Lewes is one of the unexpected pleasures on the Eastern Shore of Delaware. The first Dutch settlement on Delaware soil was located here. Founded in 1631, Zwaanedael was named by settlers Hoorn Kil in honor of the Town of Hoorn in Holland. The colony was destroyed by Native Americans in the year it was founded. DeVries, a director of the company which set out to establish the colony came one year later with aid, though he ultimately returned to Holland in 1633.