Rehoboth Public School building added to historic diorama

Several Rehoboth Beach residents living today attended the brick Rehoboth Beach Public School built along the north side of third-block Rehoboth Avenue in 1908.

The old brick schoolhouse building was Rehoboth’s second such facility. Today, the new City Hall occupies that location.

Students from first to 11th grade were educated in the 1908 public school building.

Ann Lynch Dyer published in her memoirs what she remembers about going to school there. The floors were bare, well-worn wood. There was a stairway going up to the second floor with a beautiful brass handrail polished to a high sheen, cool and sleek to the touch. The person who kept the rail polished was Dick Toomey, a gentle, family-oriented man who was a great friend to sit with on the front porch and ignore your grandmother calling you to come home, she wrote. Note the folks in the picture sitting on the front steps of the school.

The school was in service until the end of December 1939 when the new high school near Silver Lake was opened. Rehoboth’s first schoolhouse was where Royal Farms is today, near the traffic circle. It too will be modeled for the diorama.

The old brick schoolhouse is now displayed on Paul Lovett’s diorama of 1910 Rehoboth Avenue. The model of the school is sponsored by Kitty Cole, who is now 99 years old and attended this school, and her family members.

The diorama is a multi-year project to replicate Rehoboth Avenue during its railroad era, which lasted 85 years. The miniature village is on display in the Rehoboth Beach Main Street office building next to the Rehoboth Beach Museum. To learn about the project, go to goldenageofrehoboth.com. By appointment, Lovett hosts informal gatherings with the diorama at 9:30 a.m., Mondays, with each meeting focusing on a unique aspect of Rehoboth history. All are welcome to bring coffee and join the conversation. To reserve a space, contact Paul Lovett at paul@pdlovett.com or call 302-893-9391.