‘Lost Delaware’ explores what once was in the state

“The Clippers played an exhibition game against the servicemembers of Fort DuPont in 1941, with process doing to uniforms,” “Lost Delaware” writes. Courtesy of Delaware Public Archives

A new book offers striking stories about 71 Delaware landmarks that “now live solely in memory,” from the Greenbaum cannery (a Seaford operation that was sometimes described as the world’s biggest and was known for canning tomatoes, peas, peaches and pears) to the Cape Henlopen Light (a beacon that operated from 1767 to about 12:45 p.m. April 13, 1926, when it collapsed, with its scavenged stones living on in many nearby buildings, including the fireplaces in Lewes City Hall.

Such rich and riveting details are offered in all 10 chapters of “Lost Delaware,” by Rachel Kipp and Dan Shortridge. It’s the third book by the couple, following “100 Things to Do in Delaware Before You Die” and “Secret Delaware: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure.”

IN THE NEWS: At state fair: competitions, concerts, carnival, corn dogs

“We all have nostalgia,” Kipp said in an interview with Shortridge. “I love being approached by people who remember these things. ‘Oh, what about this thing?’ they ask. ‘Do that in the next book.’ ”

So are there plans for a sequel? “Not yet,” said Shortridge, although offering his email – danshortridge@gmail.com – for suggestions, just in case.

“We’re always looking for something for a good book,” Kipp added.

Shortridge does have a new book out this fall. “Joe Biden’s Delaware” offers a history of the Bidens, from when he moved to the state in 1953, “through the people, places and politics of the state.”

IN THE NEWS: Study shows Delaware’s art stirs $210 million in economic activity

It’s time to note this: I know both from when we worked at The News Journal/delawareonline. I’m also a source for their vignette on Tri-State Mall.

Rachel Kipp is co-author of “Lost Delaware.”

Kipp and Shortridge began the book with a list of more than 100 ideas, and their spreadsheet grew as their research revealed more subjects, and it also shrunk when they realized that there wasn’t enough interesting information about a subject, or that it didn’t fit into the balance they were trying to achieve in spanning each county and a wide variety of categories. They were after “diversity in all senses of the word,” they told Delaware Public Media.

The book is organized around alphabetical chapters: agriculture, business, eating, entertainment and sports, industry, mansions, medicines, public life, religion and schools and transportation. A bibliography – up to 16 sources for each entry – is at the end the book.

They relied a lot on newspapers.com, the Delaware Public Archives and the state’s libraries. They also used their personal knowledge.

Shortridge is a Sussex native who knows “where the general store used to be,” and Kipp also covered the Newark area for The News Journal.

“I remember people talking about Three Little Bakers,” she said. “I missed out on that.”

Delaware, remembered

Almost all the entries are buildings, fondly remembered.

Dan Shortridge is co-author of “Lost Delaware.”

Notable exceptions include strawberries (Sussex County was the largest strawberry producer in the nation in 1899!), the cows at Winterthur , Wilmington’s King Street market, a floating restaurant called the Nanticoke Queen, the Punkin Chunkin, Wheeler’s Park, the Brandywine Springs complex, Jason and Rosedale beaches, DuPont Motors, menhaden fishing in Lewes, shipbuilding throughout the state (“at its peak, Milford’s seven shipyards employed 75% of city residents,” the book says), stills in Sussex County, the whipping post (the last in the country), Jack Lewis’ mural in Lewes, several railroads (Newark once had three stations, serving three railroads), several bridges, the Queen Anne Pier in Lewes, the Delaplane (Delaware’s first airplane, which first flew on Oct. 21, 1910) and the Bellanca Airfield.

The Wilmington Clippers (a football founded and funded by Lammot du Pont II) and the Wilmington Quicksteps (a baseball) both played at Wilmington Park, a stadium at Gov. Printz Boulevard and 30th Street in Wilmington that at various times also housed the University of Delaware football team and the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

One noteworthy player for the Clippers was Vince Lombardi – “yes, that Vince Lombardi,” Out & About wrote in 2022.

And one entry is intangible: The language of the Nanticoke, who were living in Delaware before Europeans started colonization in the 1600s. It’s been partly reconstructed from studying neighboring, related languages.

Shortridge and Kipp plan a presentation Aug. 15 at the Lewes Library about “Lost Delaware,” including a book signing.