Fall For History

History is in Reach of our Beach

And there's no better time to highlight all the history you can experience here than during the fall, so...

Check out the videos above to learn a little about some of our historical attractions and take a look at our history events and tours for this fall including museums (more than two dozen of them!) and exhibits, all in one place to make planning your Fall for Our History adventures easy! Planning a fall beach weekend? Come a little early or stay a little longer to take advantage of midweek tours, presentations, and museum hours. Please check with individual venues to confirm dates and hours.

 

The Milton Historical Society

Stay tuned for updates on 2026 Milton Fall programs.

Stay tuned for Rehoboth Beach Historical Society and Museum's Fall 2026 programs

Stay tuned for The Seaford Historical Society and Museum Fall 2026 Programs

Seaford Museum is open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 1 - 4 p.m. One of the Best Small Museums in Delaware! Trace the history of this community from ancient times through the First Americans, the Civil War, Industrialization, to modern times. Learn how the River and Railroad made Seaford the center for development in Western Sussex County, including its role in Harriett Tubman’s best documented escape. Other featured exhibits include: Nanticoke River Maritime Gallery; DuPont Nylon; Seaford’s Theater District; Women in the Workplace; And Much More! Museum admission is just $7 for non-members or $12 for both museum & mansion. Children are FREE.

Governor Ross Mansion is openSaturdays and Sundays 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Last tour begins at 3:30. Private tours available by appointment. Mansion Grounds are open dawn to dusk. This rare and complete Victorian Italianate mansion, ca. 1860, has been lovingly restored and fully furnished. Step into the Governor Ross Mansion, and step back into time. See the only documented log slave quarter in Delaware. Enjoy 20 acres that include a granary, stable, smokehouse, and corn cribs. Explore a “Honeymoon Cottage” likely built from a pattern book and located on the property.

Seaford Museum Holiday Train Show, Opens DATE, Thursdays - Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. through January 10. Closed December 25,& 26 and January 1. Location: The Seaford Museum, 203 High Street, Seaford, DE 19973. Bring back those fond memories of Christmas Past! The Seaford Museum’s Webb Room features a large O-Scale layout with two operating Lionel trains and more than 100 “Department 56” ceramic buildings and figures. Kids (of all ages) can push buttons to operate animated scenes. The layout is surrounded by display cabinets featuring dozens of antique toy trains gathered from local collectors. Admission is just $3 for adults and kids are FREE. Children must be accompanied by a paid adult. You can see the full museum, including the trains, for just $7.  Check their website here for updates as dates draw near. 

The Lewes Historical Society

Visit their website for details

Stay tuned for 2026 updates!

Stay tuned for Zwaanendael Museum, Lewes Fall 2026 Updates

Built in commemoration of Delaware’s first European colony, Swanendael, established by the Dutch in 1631, the museum serves as a showcase for the Lewes area’s maritime, military and social history.

To learn more, call the Zwaanendael Museum at (302) 645-1148.

Wings and Wheels

Stay Tuned for info on 2026 Wings and Wheels Fall Festival at Delaware Coastal Airport, Georgetown. History comes alive in Georgetown, Delaware! Bring the whole family and experience the world of planes, cars, music and vendors all wrapped around honoring history and fueling family fun.

10th Annual History Book Festival

The History Book Festival is the first and only book festival in the United States that is devoted to history! The annual festival highlights new works about history, both historical fiction and narrative nonfiction. Saturday's twenty free author events take place at four, walkable venues in Lewes, with ticketed Keynote and Closing events. Stay tuned for 2026 info!

For full program information and tickets, visit HistoryBookFestival.org. 

Stay tuned for info on the 2026 47th Annual Nanticoke Indian Powwow

Join the Nanticoke Indian Tribe in celebrating its unique history and culture. The powwow will feature native traditional dancing, drumming, singing, flute performances, native foods, native craft vendors and storytelling. Fun for the entire family! Visit their website here. Over 30 Native American tribes from all across the United States and Canada are expected to attend.  

Indian River Life Saving Station Museum Programs

Stay tuned for 2026 updates!

Lewes Junction Railroad and Bridge Association 

Lewes Junction Railroad Tours: 1^st and 3^rd Saturday of each month, weather permitting. Location is Adams Ave., Lewes (between Lewes Public Library & Margaret H. Rollins Community Center). Visit www.lewesjunctionrr.org.  Visit the recently acquired coal tender, tour inside the 1916 Pennsylvania Railroad restored red caboose and learn the rail history of Lewes and eastern Sussex County.  Also see the 1917 hand-cranked, bobtail swing bridge which spanned the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal for over 100 years on display at the end of American Legion Road along the rail trail in Lewes.

Museums, Exhibits & Antiques

Eastern Sussex County

• Lightship Overfalls, Lewes: The Overfalls is one of only 17 remaining lightships out of a total of 179 built from 1820 to 1952. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 2011, it is one of seven lightships in this country still open to the public. 
• Old Courthouse, Georgetown's Old Courthouse was built in 1792 and is located 150 feet off the Georgetown Circle on S. Bedford Street. The GPS address is 10 S. Bedford Street. Visitors can see Patty Cannon's poison cache, rare court tipstaffs, and America's last used whipping post on display. 
• Lewes History Museum: The Lewes Historical Society Museum features their collection of tens of thousands of historic artifacts, artwork, documents, maps and photos. Staffed by skilled professionals from the Society, the Museum serves as the primary source of information about Lewes for visitors, researchers, students and residents. The Museum also provides ongoing seminars, symposia and presentations, a wing for community non-profit gatherings, a children’s interactive history area, and an attractive venue for private celebrations and events. Visit their website for details.

• Cannonball House Museum, Lewes: Cannonball House is the home of The Lewes Historical Society's maritime museum. Nationally important pieces of maritime art and memorabilia are displayed in the house, including the Fresnel Lens of Fourteen Foot Bank Light. There is a cannonball from the War of 1812 bombardment by the British embedded in its foundation.
• Zwaanendael Museum, Lewes: The museum is a showcase for Lewes-area maritime, military, and social history. Modeled after the town hall in Hoorn, the Netherlands, the museum commemorates the founding of Delaware's first European settlement by the Dutch in 1631.
• Fort Miles Museum and Historic Area, Lewes: Fort Miles, located in what is now Cape Henlopen State Park, was a key piece in the nation's coastal defense during WWII. Take a tour of the Fort, enjoy an interpretive program, dance to a swing band, and celebrate the "greatest generation" in our nation's history. On the National Register of Historic Places. Watch a Pentagon Channel program about the fort here.)
• Rehoboth Beach Museum, Rehoboth Beach: The Society preserves and displays showcase artifacts that illustrate the development of the community. The exhibits range from vintage postcards and bathing suits to original Civil War era maps and train schedules as well as temporary exhibits such as photography and needlework exhibits, etc.
• Anna Hazzard Museum, Rehoboth Beach: This museum boasts a Camp Meeting Era "Tent" structure, which houses a collection of artifacts and memorabilia pertaining to the early days of Rehoboth Beach as a religious retreat.
• Indian River Lifesaving Station, Delaware Seashore State Park: Learn the history of the U. S. Life-Saving Service, the precursor to today's U. S. Coast Guard, by visiting the original Indian River Life-Saving Station. Be swept back to a time where night-time beach patrols and perilous high seas rescues were the only way to save shipwreck victims along the coasts of the United States. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Bethany Beach Dinker-Irvin Museum, Located at 318 Garfield Parkway, this restored cottage will offer visitors an immersive experience of an historically significant early 1900's home and a glimpse of what life was like during the early days of the town.  It is one of the few remaining original cottages in Bethany Beach and the oldest public building in town.  It served as a U.S. Post Office from 1922-25.  
• DiscoverSea Shipwreck Museum, Fenwick Island: DiscoverSea Shipwreck Museum is an ever-changing exhibit that expands and diversifies with the acquisitions of new artifacts as they are recovered. The collection of shipwreck and recovered artifacts is one of the largest in the Mid-Atlantic and contains shipwreck artifacts both regional and worldwide.
• Fenwick Island Lighthouse, Fenwick Island: The lighthouse is owned by the state of Delaware and maintained by the private, non-profit New Friends of the Fenwick Island Lighthouse. The "isolated" lighthouse now stands surrounded by a neighborhood of houses and businesses. Visitors can enter the base to view a small museum and gift shop. 

Central Sussex County

• The Milford Museum, Milford: Permanent exhibits include local historic events from the 1700s to the present, shipbuilding, and local businesses. Other exhibits include an historic doll collection, Victorian silverware, Delaware ladybugs, and early Milford baseball. 
• Treasures of the Sea Museum, Delaware Technical Community College, Georgetown: Betze Library building. The exhibit is a beautiful collection of spanish treasures from a 17th century ship, the Nuestra Seniora de Atocha. The library is also home to the Elsie Williams Doll Collection. Currently the collection of over 600 dolls is housed in more than one dozen glass cases and is continuing to grow.
• Marvel Carriage Museum, Georgetown: There are many historic buildings on the museum grounds such as the Ellis School, a one room school house built in 1833. There are two large barns on the grounds that house carriages from Mr. Nutter Marvel's collection. Among these carriages are the Queen's carriage, the Disney carriage, a peddlers wagon and an 1800's era horse drawn hearse carriage. There are many treasures to be seen here such as the beautiful collection of victrolas, ephemera, photographs, telephones, furniture and many more items related to Georgetown history.
• Delaware Aviation Museum, Georgetown: The museum features many WWII aviation artifacts, memorabilia and displays. Also home of the Jeffrey L. Ethell Memorial Aviation Library of over 3,000 aviation related books. The largest aviation library in the east. Several aircraft are also on display surrounding the museum. www.delawareaviationmuseum.org
• Lydia Black Cannon Museum, Milton: The museum’s exhibit includes original art, sailors’ decorative folk art, photographs, ship building tools, sailing implements, and ships’ logs.
• Nanticoke Indian Museum, Millsboro: Displays include thousands of arrowheads, pottery, axe hammers and other objects, all of which are homemade. Visitors are educated and receive insight of the work that goes into creating Native arts and leave with a new understanding of Nanticoke culture. Display also features an example of our village to show how our elders lived in the old days and lots of artwork from tribal members and others.
• Prince George's Chapel, Dagsboro. Historic chapel with tours available by appointment. Built in 1755, Prince George’s Chapel has its beginnings as an Anglican chapel-of-ease, serving the northern outlying area of Worcester Parish, Maryland. During the reorganization of the Episcopal Church following the American Revolution, the chapel became an independent parish church in the diocese of Delaware. Deeded to the State of Delaware in 1967, it was restored and reopened as a museum, administered by the State. The Chapel’s most striking feature is its graceful barrel-vaulted ceiling of natural, unadorned heart of pine planks. The nave section remains as the original 18th century portion, while the east transept end with its great window and octagonal high pulpit has been reconstructed. The chapel is available for a fee for special events, such as a wedding and religious services, that are consistent with its historical character. For more information or tours, please call 302-732-6835.

Western Sussex County

• Bridgeville Historical Society Museum, Bridgeville: The Society’s collection includes a wealth of artifacts, documents, photographs, and books from local businesses, families, and community organizations.
• Seaford Museum, Seaford: Extensive collections and exhibits highlight local area history following a timeline from Native Americans to present day. Museum contains a library of historical materials, changing exhibit gallery, interactive displays and more.
• Seaford Fire Museum, Seaford: Displays fire memorabilia related to the history of the Seaford Volunteer Fire Department Inc.
• Governor Ross Mansion & Plantation, Seaford: Explore a complete Victorian Italianate mansion with slave quarters, barns, sheds and spacious grounds. Learn what life was like before the Civil War, why a popular Delaware governor was smuggled to England with a Federal warrant out for his arrest and how the “War of Northern Aggression” changed life forever.
• Bethel Heritage Museum, Bethel: Explore the history of this quaint shipbuilding village. 
• Cook House Museum, Laurel: The Cook House contains the offices of the Laurel Historical Society, as well as a large number of photos and artifacts that help to tell the story of Laurel and the residents who call it home. 
• Laurel Heritage Museum, Laurel: Showcasing an extensive collection of historical documents and objects displayed in our restored Train Station. The Key element of the Museum is the one-of-a kind Waller Photograph Collection, recognized as the premier period historical collection by both the State of Delaware Archives and the University of Delaware.
• Delmar Railroad Museum, Delmar: Delmar, known for its railroading history, is home to a unique highball signal listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Nearby, a 1929 caboose serves as museum for railroad artifacts. The highball signal and caboose are located in a small park on Route 54 at the railroad tracks. The caboose has no regular hours, so call ahead. A railroad history display is also available at the Delmar Public Library, 101 N. Bi.State Blvd. and the Delmarva Model Railroad Club posts holiday open house events for model train enthusiasts.

Love Antiques and Collectibles?

Check out our Antiques Itineraries! The itineraries, at this link, are designed especially for antiques and collectibles fans and can be enjoyed over two days, any time of year, with plenty of time left over for leisurely lunches and sightseeing along the way.