Everything OddWay knows about. Narrow it down by what you're after, or where you're going.
Stories a place tells about itself, passed down and still repeated.
Seaford, DE
A Seaford-area ghost story tells of a weeping bride and a Confederate soldier appearing along Airport Road, with some versions placing the encounter around Valentine’s Day. The tale is unverified local folklore and the road remains active, so travelers should never stop in traffic or enter private property while looking for the location.
Smyrna, DE
Black Diamond Road has a local reputation for unexplained glowing lights and floating orbs after dark. One version of the legend attempts to connect them with a supposed old burial ground, but that explanation is not established fact. This is a public-road folklore pin only; do not enter neighboring private property.
Frederica, DE
The National Register documentation for the Bonwell House records a curious local legend about a huge red-eyed canine apparition called the Fence-Rail Dog because it was supposedly as long as a fence rail. The supernatural story is folklore, but its appearance in the historic documentation makes this an unusually well-preserved Delaware legend. The house is private property and should only be viewed from lawful public areas.
Lewes, DE
Delaware folklore describes a mysterious offshore beam known as the Corpse Light, appearing near Cape Henlopen where no working lighthouse should be seen. State sources preserve the ghost story as part of Delaware’s maritime folklore. This pin uses the public Cape Henlopen Point area as the safest place to connect with the legend.
Frankford, DE
Long Cemetery is tied to the Delaware legend of Catman, a former cemetery caretaker said to keep watch over the grounds after death. Versions of the ritual involve knocking three times and later having car trouble, but these are local ghost stories rather than verified events, and some older descriptions no longer match what visitors report at the site. Treat it as a cemetery first: visit only when permitted and do not disturb graves or structures.
St. Georges, DE
A Delaware legend recorded in the twentieth century tells of a local Black fiddler who drowned near Scott’s Run and whose music could supposedly be summoned by tossing a dime from the bridge. The original bridge associated with the story was already gone by the 1950s, so the present crossing is a geographic folklore marker rather than the historic structure itself. Do not stop on active highway lanes.
Seaford, DE
The marker preserves the local story behind the community name Hardscrabble. The colorful origin tale belongs more to local folklore than fully proven history, which is why it works better as an OddWay story stop than as a conventional historic landmark.
Lewes, DE
A small stone well marks a spring that local tradition connected to a 1631 Dutch expedition and later dubbed the Fountain of Youth. The legend is the attraction here, not the water: modern visitors should treat the spring as a historic curiosity rather than a drinking source.
Seaford, DE
Woodland Church Road's small bridge is the center of one of Delaware's best-known local ghost legends. Versions vary, but the ritual usually involves calling out to "Maggie" and claiming to have her baby; it should be treated strictly as roadside folklore, with no stopping in traffic or trespassing.
Frederica, DE
Mordington is tied to a grim local story about an enslaved girl remembered in folklore as Tom’s daughter, whose spirit was later said to haunt the property. Delaware archival materials preserve the story as part of the site’s local tradition. The historic house is private, so OddWay routing should keep visitors to public roads only.
Lewes, DE
Captain James Drew, commander of HMS DeBraak when the ship sank off Delaware in 1798, is buried in the historic churchyard at St. Peter’s. Local folklore says his ghost leaves the cemetery on moonless nights searching for his lost crew. The shipwreck and Drew’s burial are historical; the wandering captain is the legend.
