Downtown Lewes in the 1930s

Just a week ago, this stretch of Second Street in downtown Lewes was filled with people of all ages participating in the annual Fourth of July Old-Fashioned Children’s Games.

Those festivities go back a long time, but probably not back to the 1930s, when this photograph was made. It was taken during the holidays at the intersection of Market Street, where the Rodney Hotel and M&T Bank buildings still stand today on the western side. Visible on the eastern side of the street, the building that is now home to Agave also stood nearly 100 years ago.

Just outside the frame at left would be the building that houses King’s Ice Cream, which also existed at that time. In the middle of the street is a traffic device to inform the drivers of early vehicles about the rules of the road. In a photograph taken just a few years later, the pylon-like object no longer stands. Another one stood at the intersection of Second Street and South Street (now Savannah Road).

Also notable in this photograph is that traffic moved in both directions on Second Street.