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History · Fenwick Island

Fenwick Island’s post office opened in 1955, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Fenwick Island was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Fenwick Island Lighthouse Station. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1960.

1955first post office
1on the National Register
0.7%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fenwick Island began

When was Fenwick Island founded?

1955

The Fenwick Island post office opened in 1955, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 48 in 19602020 census: 34371 years
Founding year: the first Fenwick Island post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fenwick Island’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Fenwick Island are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19017 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1992. Watch Fenwick Island change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fenwick Island’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fenwick Island’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Fenwick Island on the map, 1901 to 1992

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fenwick Island. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Fenwick Island on the 1901 USGS mapFenwick Island on the 1943 USGS mapFenwick Island on the 1953 USGS mapFenwick Island on the 1967 USGS mapFenwick Island on the 1972 USGS mapFenwick Island on the 1981 USGS mapFenwick Island on the 1992 USGS map1901Ocean City sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fenwick Island.

The story

How Fenwick Island came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fenwick Island.

Read it all →

There is very little information about the Native Americans in and around Fenwick Island but the Nanticoke Tribe and Assateague Tribe are the tribes that inhabited the area. It is documented that the Nanticoke Tribe inhabited Strawberry Landing, which is just northwest of the town on Little Assawoman Bay, and the Assateague Tribe inhabited the area around Indian River, which is about 30 minutes by car north of the town. Little Assawoman Bay, just west the town, is named after an Algonkian name, Assawoman, that means "midway fishing stream." Both the Nanticoke and Assateague Tribes speak Algonkian.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fenwick Island, 1858 to 1955

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858BuiltFenwick Island Lighthouse Station is built
  3. 1889Born hereIsaac J. MacCollum is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1955Post officeThe Fenwick Island post office opens
By decade

Fenwick Island, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Fenwick Island DE from airplane2025Fenwick Island DE from airplanePicnic table High Tide;2015Picnic table High Tide;
On the National Register

1 historic place in Fenwick Island

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Fenwick Island Lighthouse Station
Buildings
Fenwick Island Lighthouse StationBuilt 1858

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Fenwick Island, census by census

01002003004001960198020002020Peak: 379

Between 48 and 379 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fenwick Island’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Fenwick Island’s history

What year was Fenwick Island founded?

The Fenwick Island post office opened in 1955, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Fenwick Island?

One place: the Fenwick Island Lighthouse Station (listed 1979).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 Wikimedia Commons (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.