The first, 1,000-foot-long boardwalk was installed a year after the initial Methodist settlement. Now a mile long and recalling those on the New Jersey Shore, it has been repeatedly reconstructed, including after a fierce storm in March 1962 that pulverized it and all the buildings directly on the oceanfront. A big sign advertises the shop selling Dolle's Salt Water Taffy, an institution here since 1927 and rebuilt after the storm. As at many East Coast resorts, the entire landscape is artificial; the beach is massively replenished every few years with sand dredged from offshore and smoothed out by tractors. Behind the boardwalk, Rehoboth Avenue retains its old-fashioned boulevard form, lined by shops and terminating in The Oval. Beautification of the avenue (2002–2006, Johnson, Mirmiran and Thompson) included a new gazebo that replaced the bandstand of the 1960s.
Boardwalk and Rehoboth Avenue
Delaware Postcard Collection, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Del
Boardwalk and Rehoboth Avenue
1873 established. Boardwalk frequently rebuilt. Oceanfront