Historic Rehoboth Boardwalk barons is Aug. 1 lecture topic

Local historian Paul Lovett’s diorama, the Golden Age of Rehoboth Beach, is on view through Labor Day at the Rehoboth Beach Museum.

It is a miniature model of the city circa 1910, when the railroad still ran down Rehoboth Avenue. A locomotive complete with smoke and whistle chugs down the main thoroughfare of the replica, as the real trains did until upgrades to Delaware roadways led automobiles to eclipse them as the preferred way to get to the beach.

Lovett will present “Boardwalk Barons and the Takeover of Rehoboth’s Government” at 5 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 1, in the museum’s Nicholas & Theologia Papaioanu (Papajohn) Lecture Hall. During the 1880s, wealthy industrialists from Wilmington, Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia built cottages on Rehoboth’s boardwalk. Attendees will find out who they were and how they organized to take over the management of the city in 1891. They renamed it Cape Henlopen City and brought order to what would otherwise have been a wild west railroad town.

Heidi Nasstrom Evans, museum executive director, said, “The exhibit is best experienced in Mr. Lovett’s presence, when he personalizes the history to the interests of his audience. We are thrilled to open the exhibit of Mr. Lovett’s handcrafted townscape. It is so charming and clearly reflects its maker’s passion for the history of our wonderful town.”

Starting at the Atlantic Ocean with Horn’s Pier and Pavilion (lost to the sea in the Storm of 1914) and the boardwalk merry-go-round, the diorama is populated with tiny people in historic dress enjoying many of the pastimes still appreciated today – strolling the boards, shopping at local boutiques, dining out at area hotels and restaurants, visiting the roller rink or movie theater, and savoring a refreshing ice cream treat. The history of all these places is described and pictured on the diorama for visitors to better understand the ways in which people of the past enjoyed their time at the seashore.

Seating is limited, and reservations can be made at rbmuseum.org. Admission is free for members and $10 for nonmembers.

The Rehoboth Beach Museum is currently open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, at 511 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach. It is operated by the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and showcasing for the public the history, culture, architecture and unique character of Rehoboth Beach.