Bob Trapani, Jr.

The story of the Delaware Breakwater East End Light Station cannot be told without first delving briefly into the history of the Delaware Breakwater's massive stone wall. At the time of its construction, the engineering marvel that yielded the eight-tenths-of-a-mile-long wall of protection off Cape Henlopen was the second largest such work of its kind in the world.

When scientific technology and the necessity for economic savings are melded, the results are often fascinatingly ingenious. Invariably though, one aspect that is lost in such advancing change is the element of nostalgia, which is ushered out of relevance in favor of technology's irresistible lure and promise of a more efficient tomorrow.

Maybe it's becuase this long-time beacon once took the place of so many Fresnel lenses in major lighthouses throughout North America, or maybe it's due to its less than beautiful appearance, which is devoid of all romance; but whatever the reason, the DCB-36 beacon seems to have all but disappeared into lighthouse history without so much as a whimper.

Not many people today are aware of the fact that in addition to the existing Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse, the Delaware Breakwater, or inner stone wall in Lewes Harbor, was home to another beacon of the sea. In fact, this forgotten lighthouse-known as the Delaware Breakwater West End Light Station-actually preceded the east end light and stood sentinel around the midway point of the breakwater wall.

Twenty-first century seafarers may take for granted the wealth of navigational information available to today's professional mariner, but not that many years ago, such electronic wizardry was unthinkable. Much of this highly useful information in the form of real-time digital data, colorful graphs and up-to-the-minute marine conditions is now at our finger tips thanks to trusted maritime resources on the Internet such as NOAA the US. Coast Guard and regional Maritime Exchanges.