OAK ORCHARD

OAK ORCHARD

The 1900 Oak Orchard, on the shore of the Indian River, a social center for

Sussex County in the summer. Families would spend all day, wading in the shallow waters,

fishing and crabbing off the several piers or just visiting with new found neighbors.

At the end of one pier there was the always crowded Coulters Carousel for the kids.

Oak Orchard, a quiet small town, was named because it was sitting in a grove of

old oak trees on the shore of Indian River Bay. It was a place where white folk came but

just down the road was Rosedale where the county colored folk came by the hundreds.

With the automobiles in the 1920's things began to change for Oak Orchard, better

roads and transportation took Sussex families to Rehoboth. A 1962 nor' easter took the

boardwalk and piers away from Oak Orchard, never too be replaced.

Oak Orchard and Riverdale are today quiet communities on the peaceful banks of

Indian River and the Indian River Bay.

Abstract: James Diehl's Remember Sussex County of American Chronicals