Ryves Holt House — Attraction in Lewes

Cool historic house, small, free to tour, also serves as a welcome center to Lewes. They have an info counter & shop of sorts in the entryway, then a little circular "tour route" through the ground floor of the house off to the right. They gave us a guide for this but I really would have been better off just reading the signs, there were plenty and the space was small enough (the house is from the 1600s!) that adding another person to the group felt crowded. The exhibits focus on the life of War of 1812 naval hero Jacob Jones who commanded USS Wasp - and also lived in this house as a child. The exhibits were informative. I would have liked to see more on the architecture of the house, since they did have portions of the wall partially opened so you could see the multiple layers of construction done throughout the past 300+ years. Overall this was a great quick stop on our walk from the Lewes Historical Society's Lewes Maritime Museum at Cannonball House down to the Lewes Historical Society Main Campus off Shipcarpenter Street. I recommend sticking your head in here for a few minutes if on foot or just arriving in Lewes and looking for a place to start...

This museum is on the right side and the Gallery store is to the left side for shopping when you enter the building.

A wonderful couple of gentlemen explained about the building and the owners that occupied it. The more famous one will be Jacob Jones. You may have not heard about him, but from a Naval perspective, there is a lot of historic value. Checkout how it was constructed as it is unique. They used cotton as an installation which is still there in the walls.

If you are looking for the First State Passport stamp while hitting the trail, they no longer have it. Due to them not owning the house AND the land, they took away the stamp and...

I am surprised that this gem isn’t among the major attractions in Lewes. We stopped in when there were no other visitors, and the historian told us all about the history of the house/tavern. She then went on to share the fascinating history of Lewes. I never knew how important Lewes was during the early years of the USA. From the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 to WW2 (Visit and take the tour of the Fort Miles Museum in Capr Henlopen Park.). This is a nice place to start your visit to Lewes, to be followed up with a visit to the Lewes Historical Society’s historic mini-village...