. Lewes became and remained the county seat of Sussex County until 1791, when it was moved to a more west-central county location, the current town of [[Georgetown, Delaware|Georgetown]].<ref>''History of Lewes Delaware and Vicinity'', Colonel David Hall Chapter, DAR</ref> The town was also known as "Lewistown" or "Lewestown".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.capegazette.com/article/1813-lewes-was-town-war/44195|title = In 1813, Lewes was a town at war}}</ref><ref>https://warof1812.delaware.gov/reports/lewistown/camp_lewistown_1814.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref><ref>https://warof1812.delaware.gov/reports/lewistown/officers_at_lewes_town_station_1813.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://delawaretoday.com/life-style/discovering-the-hidden-history-of-lewes/|title = Discovering the Hidden History of Lewes|date = 23 June 2014}}</ref>

On April 6 and 7, 1813, during the [[War of 1812]], [[Royal Navy]] vessels led by [[HMS Poictiers (1809)|HMS ''Poictiers'']] under the command of Captain [[Sir John Beresford, 1st Baronet|Sir John Beresford]] briefly and ineffectually [[Bombardment of Lewes|bombarded]] the town. A cannonball from the bombardment is lodged in the foundation of Cannonball House, which now serves as the town's maritime museum.

Lewes was incorporated by an act of the state assembly on Feb. 2, 1818. The act provided for five persons to be chosen as commissioners to be known as "Trustees of the Town of Lewes."<ref>Scharf's History of Delaware</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Journal of the Lewes Historical Society, Vol. 1, Dec. 1998</ref>

In 1941, the United States built [[Fort Miles]] on [[Cape Henlopen]], immediately east of Lewes, to defend [[Delaware Bay]] and the [[Delaware River]] and the oil refineries and factories on its shores, as well as the city of [[Philadelphia]].

Fort Miles never saw any major action; except for range practice, it fired its guns only once between its establishment and the end of [[World War II]]. Fort Miles ceased operation altogether in 1991 and was deeded to the State of Delaware.

[[File:lightshipoverfalls.jpg|thumb|left|[[United States lightship WAL 539|Lightship ''Overfalls'']], preserved as a tourist attraction.]]
In addition to Fort Miles, the [[Cape Henlopen Archeological District]], [[Coleman House (Lewes, Delaware)|Coleman House]], [[Cool Spring Presbyterian Church]], [[De Vries Palisade]], [[Delaware Breakwater|Delaware Breakwater and Lewes Harbor]], [[Fisher Homestead (Lewes, Delaware)|Fisher Homestead]], [[Fisher's Paradise]], [[Col. David Hall House]], [[Hopkins Covered Bridge Farm]], [[Lewes Historic District]], [[Lewes Presbyterian Church]], [[United States lightship WAL 539|Lightship WAL 539]], [[Maull House]], [[National Harbor of Refuge and Delaware Breakwater Harbor Historic District]], [[Pagan Creek Dike]], [[Roosevelt Inlet Shipwreck]], [[William Russell House (Lewes, Delaware)|William Russell House]], [[St. George's Chapel, Lewes]], [[Townsend Site]], and [[Wolfe's Neck Site]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}} Lightship WAL 539 is also listed as a [[National Historic Landmark]].</ref>
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===Home to governors===
Six men who served as Delaware governor were born in or made their home in Lewes. Three of those men lived on Lewes' Second Street. Brothers Daniel and Caleb Rodney, sons of John Rodney, first cousin of [[Caesar Rodney]], each served as governor of Delaware. Each a member of the [[Federalist Party]], Daniel served from 1814 to 1817, while Caleb served as acting governor from 1822 to 1823. Ebe Walters Tunnell moved to Lewes in 1873 to enter the drug and hardware business in part of the old Caleb Rodney House on Second Street. Tunnell worked his way up the state government hierarchy before unsuccessfully running for governor in 1892. Four years later, the Democrat won the election, and served from 1897 to 1901.<ref>Journal of the Lewes Historical Society, Vol. 2, Nov. 1999</ref>

===City motto and name===
As Lewes was the earliest settlement in the state, and Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution, the town refers to itself as "The First Town in the First State."<ref name="City of Lewes Delaware Website"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Lewes Chamber of Commerce |url=http://www.leweschamber.com/ |access-date=2011-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612091915/http://www.leweschamber.com/ |archive-date=2011-06-12 |url-status=live }}</ref> Lewes is named after the town of [[Lewes]] in England,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=9053|title= Profile for Lewes, Delaware, DE|publisher= ePodunk|access-date= September 19, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130209120952/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=9053|archive-date= February 9, 2013|url-status= dead}}</ref> which is situated in a county named [[Sussex]] (from which Sussex County, Delaware, takes its name).<ref>Katy Rice, 'Across the Pond', in ''Sussex Society'', September 2011, p. 28</ref> Lewes, Sussex, England, also has the same seal.