Lewes launches 250th party with two lights and one bonfire

April 30, 2025 1

A late-afternoon bonfire held April 19 celebrated the midnight ride of Paul Revere and officially kicked off Lewes’ America 250 party.

The community bonfire was one of two events that marked Revere’s historic journey through Boston on April 18, 1775.

The other commemoration was a national initiative called Two Lights for Tomorrow.

The city asked residents and businesses to display two lights in their windows April 18 and 19.

It was an ode to Revere’s “two if by sea” signal of two lanterns in Boston’s Old North Church to let everyone know the British were coming.

The bonfire took place on a summer-like Saturday at Savannah Beach, which inspired some people to roast marshmallows.

Visitors who were gathered around one of two fire pits held a group reading of “Paul Revere’s Ride,” a famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Members of the New Hope Canoe Club Ministry Team Atlantic had their own take: They paddled two of the their outriggers onto the beach, illustrating “two if by sea.”

Tara Schmitt, who recently moved to Lewes from New York, took it all in from under a beach umbrella near the bonfire.

“This place is chock-full of amazing history,” she said. “I like the idea of having more of these sorts of activities here so it would be more of a cultural magnet for people.”

The city is part of a committee that is currently planning more events for the United States’ 250th birthday, or semiquincentennial.

The panel, led by the Greater Lewes Foundation, includes city leaders along with members of Historic Lewes (formerly the Lewes Historical Society), the Lewes Chamber of Commerce, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and various nonprofits.