On April 26, the ferryboat once again took off from the Delaware City docks as the Fort Delaware State Park on Pea Patch Island opened for another year. Highlights for this year’s visitors to Fort Delaware include a completed library, educational programs, an expanded ghost tour season and a progression of the ongoing roof rehabilitation.

Fort Delaware was originally used as a fortress for Union soldiers and a prison for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. It remained an active fort until after World War II. In 1947, the State of Delaware took possession of the fort from the federal government and turned it into a state park in 1951.

“Fort Delaware is Delaware’s only Civil War site,” said Dan Citron, the lead historical interpreter at Fort Delaware State Park. “And it’s important not only as a Delaware site, but also as a national site.”

The fort not only has the standing structure and artifacts from the Civil War era, but also has the guides in the fort dressed in Civil War garb who speak to visitors as if they lived in the time period, a method of being a tour guide known as “historical interpretation.”

“It’s the only place in Delaware where you can get a slice-of-life from the Civil War,” Citron said.

Construction has been a constant at Fort Delaware lately. In 2006, the fort had to close early. It did not in 2007, but there was much work done.

“We don’t anticipate closing early or on any day because of the construction,” Citron said.

The library in the fort is now complete, and Matt Chesser, planning preservation and development administrator for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said rehabilitation to the ceiling of the western or entrance side of the fort will be complete this season.

The entire roof of Fort Delaware needs work because it is an earthen roof, or one with dirt and grass growing at the top. Chesser said in the Civil War era, this feature allowed water collected by the dirt to drain down through the walls of the fort and into cisterns causing damage to the fort walls.

“We’ve had problems over the years with humidity,” Chesser said.

To fix the problem, a 12- to 16-inch liner is being installed under the roof that will redirect the water away from the walls.

“You won’t be able to tell it’s not the original system,” Chesser said.

So far the project has cost $500,000 to $700,000. Chesser said some of the cost has been defrayed by the increased price in ferry tickets. In July 2007, tickets were increased to $10 for adults and $6 for children.

The adult price has increased to $11 this year, Citron said. However, the increase in price also comes with more benefits. With the exception of hands-on activities and behind-the-scenes tours of the fort, visitors will not have to pay additional money for special programs. In addition, seniors and those with a valid military I.D. card will pay $10. Visitors can also reserve ferry tickets in advance now.

Chesser said there is still a considerable cost to be met, especially as the rest of the roof will also need to undergo the re-directing process.

“We’re trying to increase visitors and find new draws for people to come out there,” he said.

Citron said there will not be a Garrison Weekend this year, but there will be Civil War School taking place from Saturday, June 7 to Sunday, June 8. In this program, children will get the chance to learn how to be an army musician.

He said they will learn how to play an instrument, how to read their music, the proper commands out on the field, how to do dinner calls... basically train them to be a musician for the army.

He said, the children can learn how to play drums, bugle or fife from actual current or former military musicians. At the end, they’ll do an in-dress parade at the fort.

The ghost tours, tours of the fort at night in which guides tell stories of the fort ghosts, will also be expanded this year. Dates for this year include June 13 and 14, July 11 and 25, Aug. 15 and 22, and Sept. 5 and 19 at 6:30 p.m., and Oct. 3 and 4 at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Cost is $16. There will also be a special tour on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 5:30 p.m. for $35.

“Those always seem to be a crowd-pleaser,” Citron said.


Rebeca Henely is a reporter for the Middletown Transcript, a sister newspaper of the Community News.

Rebecca Henely middletowntranscript.com