Oyster House Park
Photo by Jody Couser
Thanks to a public-private partnership, the former site of the old J.B. Robinson Oyster House on the Nanticoke River in Seaford, Delaware, is now a public park with an expansion of the city’s River Walk. Opened to the public in the summer of 2021, Oyster House Park, 201 South Cannon Street, Seaford, DE, was made possible through a collaboration between the City of Seaford, Chesapeake Conservancy, the state of Delaware and partners and through funding from generous donors such as the Carl M. Freeman Foundation, Longwood Foundation, Welfare Foundation, Crystal Trust, The Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation and Randall Larrimore.
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Photo by Kelsey Everett
To date, partners have stabilized the eroding shoreline, expanded the River Walk and added new fishing nooks for the community. Kayak and boat docks were added to enhance water access to downstream destinations.
The Nanticoke River watershed, celebrated as a global example of landscape scale conservation with more than 30% of the watershed protected from development, is one of the most unspoiled, beautiful and biodiverse tributaries of the Chesapeake and is host to an impressive array of wildlife, waterfowl, native and rare plants and fish.
Much has changed since the days when five oyster house packing plants sat along the river’s edge. Formerly known as the Nylon Capital of the World, Seaford’s local economy was decimated when the Dupont Company closed its plant, resulting in a loss of jobs and local pride.
Just downstream from the Oyster House Park, Chesapeake Conservancy has worked to conserve priority lands to protect and link 19,300 acres of habitat in the Blackwater corridor, supporting biodiversity, working lands, public access and military readiness along the Nanticoke with an array of partners including Mt. Cuba Center. At places like the new Nanticoke Crossing Park,we’re making progress on creating a paddle-in camping trail linking Seaford, DE, to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge to give Delaware residents and visitors the quintessential experience of the Nanticoke River.
Feature Photo by City of Seaford
