“From the ’70s to the ’90s: The Evolution of Bowers Beach”

Bow­ers Beach, a small fish­ing and boat­ing com­mu­ni­ty on Delaware Bay, holds a unique place in local his­to­ry. In the 1970s, the town reflect­ed its work­ing-class mar­itime roots, with bustling docks, wood­en fish­ing boats, and fam­i­ly-owned seafood shacks. By the 1980s, change was vis­i­ble as more plea­sure boats and week­end vis­i­tors began to mix with the fish­ing fleet, giv­ing the area a blend of tra­di­tion and recre­ation. The 1990s brought fur­ther trans­for­ma­tion, as tourism and sea­son­al events became a larg­er part of the town’s iden­ti­ty, yet traces of the old fish­ing vil­lage spir­it remained in its peo­ple and water­front.

Zig­gy Mark, a long time res­i­dent of Bow­ers Beach, sits under the stormy skies watch­ing the weath­er on Sep. 5, 1979. Mark has been through many storms at the Kent Coun­ty beach but he says this one scares him.

The Bur­rows broth­ers and their father, from left, Frankie, Samuel Sr., Isaac, Robert and Samuel Jr. are seen at their dock behind Sam­bo’s restau­rant at Leip­sic near Bow­ers Beach on May 3, 1985.

flood­ed Bow­ers Beach is seen on Oct. 25, 1980

High tide came over dock at Bow­ers Beach on Dec. 3, 1974.

Char­ter boat Vamp IV is seen eas­ing into its moor­ing at Dono­vans Dock at Bow­ers Beach on June 19, 1990

The pub­lic boat ramp on Faulkn­ers Pier in Bow­ers Beach is seen on June 2, 1993. The ramp has been caus­ing all sorts of prob­lems due in part to the lack of state super­vi­sion.

Son­ny Sul­li­van is seen at his place on the Bow­ers Beach dock where he has “fresh fish dai­ly” on May 3, 1985.

From left, Cap­tain Dave David­son and Cap­tain Bill Moore swap fish sto­ries at Faulkn­ers Pier on Bow­ers Beach on May 31, 1994.

A char­ter boat leaves the canal sep­a­rat­ing North Bow­ers (left) and South Bow­ers Beach on May 24, 1983. Sport and com­mer­cial fish­er­men leave between 6:30 and 7 a.m. and don’t return until about 2 p.m

Water­men at Bow­ers Beach wait for the storm to pass before going out on the bay on Sept. 6, 1979. There was­n’t any dam­age at the beach but the men lost a day’s work.

From left, Renee Irons and the Moores, Phyl­lis and Bill, who run a char­ter boat busi­ness in Bow­ers Beach, are seen by their boat on June 2, 1993. The pub­lic boat ramp adja­cent to theirs has been caus­ing prob­lems for them, and while they are sub­ject to all kinds of state super­vi­sion, small, pri­vate boat own­ers are not.

A fish­er­man is pre­pared with foul weath­er gear as a rapid mov­ing thun­der­storm approach­es Bow­ers Beach from the west on June 19, 1990.