Bowers Beach was originally settled in the late 1600s and was named Whitwell's Delight by Francis Whitwell. The land was acquired by William Frampton in 1685 and was called Dover Peers. After Frampton died, the land was sold to William Bassett. Eventually, 420 acres of Whitwell's Delight belonged to Nathaniel and Mary Hunn. After Nathaniel Hunn died in 1734, his children sold the land to John Bowers and the land along the Delaware Bay between the St. Jones River and Murderkill River became known as Bowers Beach starting on August 16, 1734. The land later belonged to John Bowers' son and then his granddaughter, with the latter being the last person in the Bowers family to own the land. Part of the land was acquired by John Booth in 1750, who sold it later in the year to Benjamin Chew. By the 1800s, the properties in Bowers Beach were owned by Joseph Wood. The properties were later sold t…
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
