Selbyville’s railroad station museum sits beneath the town water tower, close to Railroad Avenue and West Church Street. Its modest scale is part of the story. The Breakwater & Frankford Railroad reached Selbyville in 1872, bringing a new connection to a community near Delaware’s southern border. A building that once received travelers and railway business now preserves local and railroad memorabilia in the place where those histories met.
The route gives the station a geographical story worth following. To the north, trains reached communities such as Frankford, Dagsboro and Millsboro before connecting at Georgetown. The connection continued toward Lewes through the Breakwater Junction Railroad. To the south, the line was extended to Franklin City on Chincoteague Bay. Looking at those places on a map shows how a station that appeared small in isolation fit into a series of links across the peninsula and toward the coast.
The depot’s preservation also has its own chronology. Selbyville remodeled it for museum use in 2004. The official opening followed in June 2005 as part of the town’s Old Timers Days festivities. A station that once helped people leave and return became a meeting point for a different purpose, giving the community a building in which to display objects from its own past.
Inside, the mix of railway and town memorabilia gives visitors a chance to consider the effect of the route on everyday life. Look for things that connect the station with a specific person, place or activity in Selbyville. A modest piece of memorabilia can be especially revealing in the building where local rail travel took place. Outside, the water tower and street layout help locate the depot within the community that grew around it.
Public opening follows a seasonal schedule, and the town also describes arrangements for interested groups.
Visitor information
Researched November 2026.
Sources
More railroad museums in Delaware
- Harrington Railroad Museum — Harrington: Railroad heritage collection
- Newark History Museum at the Pennsylvania Railroad Depot — Newark: Depot and local history museum
- Wilmington and Western Railroad Education Center — Wilmington: Operating preservation collection and education center
- All 4 railroad museums and sites in Delaware
Keep exploring
- All heritage sites — museums, stations and landmarks
- Northeast — the trains you can ride in the region