Rehoboth’s 150-year religious history commemorated
Rehoboth Beach may now be considered the Nation’s Summer Capital, but its founding was of a religious nature. A few dozen people commemorated the 150-year anniversary of those religious beginnings Jan. 27.
Inspired by a visit to the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting in New Jersey, the Rev. Robert W. Todd purchased 414 acres from five farmers including John Marsh, Lorenzo Dow Martin and a free Black man named Elijah Burton. The Rehoboth Camp Meeting Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church was incorporated Jan. 27, 1873, by the Delaware Legislature. The camp was set up in the Grove Park area of the city. A century and a half later, that’s where the commemoration took place.
Standing in a circle under the large gazebo, the Rev. Dr. Vicki Gordy-Stith, Epworth United Methodist Church pastor, led the commemoration. From the beginning, she said, Rehoboth has been thought of as food for the mind, body and soul.
The Grove Park event kicked off a year-long celebration the Rehoboth Beach Museum has planned to commemorate the camp’s 150 years. For more information and to contact the museum, 511 Rehoboth Ave., call 302-227-7310, go to rehobothmuseum.org or email info@rehobothbeachmuseum.org. The museum is currently closed to visitors and will reopen with winter hours March 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Fridays; 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Winter hours last until Memorial Day.
