The 1764 plot plan below of Wyncoops Farm (purchased in 1730) shows that farming close to the beach existed in the early 1700s, and is evidence that more than hunting and fishing was happening in the Slaughter Beach area prior to pre-Revolutionary War times. Benjamin Wyncoop was a large landowner in this area; his parents and grandparents originally having emigrated from the Nederlands (Netherlands today) in the 1600s to “New Nederland” which is now New York State.

This orchard would have needed to be accessed from inland by a rustic version of the early (prior to 1758) “road to Campbell’s Beach”, now Slaughter Beach Rd, necessary by development of farms in that area.   Or considering its proximity to the Old Cedar Creek, small barges and flat bottom small boats would have been used for transport from Milford to landings on the Mispillion River or Cedar Creek, providing necessary items and workers for establishment and maintenance of an orchard. The Wyncoop Orchard plot dated 1764, above,shows it in the area of the Cedar Creek outlet and bay front at what is now Harrison Avenue, north of the future town of Slaughter Beach. The harvest could have been transported back to Milford or to ports on the Delaware Bay, e.g. Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. The farm and orchard was also known as “Sunken Glade”.

Dave Kenton noted the Orchard’s plot plan in his history of Slaughter Beach as “This tract of land was purchased in 1730 by Abraham Wyncoop as part of his acquisition of Hart’s Range of 1,000 acres along the north side of Cedar Creek. Part of Wynkoop’s purchase extended to the mouth of Cedar Creek where Wyncoop established an orchard along the bayfront that is Slaughter Beach today. This plot is in the vicinity of the north end of Slaughter Beach between Harrison Street and the now Firehouse buildings.”

We speculate that apples may have been the crop in the Wyncoop orchard because of this interesting excerpt from the Delaware Archives: “An extremely popular product of Sussex County agriculture was Whiskey-Apple Jack and “Corn Likker”, the manufacture of which Sussex countians had few peers despite their strong inclination toward devout Methodism. In early Prohibition, it was said that “…. It is discreetly whispered that here and there in deepest Sussex and possibly elsewhere on Delmarva, safe from prying eyes and sniffing noses, there still lurk stores of precious liquor long ago distilled from native fruit, and forever fragrant with the tantalizing aroma of sun-bathed autumnal orchards.  Experts declare that taken ‘neat’, this rarest of Delaware’s products warms the inner man, but burns not; that mixed judiciously with the smooth ambrosial honey of the hive, it rivals the richest distillations of ancient monkish alembics and is as harmless as mother’s milk”. 

That area was described as “marshy” so flat bottom boats would be used to get around in the area.

Information compiled by Diane McFaul Hindman from various sources, including Orphans Court maps and articles by Dave Kenton. July 2025.