Spring 2025 Diorama Talk Series with Historian Paul Lovett

Description

Beginning Monday, January 27 at 10 am with “Railroad Era Buildings that Still Exist in Rehoboth” the Rehoboth Beach Museum starts its spring 2025 Golden Age of Rehoboth Beach Diorama Talk series with historian Paul Lovett, who recently gifted his handcrafted townscape to the Rehoboth Beach Museum. 

 

Mr. Lovett will present a total of four talks this spring with the “History of Rehoboth’s Train Terminal” on Monday, February 10 at 10 am; the “Lorenzo Dow Martin Farmhouse” on Monday, March 5 at 10 am; and the “Chronology of Rehoboth’s Railroad Tracks” on Monday, March 24 at 10 am.

 

The museum’s executive director, Heidi Nasstrom Evans says, “Paul Lovett’s diorama is so charming and clearly reflects its maker’s passion for the history of our wonderful town.”  While the exhibit is now on permanent view and can be enjoyed whenever the museum is open, Nasstrom Evans says, “it is best experienced in Mr. Lovett’s presence, when he personalizes the history to the interests of his audience.” 

 

Now located in the museum’s west, first floor gallery, the diorama is a miniature model of the city set back in time to circa 1910, the era when the railroad ran down Rehoboth Avenue.  A train complete with smoke and whistle chugs down the main thoroughfare of the replica, as it did until upgrades to Delaware’s roadways led automobiles to eclipse locomotives as the preferred way to get to the beach. 

 

Starting at the Atlantic Ocean with Horn’s Pier and Pavilion and the boardwalk merry-go-round (lost to the sea in the Storm of 1914), the diorama is populated with tiny people in historic dress enjoying many of the past times we still appreciate today, such as taking a stroll in the fresh air, a dip in the ocean, enjoying stays at beach-houses and hotels, going to church, out for yummy meals, ice cream, shopping, and more.  Back in the day, they even had a roller rink and a movie theater!  The history of all these places is described and pictured on the diorama for visitors to better understand the ways in which people of the past enjoyed their time at the sea shore. 

Date & Time

Jan 27 - Mar 24, 2025

Venue Details

Rehoboth Beach Museum

511 Rehoboth Avenue
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware 19971

Rehoboth Beach Historical Society