Big Stone Beach on the Delaware Bay

8/4/2012

The Mysterious Big Stone Beach, Delaware, Located on the Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay Beach

Photographing the lovely beaches lining the western shore of the Delaware Bay would take you to unique locations: Woodland Beach, Port Mahon Beach, Pickering Beach, Bombay Hook Beach, Prime Hook Beach, Kitts Hummock Beach, North and South Bowers Beaches, Slaughter Beach, Roosevelt Beach, and Lewes Beach, to name a few sites. Another beach bears a descriptive name and a mystery about how it received its name--Big Stone Beach.

Big Stone Beach's name would lead us to believe there must be large rock formations on the beach like on the West Coast of the United States. The coastal zone along the Delaware Bay, however, does not have any steep rock formations. Rather, it is made up of low lying marshes that often lead to sandy beaches. My curiosity piqued, I set out to take photos of this beach and its unique rock structures.

As I drove along Big Stone Beach Road, I passed through two and a half miles of beautiful forests and low marshlands inhabited by a variety of songbirds and shorebirds. A half mile from the beach, the freshwater marshes lapped lazily at the grassy edges of the road, and in the distance, I could see a tall black structure that reminded me of a fire watch tower. A few cottages lined the bay, but I didn't see any inhabitants or people on the beach.

Big Stone Beach is a very quiet beach, and in the vicinity of its entrance road, there are no large natural rock formations or manmade structures composed of stone. Could the name have originated from a local Native American word describing the sizes of stones on the beach or the size of the beach itself?

The military history of the beach and the black tower dates back to the end of WWI when a commissioned fort, Fort Saulsbury, was built to protect the eastern shore. During WWII, the United States used the fort to house prisoners of war and the staff who guarded them. Was the name of the beach related to a military maneuver?

Entrance Road to Big Stone Beach

Marshes on the North Side of the Entrance Road

Marshes on the South Side of the Entrance Road

Close-up View of the Tower at Big Stone Beach

From a Distance, What Appears to Be Tree Stumps on the Beach

Close-up View of the Stumps Lining the Beach

Roiling Charcoal Sea Foam on the Beach

The tower in the photos was part of the Fort Saulsbury defenses that were used in WWII as observation towers and as a gun battery. In May 1941, the 261st Coast Artillery Battery B was assigned to Fort Saulsbury for the purposes of coastal defense. They watched the coast line from three steel fire control observation towers that were built at Stone Beach, Mispillion Lighthouse and Fowler's Beach. Only the Big Stone Beach tower remains, along with the mystery of how this unique location received its name. If you know the answer to this question, please add your information to the Comments section below.

The Big Stone Beach area is environmentally protected because of Ted Harvey's foresight. Ted Harvey acquired 2700 acres along Big Stone Beach as part of the Ted Harvey Wildlife Area, giving the organization control over land that had been planned to be appropriated by oil companies for major building projects. Today, the conservation district is one of the premier East Coast wildlife refuges.

Directions to Big Stone Beach: North of Milford, Delaware, on Route 1, turn right (NE) at Thompsonville Road and go 3.5 miles. Turn right (E) onto Scotts Corner Road, arriving at Scott's Corners in 1.1 miles. Take a left (NE) onto Big Stone Beach Road. The road reaches the bayshore in another 2.6 miles after traveling through forests and marshes inhabited by songbirds and shorebirds.

Map of Delaware Bay Beaches by the US Fish & Wildlife Service

28 Comments

landscapers Brisbane link

8/30/2012 11:40:19 pm

I am so grateful to find your particular post. I have bookmarked this website and I will keep visiting you for further such interesting posts.

Norene

9/4/2012 04:32:51 pm

Thank you so much! I look forward to hearing from you again. Please feel free to share a link to my website with friends.

KATE TANIS

12/3/2012 08:54:51 am

eNJOY YOUR POSTS ON BIG STONE BEACH----WE ARE LOOKING FOR QUIET ---PRIVATE AREA TO WALK OUR DOGS--BUT LAREL HAVE FOUND BIG STONE A DANGEROUS AREA TO WALK IN----LOTS OF RUSTED METAL LAYING AROUND AND BIG PIECES ALL OVER STUCK IN GROUND----WORR ABOUT THE SMALL CHILDREN AND PETS WE HAVE MET RUNNING AROUND----IS THERE ANY POSSIBLE WAY TO GET CONTRACTORS TO OFFER THEIR EQUIPMENT AND GET VOLUNTEERS TO OFFER HELP IN CLEANING UP THE DANGEROUS MATERIAL FROM THIS BEAUTIFUL AREA----IT IS SO SAD TO SEE IT----EVERY DAY WE TRY AND PICK UP SMALL METAL PIECES AND BROKEN GLASS AND BRING IT HOME----DO YOU KNOW OF ANY OTHER AREAS WE WOULD BE PERMITTED TO WALK----THANKYOU----i AM SO GRATEFUL TO READ ALL YOU POST---kATE

Norene

12/3/2012 11:59:55 am

Hi Kate,
Thanks for writing! More importantly, thank you for your efforts to make Big Stone Beach a safer place! You are right, it is one of the prettiest and serene beaches along the Delaware Bay, but rusty pieces of metal can be found buried in the sand from years past. The recent hurricane washed a lot of sand away from Delaware Beaches, uncovering even more debris. So please be careful and don't get injured, and watch your dogs' paws, too. Rusty metal is never a good thing to step on! Tetanus shots, anyone? I think we'll see a greater clean-up effort on the beaches once hurricane season has officially ended. Once the weather settles a little, groups form to clean up the area beaches. People in Delaware are wonderful---so conscious of their beautiful environment. Most of the beaches that I've written about on the blog allow dogs on leashes during the off-season. I think South Bowers Beach has one of the prettiest sandy areas on the southern edge of town. This summer much sand replenishment was laid down, and I hope the storms have not culled it away. Let me know what you find when you visit the other beaches, please. I've been so busy managing my new book sales that I have not had time to visit my favorite beach spots. Norene

north beach parking link

12/28/2012 12:41:03 am

Really nice place to walk.

Norene

2/19/2013 12:34:19 pm

Hello,
Yes, so many people have commented about the pristinenature of the area.
Thank you for writing,
Norene

Steve

7/11/2013 01:43:20 am

Yes, this is a very different beach from, say, slaughter or broadkill. It appears to me that this town was much larger not that long ago. I am interested in what happened there. When walking to the north from the main road in, the "stumps" are actually the remains of the rest of the town. They are the pilings from houses that used to be there and appear to have been cut off, maybe a chainsaw. Some other clues include PVC & plastic pipe, and at least one set of pilings are pressure treated wood. PVC, plastic pipe and PT wood are all recent building materials, my guess would be the 1970's ? If you walk up to the dunes from the beach on the north side and look west, you can see the old road and driveways. The old road north goes quite a ways. Does anyone know what happened there; all of my searches, including talking to some locals, cannot address this question.

Stone range hoods link

10/6/2013 06:11:05 pm

Thanks to you! Finally I got some stuff in your blog post related. I was searching for some material related to matter included in post. Very useful and very informative. Thanks once again and do share some more posts if you have!

doug

4/11/2014 10:59:53 am

I will ask around and find out some info. I know an owner there thats lived on the beach for 50 years.

Norene Moskalski

4/24/2014 12:51:01 pm

Thanks, Doug. I'll watch for your post here with any information that you find.
All the best,
Norene

Wanda

8/14/2014 02:23:57 am

On our last visit to the area, it does not look so pristine. There is trash everywhere, and the beach and water seem filthy and unsafe. Is this standard in this area? It was very disappointing after reading this write-up to come to the area and see a very different picture.

Also, does it always smell that bad?

Norene

8/14/2014 04:54:12 am

Hi Wanda,
No, it is usually very nice on this beach. I wonder if the debris floated down river after one of the recent flood warnings we've had. That would explain the fouled water, too. If you go again and the condition has not improved, please let all of us know by reporting your findings here.
Thanks for your comments,
Norene

Norene

8/14/2014 04:55:16 am

Norene

8/14/2014 04:55:39 am

Patti Pelly

1/2/2015 01:55:11 pm

I used to go to Big Stone Beach back in the fifties. My grandmother had a cousin that had a house there and we go on vacation there best memories of my childhood. We would fish n crab n whatever we caught we ate for dinner. Back then only one house had electricity and an indoor bathroom. We were told that there wasba "Big Stone" out in the bay n that is how it got the name.

Norene

1/3/2015 10:05:47 am

Hi Patti,

That's some beautiful history that you are relating. Thank you for writing. I can just picture the fun that you and the other children had!

I'm intrigued by the "Big Stone" out in the bay. That would explain the name! Has anyone else come across information about the big stone?

joe

3/31/2015 09:45:57 am

I am aware of some local history concerning the 'big stone beach' area. Specifically, the origin of the name and how it relates to the stone.

Suzannah

3/31/2015 11:02:38 am

Brad

6/9/2015 12:31:59 pm

Is it legal to drive on the beach trail with a car

Norm

1/30/2016 02:25:07 pm

I was walking at Big Stone today and I was told that all of the stumps, concrete, metal etc were homes that were burned in a fire sometime in the recent past. I'm not sure if this is accurate...but I guess is a possibility.

Joe

1/30/2016 05:01:54 pm

The houses there were demolished because the water was creeping closer and closer. When the were first built, the shoreline was much further out into the bay. I believe the residents were bought out by the state and the houses demolished.

Norm

1/31/2016 05:44:10 am

Yeah...it was obvious that shoreline is higher now. Why weren't the other houses demolished as well?

Ben link

3/14/2016 08:55:38 pm

The beach was larger years ago but the Bay has always claimed large beaches. Mid tide currents along the bay beaches can run 3-6 knots normally and 8-10 knots during storms. Stumps there are indeed former pilings for houses. There story is quite confusing as many of the houses were never actually owned outright but permitted by the Greco family. (Hence the name "Greco Ditch", the creek that runs between the beach and marsh called Rawleys Island to the Mispillion River) the Grecos ceded the land to the state after Mrs Greco passed in the late 80s early 90s and the house "owners" became squatters on state land. There was a big legal dust up and things worked out in the end.
To the person who said it stinks, its the marsh. You likely passed at low tide when the methane in the marsh lets off. Its an aquired aire and one that thankfully turns off the more "it's great here but..." crowd and keeps the bay beaches more natural than the crowded tourist traps on the ocean.

Foxwell

5/21/2016 11:20:52 am

This is a special beach to me; it's so nice to wander into a post dedicated to it.

For those who enjoy an excursion into nature reclamation, particularly beach-nature reclamation, this is a particularly rare and wonderful experience.

It is relatively isolated, with a population of 0 last time I visited. All previous vacation and military presence are being reverted black to pristine nature. The drive in, which is a little rough btw, features marshes and flocks and flocks of birds.

Lois

7/15/2016 10:59:25 am

Hello Norene,

Thank you for introducing people to Big Stone Beach. We own a house there and love the remote feel of the beach and the wildlife. Thankfully those are not things that appeal to the majority of vacationers, so we are not inundated by the crowds to the south.

I heard that the beach was named Big Stone Beach because there used to be a big rock out off the beach which was used for target practice in WWII. That's why you don't see it any more.

The mystery of the houses that used to be on the north side is this. For many years all the land including the marshes was owned by a lady. I don't know her name, but other people who have been in the area longer knew her. Most of the people who had houses on both sides of the road paid her land rent. When she died her heirs sold the land to the Nature Preserve and they told all the house owners that they had 5 years to get the houses off their land, or they would burn the houses down. A few people on the south side had never paid land rent and they claimed squatters rights over their land. The Nature Preserve decided that all the houses on the south side could stay, and there was a court hearing where people could buy the land under their houses. The houses on the north side were burned down about 14 years ago.

We bought our house shortly after the court case, so I wasn't a part of that process, but I remember coming to the beach one day and seeing only burned stumps where the cute little beach houses used to be on the north.

I hope this helps in your discovery of the story behind Big Stone Beach.

Joe

7/22/2016 06:20:06 pm

Recently bought property on bsb,very enjoyable,nice and calm,picked up a lot of artifacts on the beach.

Joe

2/20/2017 06:37:40 pm

wayne a marge

4/4/2017 07:17:50 pm

I was at big stone every time I could.my grandfather was ira sharp he had one of the first houses their.it was used as fishing shack in the begining.I played on and in the ww2 tower.

Big Stone Beach on the Delaware Bay

The Mysterious Big Stone Beach, Delaware, Located on the Delaware Bay

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