In this gallery a picture of old Rehoboth is matched with the table scene or building model on the diorama (with the sponsor’s name). The photo matches are organized by section of Rehoboth Avenue.

1900 period photos are sourced from the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society; Hagley Museum Dallin Collection; Smithsonian Institute for Sanborn Insurance Maps; Lewes Historical Society; Harrington Historical Society; Delaware Archives; and private collections.

 

Table Scene Modules and Rehoboth Ave Center

Train Station Scene, Table #1

  • This aerial image from 1930 shows the train station at the center of Rehoboth Avenue. A 1919 fire had, by then, burned down the three buildings on the south side of the Avenue.

  • The Train Table Scene on the diorama depicts 1910 when a Merry-Go-Round was on the south side of the Avenue near the station. (Sponsor: The Merrick and Rowland Families)

Incoming Train Disembarks

  • In the late 1800s, the train brought elegantly dressed folks from the larger nearby cities. Some families spent the entire summer here with the breadwinner coming weekends on one of two regularly scheduled daily trains to Rehoboth. Thursdays and weekends, excursion trains would deliver six to eight railcars full of day-trippers leaving them off at the station for the walk up Rehoboth Avenue to the beach.

  • One hundred years later folks still stroll up Rehoboth Avenue, but the train station is gone and the folks are a lot less formally dressed! (Sponsor of the folks on Rehoboth Avenue on the diorama: Richard Segal, Right-on Track Models)

Grassy Oval Scene, Table #2

  • Grassy Oval, Center of Rehoboth Avenue (~1905).

  • Grassy Oval Scene on the diorama. (Sponsor: Carl Pierce)

Boardwalk, Surf Avenue, Beach, Ocean Scene, Table #3

  • Ocean Scene, Rehoboth Beach (~1912).

  • Ocean Scene on Diorama. (Sponsor: Hal Dukes)

The Beach Scene

  • Beach Scene at Rehoboth, August 1913

  • Beach Scene on the diorama. (Sponsor: Anne Lynam and Rusty Catts)

Track Configuration, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware ~1920

  • (Sponsor: Clark Readler)

Train Station

  • Rehoboth Train Station (1928).

  • Train station on diorama. (Sponsor: James Marsh Lovett)

Short Stack Engine (4-4-0)

  • Train departing Rehoboth Beach Railroad Station (~1915).

  • Train departing on the diorama. (Sponsor: Jay and Enid Lagree)

Tall Stack Engine (#13) and Passenger Cars

  • Train arriving at Rehoboth Beach Railroad Station (~1915).

  • Train arriving on the diorama. (Sponsor: Michelle and Michael Bruggeman)

Horn’s Pavilion on the Beach

  • Horn's Pavilion (~ summer 1914).

  • Horn's Pavilion on the diorama, modeled with original name on awning. (Dedication: Howard W. T. Purnell, 1894-1989, loved Horn's ice cream)

Boardwalk Merry-Go-Round

  • Boardwalk Merry-Go-Round (~ 1910 painting by Dana Pyle)

  • Merry-Go-Round on the diorama. (Sponsor: William P. Haughey, Jr.)

Fishing Pier

  • Fishing Pier off Horn's Pavilion, ~1912

  • Fishing Pier on the diorama. (Sponsor: Don Kelly and Alex Lincoln)

Boardwalk Scene

  • Boardwalk, ~1912

  • Boardwalk on the diorama. (Sponsor: Larry J. Tarabicos, Esquire)

Surf Avenue

  • Surf Avenue looking south from Horn's Pavilion over the beach at Rehoboth Avenue, ~1912

  • Surf Avenue looking south from Horn's Pavilion on the diorama. (Sponsor: Jim, Janis, and Jennifer Overdahl)

Hills Bath House

  • Hill's Bath House on Beach at head of Baltimore Avenue, ~1900

  • Hill's Bath House on the diorama. (Sponsor: Linda Walls, Great Granddaughter of Edward S. Hill)

North Side of Rehoboth Avenue, Ocean Block

Y.W.C.A. Cottage

  • Y.W.C.A. Cottage at head of Rehoboth Avenue, ~1900

  • Y.W.C.A. Cottage on the diorama. (Sponsor: Eleanor Smith)

Royal Roller Rink

  • Royal Roller Rink, north side ocean block Rehoboth Avenue, ~1905

  • Royal Roller Rink on the diorama. (Dedication: Nettie Tappan Horn, 1894-1989 Rehoboth resident)

Horn’s Ice Cream Factory

  • Horn's Ice Cream Factory as shown on 1922 Sanborn Insurance Map

  • Horn's Ice Cream Factory on the diorama (Sponsor: Donna Vassilotti)

Horn’s Storefront Arcade on the Avenue

  • Horn's Storefront Arcade, north side ocean block Rehoboth Avenue, ~1905

  • Horn's Storefront Arcade on the diorama. (Dedication: Minnie Fields Tappan, 1873-1944, Rehoboth resident)

Casino Opera House and Newton Movie Theater

  • Casino Opera House and Newton Movie Theater, north side ocean block Rehoboth Avenue, ~1912

  • Casino Opera House and Newton Movie Theater on the diorama. (Dedication: Matilda (Til) Horn Purnell,, born 1921, Grew up in Rehoboth)

Beebe Summer Cottage

  • Richard and James Beebe Summer Cottage next to Brayton Hotel, 15 Rehoboth Avenue, ~1900

  • Beebe Summer Cottage on the diorama (Sponsor: Anna Beebe (Moore) and Beebe Foundation)

Brayton Hotel

  • Brayton Hotel, 17/19 Rehoboth Avenue, ~1900

  • Brayton Hotel on the diorama (Sponsor: Gwen and Jacob Aboutboul)

Scott’s Chapel

  • Scott's Chapel, 18 Baltimore Avenue , ~1900

  • Scott's Chapel on the diorama (Sponsor: Patricia and Roger Truitt)

Marvel Boarding House

  • Marvel Boarding House (left side), 21 Rehoboth Avenue, ~1900

  • Marvel Boarding Housel on the diorama (Sponsor: Back Porch Café)

Satterfield Cottage

  • Satterfield Cottage (left side), 23 Rehoboth Avenue, ~1920

  • Satterfield Cottage on the diorama (Sponsor: Patrick Gossett and Howard Menaker)

Wingate Homestead

  • Wingate Homestead, 25 Rehoboth Avenue ,~1922

  • Wingate Homestead on the diorama (Sponsor: Wingate Family and Kevin Moore, descendants)

Oster’s Notions

  • Oster's Notions, 27 Rehoboth Avenue, ~1900

  • Oster's Notions on the diorama (Sponsor: Kollock Family)

South Side of Rehoboth Avenue, Ocean Block

Casino (Belhaven) Hotel

  • Casino Hotel, Rehoboth Ave at Boardwalk (South side), ~1905

  • Casino Hotel on the diorama (Sponsor: John and Alex Pappajohn)

Rafferty Cottage

  • Rafferty Cottage, 6 Rehoboth Ave (south side), ~1911

  • Rafferty Cottage on the diorama (Sponsor: John and Alex Pappajohn)

Hill’s Restaurants and Bath House on the Avenue

  • Hill's Restaurants and Bath House, 8/10 Rehoboth Ave (south side), ~1910

  • Hill's Restaurants and Bath House on the diorama (Sponsor: Linda Walls, Great granddaughter of Edward S. Hill)

Stewart’s Drug Store

  • Stewart's Drug Store, 12 Rehoboth Ave (south side), ~1900

  • Stewart's Drug Store on the diorama (Sponsor: Patricia Miller)

Hotel Townsend

  • Hotel Townsend, 14 Rehoboth Ave (south side), ~1912

  • Townsend Hotel on the diorama (Sponsor: Paul Townsend)

Truitt’s Boarding House

  • Truitt's Boarding House, 16 Rehoboth Ave (south side), ~1912

  • Truitt's Boarding House on the diorama (Sponsor: Roger and Patricia Truitt)

Truitt’s Ice and Power Plant

  • First Rehoboth Ice and Power Plant, 17 Wilmington Avenue, ~1921. Photo taken from north side of 1st St and Rehoboth Ave, looking under wing of train station.

  • Ice/Power Plant on the diorama (Sponsor: Missi Legg and Beau Hill, grand children of Blanche and Willard Truitt)

Blackiston Pavilion

  • Blackiston Pavilion, 18 Rehoboth Ave (south side), ~1912

  • Blackiston's Pavilion on the diorama (Sponsor: Donna Vassilotti)

Truitt’s Merry-Go-Round

  • Truitt's Merry-Go-Round on 1910 Sanborn Insurance Map, 20 Rehoboth Ave

  • Truitt's Merry-Go-Round on the diorama (Sponsor: Joanna, Karen, and Kosta Tsoukalas)

Queen Anne Railroad Excursion Building

  • Queen Anne Railroad Excursion Building on 1910 Sanborn Insurance Map, 22 Rehoboth Ave

  • Excursion Building on the diorama (Sponsor: Joseph Hohmann)

Queen Anne Boarding House

  • Queen Anne Boarding House, 28 Rehoboth Ave

  • Queen Anne Boarding House on the diorama (Sponsor: Jerry Capone and Carolyn McNeice)

South Side of Rehoboth Avenue, 2nd Block

Residential Row

  • 2nd Block Rehoboth Avenue (South) Residential Row, ~1910

  • 2nd Block Rehoboth Ave (South) Residential Row awaits positioning on the diorama (Sponsor: Bob Suppies)

Lekites Cottage

  • The Lekites House (48 Rehoboth Avenue) is identified by Anne Lynch Dyer in a ~1930s photo.

  • Lekites House on diorama (Sponsor: Available)

Thoroughgood Lumber Yard

  • Thoroughgood Lumber (48 Rehoboth Avenue) was in operation for over 100 years.

  • Thoroughgood Lumber Yard on diorama (Sponsor: Melissa Thoroughgood and Lyn Thoroughgood Webster )

Thoroughgood Homestead

  • Good pictures of 52 Rehoboth Avenue do not exist, but this is Pearl Davis, matriarch of the cottage during the railroad era. She was an expert pianist. Hydrangeas adorned the yard in front of the porch.

  • Thoroughgood Cottage on diorama (Sponsor: Mary Ann Thoroughgood, who has fond memories of visiting with her grandmother Pearl)

2nd Block of Rehoboth Avenue, Table #4

  • Enhanced ~1910 aerial view of Rehoboth Avenue's 2nd block from beach. From postcard at Rehoboth Beach Museum.

  • Table #4, Rehoboth Avenue. 2nd Block from the Ocean. (Sponsor: Jeff and Eileen Sellman)

North Side of Rehoboth Avenue, 2nd Block

Allee W. Dick Grocery Store

  • Allee W. Dick Grocery Store, 29 Rehoboth Avenue, ~1910

  • Allee W Dick Grocery Store Complex on the diorama (Dedicated to Evelyn Dick Thoroughgood, Dick Family descendent, by her daughters, Melissa Thoroughgood and Lyn Thoroughgood Webster)

John Dick’s Garage

  • John Dick's Garage, 33 Rehoboth Avenue, 1925

  • John Dick's Garage on the diorama (Dedicated to Evelyn Dick Thoroughgood, whose father owned the garage, by her daughters, Melissa Thoroughgood and Lyn Thoroughgood Webster)

37 Rehoboth Ave, Restaurant/Cottage

  • The Restaurant/Cottage at 37 Rehoboth Avenue is at the left in this ~1935 image. Note that the double railroad tracks are evident in the foreground.

  • Restaurant/Cottage mounted on the diorama. The 1910 Sanborn Insurance map showed the structure without front porch and was annotated that it was a restaurant. (Dedication: Anne Richie Horn Ballard by her daughter Evelyn Bradley)

39 Rehoboth Ave, Grocer/Cottage

  • 39 Rehoboth Ave, Grocer/Cottage, as plotted on the Sanborn Insurance Map of 1910

  • 39 Rehoboth Ave on the diorama (Dedicated to Adelaide Birtwell Tyson (1898-1995); Sponsors Dr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Schwab)

41 Rehoboth Ave, Cottage

  • 41 Rehoboth Ave, Cottage seen at right of Town Hall, ~1910

  • 41 Rehoboth Avenue on diorama. (Sponsor: Dr. Thomas C. Schwab and Anne Tyson Schwab)

43 Rehoboth Ave,Town Hall/Firehouse

  • 43 Rehoboth Ave, Rehoboth's 1st Town Hall and Fire House, built 1905, Remnants of the structure still exist on the SE corner of 1st & Virginia Avenue.

  • Town Hall as displayed on the diorama (Sponsor: Alicia and Bob Boardman, current owners of the original structure)

Joseph W. Lynch Livery

  • At 47 Rehoboth Ave/48 Baltimore Avenue, the Joseph W. Lynch Livery provided transportation from the train station to hotels, and rides up the beach to the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse.

  • The Joseph W. Lynch farmhouse and stable behind, as displayed on the diorama (Sponsor: Dedicated in loving memory to Patricia Lynch by Don Hearn, her husband)

45 Rehoboth Ave, Cottage by Town Hall

  • This is the only picture available of the cottage at 45 Rehoboth Ave. Note the bell tower from Town Hall is visible at the upper left edge of the picture. Cottage was owned by Milton Fried, publisher of the "Public Press" in Rehoboth.

  • Cottage mounted on the diorama. (Sponsor: Debbie and Ken Dantinne)

51 Rehoboth Ave, Van Pelt Cottage

  • Van Pelt Cottage as shown on 1910 Sanborn Insurance map

  • Van Pelt Cottage at 51 Rehoboth Ave on diorama (Sponsor: Nina Beebe Hazzard, granddaughter of Lula Lewis Van Pelt)

55 Rehoboth Ave, Cottage

  • ~120 year old cottage at 55 Rehoboth Ave as it appeared ~2001. In 2022, it is Claws Restaurant.

  • 55 Rehoboth Avenue as displayed on the diorama (Sponsor: Cathy and Woods Bennett)

North Side of Rehoboth Avenue, 3rd Block

61 Rehoboth Ave, Phillips Cottage

  • 61 Rehoboth Avenue as seen on 1910 Sanborn Insurance map.

  • Phillips Cottage on the diorama, Ann Lynch on wall being told by Mrs. Phillips to get down (Sponsor: Don Hallowell)

#8, 2nd Street, Current Water Tower Location

  • #8 2nd Street was the location of Rehoboth's first water tower. William Tremper Tappan contributed the lot and, along with his hunting buddy, Benjamin Shaw, built the town's first water system.

  • #8 2nd Street on the diorama, (Sponsor: Dedicated to William Tremper Tappan by his great granddaughter Alice Cannon)

63 Rehoboth Avenue, Dawson-Coursey Cottage

  • An image of this twin cottage appeared in a 1876 Rehoboth Beacon. The structure was later converted to Pettyjohn & Kunsman Store. Its final use in Rehoboth was as Wee Cottage Antiques. The left twin was moved ~1980s to 123 2nd Street in Lewes where it exists today as the Shorebreak clothing store.

  • Pettyjohn and Kunsman used the structure as a store in the early 1900s. (Dedication: To Ann Lynch Dyer by her son, Pret, and grandson, Mason. Ed Pettyjohn was her grandfather.)

65 Rehoboth Avenue, Lynch Residence

  • Behind the carriage shown here is the Lynch residence as it appeared circa 1934.

  • Clarence and Carolyn Lynch residence as it appears on the diorama (Dedication: To Ann Lynch Dyer by her son, Pret, and grandson, Mason. Ed Pettyjohn was her grandfather.)

67 Rehoboth Avenue, Pettyjohn Residence

  • Ann Lynch on her pony in front of grandparent's dual-use residence and grocery as it appeared circa 1934.

  • Pettyjohn residence and grocery as it appears on the diorama (Dedication: To Ann Lynch Dyer by her son, Pret, and grandson, Mason. Ed Pettyjohn was her grandfather.)

Rehoboth Public School

  • Rehoboth Public School as built in 1908, currently the site of the Rehoboth City Hall.

  • Rehoboth Public School as it appears on the diorama (Dedication: To Kitty Cole by her family)

79 Rehoboth Avenue, Tylecki Residence

  • Tylecki residence as it appears on the 1922 Sanborn Insurance map.

  • Tylecki residence as it appears on the diorama (Sponsor: Available)

99 Rehoboth Avenue, Epworth Church

  • Epworth Church as positioned on the triangular shaped northeast corner of Lake Avenue and Rehoboth Avenue, 1899.

  • Epworth Church as it appears on the diorama (Sponsor: John Gauger)

South Side of Rehoboth Avenue, 3rd Block

Idle Hour Inn

  • Idle Hour Inn ~1935. The most notable use for this building was as a USO during WWII. Folks living today remember coming out of the building to hear horn's blaring and bells ringing to herald the end of the war in Europe.

  • Idle Hour Inn as it appears on the diorama (Sponsor: Lynn Wilson)

66 Rehoboth Avenue

  • 66 Rehoboth Avenue as it appeared on the 1922 Sanborn Insurance Map.

  • 66 Rehoboth Avenue as it appears on the diorama (Sponsor: Rock Creek clothing store that occupies the space today)

74 Rehoboth Avenue

  • 74 Rehoboth Avenue as it appeared on the 1922 Sanborn Insurance Map.

  • 74 Rehoboth Avenue as it appears on the diorama (Sponsor: Available)

Downing Contractor Building, 82 Rehoboth Avenue

  • Downing Contractor building, ~1922. Downing Contractor was a prominent builder of Victorian style wood cottages in Rehoboth during the first three decades of

  • Downing Contractor Building as it appears on on the diorama (Sponsor: Nancy and Bob Stevens)

Lorenzo Dow Martin Farmhouse, 30 Christian Street

  • This is the oldest house still existing in Rehoboth. Everyone who drives up Rehoboth Avenue sees it as they pass Lingo's yellow offices. It has the old "Walls" sign attached to its side. Lorenzo Dow Martin sold his farm to the "Camp Meeting" folks that surveyed out the streets and founded Rehoboth in 1873.

  • Lorenzo Dow Martin Farmhouse as it appears on on the diorama (Sponsor: Marybeth Snyder and Michael J Daley)

East of Canal

Methodist - Episcopal Tabernacle Scene

  • The tabernacle was built, within the first six months of Rehoboth's existence, in a grove of Oak trees nearly a mile from the beach. The town was surveyed out but remained mostly undeveloped. Nevertheless, the first camp meeting was held that year. The annual event would only last for eight more years.

  • Tabernacle as it appears on on the diorama (Sponsor: Leslie and Sam Kaplan

Rehoboth’s First Schoolhouse

  • The first schoolhouse was built in 1884, it was one room, located in the woods on the outskirts of town near the present site of Royal Farms at the circle on Rehoboth Avenue. It would remain the town's schoolhouse until 1908 when a new brick schoolhouse was built at the site where City Hall is today. Myrtle Joseph is seen here with her schoolmates.

  • Rehoboth's first schoolhouse as it appears on on the diorama (Sponsor: Cory Garrett Rose)

Shaw Park

  • Shaw Park was established in ~1920 with features funded by Benjamin Shaw, Rehoboth Commissioner, Cottage owner on the boardwalk, wealthy industrialist from Wilmington, and benefactor of the first Beebe Hospital. Less wealthy folks could now visit Rehoboth by car and camp out. The park was renamed Grove Park in the 1990s.

  • Shaw Park as it appears on on the diorama (Sponsor: The Fifer Family of Wyoming, Delaware))