Ocean View Historical Society (Historic Village in Ocean View)

About Us:
Having an historic village so near the beach offers residents and visitors, young and older, a chance to see and feel the history through the eyes of the surfmen, watermen, farmers, women and men who were able to sustain their lives and improve the lives of their families throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Currently, we have a period-furnished 1860's museum known as the Tunnell-West House, the original 1889 post office run by one of the first postwomen in Delaware, a replica of the 1923 chicken house where the broiler chicken industry began by Mrs. Cecile Steele, Hall's Store Visitors and Education Center (Ocean View was once known as Hall's Store) which has a replica 1820s general store and a large meeting room, a 1901 Gothic Victorian house which is now the Coastal Towns Museum, and one of the last remaining 19th century barns in southeast Sussex County. There are also several additional small structures including a wood house and multiple outhouses, including one sized for a child.

In the last few years, we have been able to make substantial improvements to our historic structures in an effort to preserve them for the future. We completely replaced the exterior of the 1860 Tunnell-West House, replaced failing windows and trim on the original post office, and replaced the roof of the Chicken House Replica. We hope to complete some improvements to the barn as well do additional roofing work this year.

Your support is instrumental to helping us to continue with this important work as the area continues to grow and develop. Help us keep a small part of history alive!