Lewes Union School once stood on Savannah Road
If still in existence today, the Lewes Union School would stand on Savannah Road about where Beebe Healthcare’s eastern entrance is located.
The school was constructed in 1875 and opened in 1876 following the New School Law of 1875 Act, which allowed a fixed tax to be levied in each school district. It paved the way for several one-room schools to be consolidated into a single public school. Since it was the 19th century, the school only allowed white children. According to Volume XII of the Journal of the Lewes Historical Society, Eliza R. Marshall deeded the school board one acre of land for $700 in August 1875; the school was built for $8,000. The seven-room school was built to accommodate 300 students; enrollment was 226 pupils on opening day.
“Admission requirements were that a child must be 6 years of age, comfortably dressed, and free of any contagious disease,” Lewes historian Hazel Brittingham wrote in the LHS journal. By the early 1900s, enrollment necessitated a three-room addition. Thanks to financing by Pierre S. du Pont as part of a statewide effort to improve education, a new school was constructed in 1921 farther west on Savannah Road; the building was dedicated in 1922. Though renovated, that school still stands today as part of the new Lewes Elementary.
If anyone has historic photographs or slides they’d be willing to share, email newsroom@capegazette.com.
