Fenwick Island, Delaware

Fenwick Island, Delaware
Town
Fenwick Island Light
Location of Fenwick Island in Sussex County, Delaware
Fenwick Island Location within the state of Delaware Show map of Delaware Fenwick Island Fenwick Island (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 38°27′44″N 75°03′05″W / 38.46222°N 75.05139°W / 38.46222; -75.05139
Country	United States
State	Delaware
County	Sussex
Area [1]
• Total	0.48 sq mi (1.26 km2)
• Land	0.33 sq mi (0.86 km2)
• Water	0.15 sq mi (0.40 km2)
Elevation [2]	7 ft (2 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	343
• Density	1,036.25/sq mi (399.69/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	19944, 19975
Area code	302
FIPS code	10-26880
GNIS feature ID	213954[2]
Website	www.fenwickisland.delaware.gov

Fenwick Island is a coastal resort town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to 2020 census figures, the population of the town is 355, a 2.6% decrease over the last decade.^[3] It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland–Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is located on Fenwick Island, a barrier spit.

Fenwick Island and its neighbors to the north, Bethany Beach and South Bethany, are popularly known as "The Quiet Resorts." This is in contrast to the wild atmosphere of Dewey Beach and the cosmopolitan bustle of Rehoboth Beach. Fenwick Island, however, is somewhat less "quiet" than "the Bethanies" because it is immediately across the state line from Ocean City, Maryland, which has a reputation as a lively vacation resort.^{[citation needed]}

Named after Thomas Fenwick, a planter from England who settled in Maryland, Fenwick Island lay in the part of Delaware which Lord Baltimore and his heirs claimed during the Penn–Baltimore border dispute.

Contrary to popular belief, the town does not sit on a barrier island but on a narrow peninsula which resembles a barrier island (unless one considers a narrow man-made boat canal well inland that connects White Creek to Little Assawoman Bay). The narrow strip of land separates the Atlantic Ocean from Little Assawoman Bay. Ocean City, Maryland, occupies the southern tip of this peninsula.^{[citation needed]}

Local legend states that Cedar Island in Little Assawoman Bay was a spot for pirates to bury treasure. Regardless of the truth of the legend, the Delaware coastal area was well known as a place for pirates to hide from the law. Cedar Island has just about washed under the bay, as Seal Island did around 2010.^{[citation needed]}

The town was an unincorporated area between South Bethany and Ocean City, Maryland, until July 1953, when the Delaware General Assembly passed an act to incorporate the town. Local sentiment demanded incorporation to prevent the relentless high-rise development of Ocean City from creeping north into Fenwick Island.

Fenwick Island's population was 48 in 1960.^[4]