Rehoboth Historical Society trying to find Sears houses

The Rehoboth Beach Historical Society could use the public's help finding some missing houses. Here's why they need to be located.

In the first half of the 20th century, potential homeowners in southern Delaware and elsewhere often turned to a mail order catalog to find a new home.

Indeed, retailers like Montgomery Ward, Sears, Roebuck & Co., Gordon-Van Tine and Aladdin offered homes through a catalog. A complete home, disassembled, was shipped by rail to a spot close to the building lot. The buyer was responsible for assembly.

Sears, for example, offered the potential customer some 370 different designs with models ranging in price from $772 to $6,488, according to catalog prices from the 1920s. In the period between 1908 and 1940, Sears alone sold nearly 80,000 mail order houses nationwide. And some of them were probably shipped to southern Delaware by Sears and other home kit suppliers to be used as vacation dwellings or full-time residences.

But sales records are missing - or have been destroyed - so it is hard to find where these wonderful mail order houses got built. And because these homes represent an important piece of early 20th century history, the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society could use help in locating some local examples.

If anyone is aware of any houses that might have been purchased by mail order from Sears or other companies, call, email or go to their Facebook page.

"Please help us fill in an important gap in the architectural history of Rehoboth Beach and surrounding areas," said Nancy Alexander, director of the Rehoboth Beach Museum.

The museum’s phone number is 302 227-7310, and the email address is rbhistoricalsociety@verizon.net.