Delaware purchases Fenwick Island Lighthouse keeper’s house

Credit to: Coastal Point | Kerin Magill

Photo courtesy of: Lighthousefriends.com

A gathering to honor a family long associated with the Fenwick Island Lighthouse last week turned into a celebration of a major announcement: that the original keeper’s house, long privately owned, has been purchased by the state of Delaware.

The sale was announced Friday, Aug. 1, during the dedication of a plaque in the second keeper’s house associated with the historic lighthouse to its former caretakers, Oliver and Rachel Cropper.

Suzanne Savery, director of the state’s Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, said the house, built in 1868, as well as some surrounding property, was sold to the state for $3.9 million. The house has long been owned by members of the Selby family, while the newer keeper’s residence, built in 1881, is owned by the state and is overseen by the New Friends of the Fenwick Island Lighthouse, as is the lighthouse itself.

The lighthouse was first lit on Aug. 1, 1859, being built on what was then thought to be the highest point on the island. The original keeper’s home, just east of the 87-foot brick lighthouse, was quickly determined to be too small to house both the keeper’s family and the assistant keeper’s family so a new house was built slightly west of the lighthouse.

Included in the sale was property surrounding the older keeper’s house which had been occupied by several rows of mobile homes, which have been removed from the property.

Savery said the state will soon begin the process of deciding what the next steps will be toward incorporating the new property into the existing historic area, which includes the newer house, now a museum, and the lighthouse. Both are open to the public during the spring and summer months (for hours, go to fenwickislandlighthouse.org).

During last Friday’s event, which was attended by local and state officials as well as members of the New Friends and the Cropper and Selby families, the history of the property was celebrated as well as that of the families who lived there.

Dick Carter, director of special projects for the Delaware State Senate and chairman of the Delaware Heritage Commission, recalled that he met Oliver and Rachel Cropper in the 1970s. He had received a phone call from Dorothy Pepper, who told him that the light atop the lighthouse was to be turned off “and we had to do something to get the property for the state of Delaware. At that time, it was owned and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard.

With the help of then-Senator Joe Biden, the group reclaimed the lighthouse’s original Fresnel lens, Carter said, which was being used as a decoration in the Washington, D.C., office of the U.S. Coast Guard Commandant.

“A really large part of this property being so well-preserved is owing to Oliver and Rachel Cropper,” Carter said. “They kept the place open,” for visitors, he said. “Their contributions to this historic site were just unimaginable.”

“They were wonderful people,” Carter said.

Tracy Lewis, who leads the New Friends of the Fenwick Island Lighthouse with her mother, Winnie Lewis, introduced Savery at the gathering. Standing near the plaque honoring the Croppers, Savery said “the preservation of these resources are key to the state. The state cannot do it alone…we have to really create a partnership.

“It’s really exciting that we can now reassemble the historical complex that was here,” Savery said. In her 12 years in her job, she said, “I’ve watched this building develop and grow. I see this network of community” including the New Friends and its volunteers.

Citing the Cropper family’s efforts to preserve the lighthouse and its history, she said “that’s where it started,” but said it is up to the community to help continue that legacy. “It needs to be ingrained in the community. It needs to be a piece of the fabric of the community.”

State Sen. Gerald Hocker and state Rep. Ronald Gray attended the gathering, presenting legislative tributes to the Cropper family.