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Mispillion Lighthouse and Beacon TowerMispillion Lighthouse and Beacon Tower · Photo: Skip willits · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Slaughter Beach

Slaughter Beach dates to 1681, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1940.

1681founded
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Slaughter Beach’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Slaughter Beach began

When was Slaughter Beach founded?

1681

Slaughter Beach dates its founding to 1681 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1940.

First census: 46 in 19402020 census: 218345 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year.The full story ↓

What stands out about Slaughter Beach’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Older than the countryEstablished in 1681, 95 years before the Declaration of Independence.On the map since 19186 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1993. Watch Slaughter Beach change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Slaughter Beach’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Slaughter Beach’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewSlaughter horseshoe: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Slaughter Beach on the map, 1918 to 1993

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

Slaughter Beach on the 1918 USGS mapSlaughter Beach on the 1938 USGS mapSlaughter Beach on the 1949 USGS mapSlaughter Beach on the 1955 USGS mapSlaughter Beach on the 1982 USGS mapSlaughter Beach on the 1993 USGS map1918Cedar Creek 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 Slaughter Beach.

The story

How Slaughter Beach came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Slaughter Beach.

Read it all →

Slaughter Beach was founded in 1681 and incorporated in 1931. There are at least three stories of where the town's name came from: The first is that it was named after William Slaughter, a local postmaster in the mid-19th century. The second story claims "the name may stem from the annual springtime appearance of hordes of horseshoe crabs that emerge from the waters of Delaware Bay to lay their eggs on the beach. Changing tides leave many crabs stranded, so that they fall victim to the beating sun or marauding foxes and raccoons—hence the name 'Slaughter Beach.'" The third story, and the most contested source of the town's name, stems from a local legend which tells of a man named Brabant who, in the mid-18th century, "slaughtered" several indigenous inhabitants by cannon in order to prevent an impending massacre. In 2018, PETA wrote to the mayor and followed up with a press release req…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Slaughter Beach, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Slaughter horseshoeDate?Slaughter horseshoe
Today30 recent
Mussel2017MusselMoon Snail shell on2017Moon Snail shell onMermaid's purse2017Mermaid's purseLittle white clam2017Little white clamJuvenile horseshoe crab molt2017Juvenile horseshoe crab moltJuvenile horseshoe crab molt2017Juvenile horseshoe crab moltHorseshoe crab with tons of Crepidula2017Horseshoe crab with tons of CrepidulaGastropod operculum2017Gastropod operculumGastropod operculum and sea cucumber2017Gastropod operculum and sea cucumberGastropod2017GastropodEpibionts on mermaid's purse2017Epibionts on mermaid's purseEpibionts on mermaid's purse2017Epibionts on mermaid's purseDead horseshoe crabs in the wrack line2017Dead horseshoe crabs in the wrack lineDead horseshoe crab2017Dead horseshoe crabDead horseshoe crab2017Dead horseshoe crabDead horseshoe crab2017Dead horseshoe crabDead horseshoe crab2017Dead horseshoe crabDead horseshoe crab2017Dead horseshoe crabCrepidula with barnacles2017Crepidula with barnaclesCrepidula on Limulus2017Crepidula on LimulusClams2017ClamsClam2017ClamClam2017ClamButterflied bivalve2017Butterflied bivalveBlue crab carapace on2017Blue crab carapace onBivalve2017BivalveBivalve2017BivalveBioeroded gastropod shell2017Bioeroded gastropod shellBarnacles2017BarnaclesBarnacle on Crepidula on Limulus2017Barnacle on Crepidula on Limulus
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Slaughter horseshoe
Retake this viewSlaughter horseshoe

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Slaughter Beach’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Slaughter Beach, census by census

010020019401960198020002020218

Grew from 46 people in 1940 to 218 in 2020, 4 times over.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Slaughter Beach

Nobody well known was born in Slaughter Beach itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Bryan StevensonAmerican lawyer, social reformer and academic · b. 1959
Ruth Ann MinnerAmerican politician and businesswoman · b. 1935
Joseph M. CareyAmerican politician · b. 1845
J
Joshua ClaytonAmerican politician · b. 1744
Willard Saulsbury Jr.American politician · b. 1861
Daniel RodneyAmerican politician · b. 1764

Questions about Slaughter Beach’s history

What year was Slaughter Beach founded?

In 1681, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1940 counted 46 people here.

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 (31), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.