Augustine Beach was named for Augustine Hermann, the Bohemian adventurer who mapped the Delmarva Peninsula and surrounding areas in the mid-1600’s for Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore. The spot is said to have been the easternmost stop along a trail Hermann had built across the peninsula from the Chesapeake to the Delaware Bay. Used by ox-carts and other rough conveyances for the movement of goods between the two bays, the trail roughly paralleled the present course of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

Much later, during the late 19th century, Augustine Beach became a favorite retreat for day trippers from Philadelphia cruising down the river aboard the steamboat Thomas Clyde. Together with local farm families, these pleasure-seekers would crowd the pier and amusement buildings which have long since gone the way of steamboats themselves.

The most notable structure left at Augustine Beach today is the large brick Augustine Beach Hotel, formerly a social center of the region built in 1814. It has served more recently as a restaurant. The nuclear generating stations, across the river in New Jersey, dominate the vista. Augustine Creek, south of Augustine Beach, is currently being restored by the Division of Fish and Wildlife under the Northern Delaware Wetlands Rehabilitation Program.

This page last updated