Editing Bethany Beach, Delaware (section)

====The 1950s and early 1960s====
In 1952, the first span of the [[Chesapeake Bay Bridge]] opened, heralding the end of the Quiet Years and the beginning of accelerated development of the area as a beach resort. The bridge allowed motorists for the first time to drive from Washington, D.C., and Baltimore to the Delmarva Peninsula without a lengthy drive circling around the northern tip of the [[Chesapeake Bay]]. This made the Delaware coast a more popular vacation destination, and the development of real estate in and around Bethany Beach began in earnest. A real estate boom began, and was in full swing by the late 1960s;<ref name="Meehan, p. 93">{{cite book|title=Bethany Beach Memoirs: A Long Look Back|year=1998|publisher=Harold E. Dukes|author=James D. Meehan|edition=Fourth Printing|author2=Harold E. Dukes|page=93}}</ref> banking flourished in the area.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bethany Beach Memoirs: A Long Look Back|year=1998|publisher=Harold E. Dukes|author=James D. Meehan|edition=Fourth Printing|author2=Harold E. Dukes|page=117}}</ref> The opening of the bridge's second span in 1973 made access even easier and, if anything, accelerated development further. Bethany Beach residents generally opposed the development of the area sparked by the opening of the bridge, and much political fighting occurred over the various real estate projects proposed for the area. Ultimately, economic pressure to develop the area was too great, and the Quiet Years came to end.<ref name="Meehan, p. 93"/>

The first development north of Bethany Beach, [[Sussex Shores, Delaware|Sussex Shores]], opened in either 1953 or 1958.<ref name="Meehan, p. 93, 155">{{cite book|title=Bethany Beach Memoirs: A Long Look Back|year=1998|publisher=Harold E. Dukes|author=James D. Meehan|edition=Fourth Printing|author2=Harold E. Dukes|pages=93, 155}}</ref> South of town, the [[Middlesex Beach, Delaware|Middlesex Beach]] community was built in 1958–1959. [[South Bethany, Delaware|South Bethany]], to the south of Middlesex Beach, considered the first major new development in the area, was built in 1962 and incorporated as a town in its own right in 1969.<ref name="Meehan, p. 93"/>

In 1961, the original Tabernacle, which had deteriorated badly since its completion 58 years earlier, was demolished.<ref name="Meehan, p. 155">{{cite book|title=Bethany Beach Memoirs: A Long Look Back|year=1998|publisher=Harold E. Dukes|author=James D. Meehan|edition=Fourth Printing|author2=Harold E. Dukes|page=155}}</ref>

The most destructive storm in Bethany Beach's history, the [[Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962]], was a surprise [[nor'easter]] that struck in March 1962. Created by the combination of what had been two separate storms, the nor'easter arrived on the evening of March 5, with 80-mile-per-hour (129-kilometer-per-hour) winds and 30-foot (9.1-meter) waves. The storm continued through three high tides while the tides were at their monthly peak before abating on March 7. Destruction was widespread; many of the beachfront structures that had stood since Bethany Beach's early decades were destroyed, including the bowling alley and many of the inns and houses, as were the boardwalk and town pavilion. Only one beachfront house in the southern part of town survived. Flood waters penetrated as far inland as Ocean View, and only three houses anywhere in Bethany Beach escaped flooding. Extensive [[coastal erosion|beach erosion]] occurred, and sand several feet (over a meter) deep buried streets and cars and filled entire rooms in some houses. Damages along the Delmarva Peninsula's Atlantic coastline exceeded $50&nbsp;million (USD).<ref name="Meehan, p. 103">{{cite book|title=Bethany Beach Memoirs: A Long Look Back|year=1998|publisher=Harold E. Dukes|author=James D. Meehan|edition=Fourth Printing|author2=Harold E. Dukes|page=103}}</ref> After the storm, the town rebuilt the boardwalk and put new regulations in place requiring that beach houses be built on 30-foot (9.1-meter) pilings.<ref name=history/><ref name="Meehan, p. 103"/> The 1962 storm had a lasting effect on Bethany Beach. Some longtime residents left Bethany Beach for good, while others noted that much of the old Bethany Beach of the Quiet Years had been destroyed, changing the character of the town forever.
<ref name="Meehan, p. 103"/>