Dates: (1) May 24, 2001; (2) August 4, 2005 • Elevation: 450 feet • Prominence: 40 feet • Distance: 0.2 miles • Time: Up to an hour • Gain: negligible • Conditions: Nice both times

Main

The highest point in Delaware is on its northernmost boundary, a handful of yards from the Pennsylvania border. Ebright Road goes over the top, hence the highpoint's name, or at least the first part of its name. On the west side is a grass park and mobile home community, and on the east side are more homes. There is no sense of being on top of a hill or anything convex when here.

I was here in May of 2001, and I showed up, tagged the sign, walked the park, and left. I spent 10 minutes here on that visit, and I certainly didn't think I would come back again, but I did, and the second visit was quite interesting, as we met the unofficial Delaware Highpoint Historian while here.

May 2001: I started today in Essington, near Philadelphia, not far from Ebright Azimuth. I was on the road early, looking to beat traffic. I got onto Interstate-95 and drove south, exiting onto Naamans Road, now inside Delaware. I did not see any state-line signs. The only hint I was in a new state was the shields on the mileage signs looked different. Apparently, it's just not that big a deal to enter a new state back east.

From the exit, I proceeded west to Ebright Road, about 4 miles from the interstate. I parked on Turf Road and paced the area, walking over to the sign on Ebright Road denoting the state highpoint. A big field west of the road and east of a trailer park could also contain the highpoint, as could the trailer park itself. As soon as I was done, I re-entered Pennsylvania and headed west along US-30 into Amish country and for more Pennsylvania county highpoints.

August 2005: Today's plan was to explore Delaware, mainly in and around Rehoboth Beach. But we were close to Ebright Azimuth, so we drove to it so βð could tag it and understand what all the fuss is about. The visit went much like my first visit, but then we heard a woman's voice calling out for us, "yoo-hoo", that sort of thing. She introduced herself as Doreen Kupczyk (or something like that). She was the self-appointed historian of the highpoint.

Apparently, she bought a home nearby to enjoy her retirement years, then noticed all these tourists visiting the Ebright Azimuth sign, so she took it upon herself to learn about the area. She greets anyone who comes by and has them sign her book. She gave us a history of the highpoint and even took our photo for us. She also showed us the highest USGS brass marker in Delaware that is in the dirt near a sidewalk across the street from the sign. It had been covered by the sidewalk crews years ago and she led an effort to have a small piece of the sidewalk cut away to expose the marker.

She also told us to check out some buildings northwest of the field, which we did. We walked all around the field and into the trailer park, and entered into Pennsylvania briefly. What we planned for a 10-minute tag-and-run visit turned into 40 minutes of northern Delaware history. Make sure you get Doreen's attention. She is a kind and sweet woman and you will definitely enjoy your Delaware experience much better.

We rewarded ourselves with a visit at a Barnes & Noble nearby, then went south about an hour to Rehoboth Beach, where I got to play in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time ever. We spent the night at another Super-8 in Milford, about 20 miles inland.