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Lewes’ almost forgotten Kings Highway businesses

June 18, 2024

The stretch of Kings Highway between the library and the Zwaanendael Museum is full of beautiful and carefully preserved historic homes. One may not know that stretch of the city was once home to a few businesses.

These photos show the Lewes Quick Wash at the corner of Kings and Jefferson Avenue and a luncheonette about a block west near the intersection of Kings and Madison Avenue. The Lewes Quick Wash building remains today, but the stone facade has been converted into a front porch and small side addition that blend in well with the rest of the home. There is no remaining trace of the luncheonette, which apparently sold Breyer’s ice cream and sold Lewes Dairy milk for 55 cents per half-gallon. It’s safe to say the phone booth is long gone too.

These photographs and several others from the 1960s were posted by Dean Bryan in the Facebook page Growing Up in Rehoboth, Dewey and Lewes in the ‘60s and ‘70s. 

  • Delaware Cape Region History in Photographs, published every Tuesday in the Cape Gazette, features historical photos from Delaware's Cape Region - particularly - and from throughout Sussex County and Delaware generally.

    Readers are invited to submit photos of historic interest. They can be mailed to the Cape Gazette at PO Box 213, Lewes, DE 19958, or via email to newsroom@capegazette.com.

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