Lewes Historical Society
Five small historic sites, walking tours, and a monthly movie night.
110 Shipcarpenter St, Lewes, DE 19958
Hours
10 AM – 4 PM
Show the week Hide the week
| Sat | 10 AM – 4 PM |
|---|---|
| Sun | Closed |
| Mon | Closed |
| Tue | Closed |
| Wed | 10 AM – 4 PM |
| Thu | 10 AM – 4 PM |
| Fri | 10 AM – 4 PM |
- Historic Lewes Town Campus office: Closed today
Last checked 2026-09-14
- Cost
- Free
- Best for
- 6-12
- Indoor / outdoor
- Indoor
- Typical visit
- 1-2 hours per site or tour
The Quick Version
- • Not one building — five sites within walking distance in downtown Lewes, run by one organization.
- • 110 Shipcarpenter St is the Town Campus; the History Museum & Archives is at 101 Adams Ave.
- • No admission fee at any site. A $5 per-person donation is 'welcomed and appreciated' — that's per person, so a family of four is being asked for $20.
- • Site hours, April 1 to October 31: Town Campus, Cannonball House and Ryves Holt House are Wed-Sat 10-4; the History Museum & Archives is Fri-Sat 10-4. Everything except the tavern and coffeehouse closes December 21 to March 31.
- • Walking tours are the part you pay for: History Highlights $10 at 11 a.m. Wed-Sat April-October, Lewes Legends $20 at 6 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays April-September. Pre-registration is required and closes 30 minutes before the start.
- • The U.S. Life-Saving Service Boat House is temporarily closed for restoration.
Best Ages
6-12
Plan For
1-2 hours per site or tour
Adults
Free — no admission fee; $5 per-person donation suggested
Kids
Free — no admission fee; $5 per-person donation suggested
What to Expect
The Lewes Historical Society operates as Historic Lewes, and its footprint is a walkable constellation rather than one museum: the Town Campus on Shipcarpenter Street, the History Museum on Adams Avenue, the Cannonball House on Front Street, the Ryves Holt House on Second Street, and the Life-Saving Service Boat House on Pilottown Road, which is temporarily closed for restoration. One site fills an hour; two make a morning.
The money question has a simple answer: none of the sites charge admission. They ask for a $5 donation per person and leave it at that, which makes a drop-in visit genuinely low-stakes — if the six-year-old lasts fifteen minutes in the Cannonball House, you haven't burned a ticket. What costs money is the walking tours, and they're the reason to plan ahead: $10 for the 45-to-60-minute History Highlights spotlight at 11 a.m., $20 for the 90-minute Lewes Legends evening tour, $25 for Shipwrecks & Rescues on the beach with Cape Henlopen State Park rangers. Tours often sell out, pre-registration is required, and it closes 30 minutes before start time.
With younger kids, the programming is often the better entry point. Movie Night at 6:00 PM, First Friday Community Nights from 4 to 7, and Shanty Night at the Sussex Tavern — billed as 'epic singing, cheering, ranting and raving' — all let a family drop in and leave when someone's done. One honest gap: nothing about bathrooms, changing tables or stroller access at any of the five sites is posted, and these are 17th- and 18th-century buildings. Call 302-645-7670 if that's the deciding factor.
Who It's Best For
Tours and exhibits reward kids who can listen and walk for an hour — roughly first grade up. Younger siblings do better at the come-and-go events than at the tours. The Haunting History paranormal investigation is pitched at older kids and adults, and the society flags the Through Time & Tide walking-and-cruise tour as not recommended for young children.
Highlights
Walking tours
Ages 7+History Highlights is the low-commitment one: $10, 45-60 minutes, one mile, 11 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday, April to October. Lewes Legends is $20 for 90 minutes of local tall tales at 6 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays. All tours start outside the Sussex Tavern and require pre-registration.
Shipwrecks & Rescues
Ages 8+$25, one hour, run with Delaware State Parks rangers on the beaches where more than 2,000 ships were lost. Upcoming dates include Sept 24 and Oct 22 at 6:00 pm; tours run every 15 minutes after the start time.
Old-School Movie Night
Ages 5-126:00 PM the second Monday of each month in the Maritime History theatre at 101 Adams Ave, which the society describes as new and improved.
First Friday Community Nights
All agesMonthly, 4 to 7 p.m. at the Sussex Tavern — a colonial-inspired taste of what the society does, come-and-go.
What to Skip with Little Ones
- • A full walking tour with a child who still naps. Do a single site instead — there's no admission fee, so a fifteen-minute visit costs nothing.
- • Through Time & Tide, the 2.5-hour walking tour plus boat cruise — the society itself says it's not recommended for young children.
- • The Haunting History paranormal investigation: $35, 2.5 hours, and it starts at 8:00 or 10:00 PM.
Logistics
Admission
Adults
Free — no admission fee; $5 per-person donation suggested
Kids
Free — no admission fee; $5 per-person donation suggested
Under
Free — no admission fee; $5 per-person donation suggested
The Town Campus, Cannonball House, Ryves Holt House and Boat House all post the same line: 'No admission fee is required. A $5 (per person) donation is welcomed and appreciated!' The History Museum & Archives listing reads 'No Admission until Dec. 2026' — free for now, worth re-checking after that. Walking tours are priced separately: History Highlights $10, Lewes Legends $20, Finding Their Voices $20, Revolutionary Lewes $20, the evening Architecture Tour $15, Shipwrecks & Rescues $25, and the Haunting History paranormal investigation $35 ($40 for the Halloween Night edition). Pre-registration is required for all tours and closes 30 minutes before the start time.
Membership tip: Membership gets free admission to all locations, 10% off walking tours and 10% off the museum shop, plus the annual Journal. Membership rates aren't posted on the readable pages.
Getting There
Parking
Free parking is usually available on 3rd Street in front of the complex — that's the society's own line in the Architecture Tour itinerary, so it's the campus lot-adjacent street they point visitors to. Nothing about parking at the Adams Avenue museum is posted.
Entrance
Administration and Town Campus at 110 Shipcarpenter Street; office hours Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Walking tours start on the Town Campus outside the Sussex Tavern. The other four sites have their own doors: History Museum & Archives, 101 Adams Ave; Cannonball House Maritime Museum, 118 Front St; Ryves Holt House, 218 Second St; U.S. Life-Saving Service Boat House, 229 Pilottown Rd — temporarily closed for restoration.
Parent Logistics
Not confirmed. These are historic houses — assume tight doorways and steps. The walking tours are on downtown sidewalks, which a stroller handles fine.
Not confirmed.
Not confirmed.
Not confirmed. The campus grounds are open dawn to dusk year-round and the tours are outdoors on sidewalks; the society's own advice for the evening architecture tour is to bring an umbrella for misty or light rain, which tells you how covered it isn't.
Food & Snacks
The campus includes the Sussex Tavern, Thurs-Sat 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and the Lewistown Coffeehouse, Fri-Sat 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Those two are also the only things that stay open through the December 21-March 31 off-season. Menus and prices aren't posted on the readable pages.
Snack strategy: Downtown Lewes is two blocks away, so don't over-plan. Feed kids before a walking tour — an hour on foot with a guide is not a snacking hour.
Pro Tips
- ✓ Pre-register for any tour. The society says tours often sell out quickly and registration closes 30 minutes before the start time.
- ✓ Free parking is usually available on 3rd Street in front of the campus, and the five sites are close enough to walk between — park once and treat it as a stroll with stops.
- ✓ Admission is free with a suggested $5-per-person donation, so a single site is the cheap, bail-out-anytime version of this outing.
- ✓ For history without the sit-still requirement, aim at First Friday or Movie Night instead of a tour.
- ✓ Bathrooms, changing tables and stroller access aren't posted for any of the five sites. Call 302-645-7670 first if you need to know.
When to Go
Best Time to Visit
Summer and early fall, when the tour calendar is thickest. September adds the Speaker Series (Sept 10, 5:00 pm) and the Cannonball 5K and Trenny Elliott Memorial Walk on Sept 13 at 8:30 am.
Seasonal Notes
Seasonal hours run April 1 to December 20: Wed-Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. through October 31, then Thurs-Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. from November 1 to December 20. December 21 to March 31 the sites are closed except the Sussex Tavern and Lewistown Coffeehouse; the campus grounds stay open every day, year-round, dawn to dusk. Office hours at 110 Shipcarpenter are Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Also recurring: yoga Wednesdays at 8 am on the Shipcarpenter campus, Shanty Night at the Sussex Tavern on third Fridays, and Genealogist in Residence the first Saturday of each month (except January), 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
While You're in the Area
Second Street shops are steps away; Cape Henlopen State Park and Fort Miles are a short drive east.
Upcoming Events
Know when something good is on near Lewes Historical Society
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