In the spring of 1813, the War of 1812 came to Lewes from the water. On April 6 and 7, 1813, a British naval squadron bombarded the town.
The blockade
After the war began, British naval forces set up a partial blockade of the American coast and made sporadic attacks on coastal towns and shipping. Lewes, at the mouth of the Delaware Bay, was in their path. Over those two days of naval fire, numerous homes and businesses in town were damaged.
The Cannonball House
One of them is still standing, and still carries the evidence. The house now called the Cannonball House was built around 1765. It was once the home of Gilbert McCracken and David Rowland, pilots for the Bay and River Delaware, the men who guided ships through the bay. An iron cannonball from the bombardment is lodged in its foundation.
The Lewes Historical Society acquired the house in 1963 and made it a maritime museum. Its exhibits cover the War of 1812, the navigation of the Delaware Bay and River, and Lewes's own maritime story.
A state marker
On April 5, 2003, the State of Delaware honored the house with a historical marker for its association with the bombardment and as the home of two pilots of the Bay and River Delaware, Gilbert McCracken and his son Henry.
Seeing it
The Cannonball House was one of the landmarks tied to this month's Lewes Maritime Weekend, when the Boast the Coast festival offered free visits associated with it. Its regular hours and admission are set by the Lewes Historical Society; check the society's current information before you go.
It is an ordinary-looking colonial house, which is the point. The war did not come to Lewes as a battle on a field. It came as cannon fire into the houses of the people who lived there, and one of those houses kept the proof.
Sources: Delaware Public Archives historical marker for the Cannonball House (archives.delaware.gov) for the April 6–7, 1813 bombardment, the house's c. 1765 date, the McCracken and Rowland pilots, the cannonball in the foundation and the April 5, 2003 state recognition; the Lewes Historical Society's Cannonball House page (historiclewes.org) for its 1963 acquisition and museum exhibits; the British blockade context as described in those sources. Claims that the house is the only surviving damaged building are not consistently sourced and are omitted. Delaware Beach Finds did not visit for this story.