The Harbor of Refuge is at the mouth of the Delaware Bay estuary where it opens into the Atlantic Ocean, at Lewes.

[2] Led by General Simon Bernard, Major Joseph Gilbert Totten and Commodore William Bainbridge, the committee recommended that a permanent harbor be created.

[2] Both were built of granite rubble from New Castle County, Delaware, with earlier portions using smaller stones from the Hudson Palisades.

To improve things, work began in 1883 to close the opening between the icebreaker and main breakwater,[2] using the same stone as the original.

This project rendered obsolete the Strickland lighthouse, which was replaced in 1885 by the present Delaware Breakwater East End Light.

[3] At certain places around the breakwater, the waters can be up to 70 feet deep to accommodate large ships that would anchor in the harbor.

The principal facade faces the harbor with an enclosed porch supported by paired Tuscan columns.

An enclosed observation platform on the roof has a Chinese Chippendale railing, with adapted Palladian windows on all sides.