Delaware Route 14 - History

History

What would become DE 14 originally existed as a county road between the Maryland border in Burrsville and Rehoboth Beach by 1920. By 1924, the road had been completed as a state highway between Burrsville and Milford and was proposed as one between Nassau and Rehoboth Beach. A year later, the state highway was completed between Milford and Cedar Creek and from Nassau to just west of Rehoboth Beach, with the sections between Cedar Creek and Nassau and into Rehoboth Beach under proposal. By 1931, the state highway between Milford and Rehoboth Beach was completed, with a section north of Bethany Beach completed as a gravel road. In addition, the road between Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach was paved. When Delaware designated its state highway system by 1936, DE 14 was designated to run from the Maryland border in Burrsville east to DE 26 in Bethany Beach, following a newly-completed road along the Atlantic Ocean between Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach. By 1939, a southern extension of DE 14 was built between Bethany Beach and the Maryland border in Fenwick Island as a gravel road, this was paved by 1942. Also by 1942, DE 14 was realigned to bypass Rehoboth Beach to the southwest.

The route was widened into a divided highway between Nassau and Rehoboth Beach by 1954, with the route being moved to a new alignment to bypass Wescoats Corner, removing a concurrency with DE 18 (now US 9 Bus.). By 1966, DE 14A was designated onto the former alignment of DE 14 through Rehoboth Beach. The divided highway portion of DE 14 was extended north to DE 16 and between the Indian River Inlet and South Bethany by 1967. The route was widened into a divided highway between Dewey Beach and the Indian River Inlet by 1969. By 1971, a divided highway was completed linking DE 14 southeast of Milford to US 113 north of Milford, bypassing Milford. By 1973, construction was underway to make DE 14 a divided highway from the Milford Bypass to DE 16, which included a bypass of Argos Corner; this was completed in 1974. In 1974, DE 1 was signed concurrent with DE 14 east of Milford. In 1977, DE 14 was truncated to Milford, with DE 1 replacing the route between Fenwick Island and the south end of the Milford Bypass and DE 1 Bus. becoming concurrent with route between the Milford Bypass and Northeast Front Street. As a result of this, DE 14A was renumbered to DE 1A. DE 14 was realigned to follow Northeast Front Street to end at DE 1 on the Milford Bypass by 1984.