Cape Henlopen State Park near Lewes, Delaware, occupies the cape where Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic and combines beaches, dunes, trails, campgrounds, a fishing pier, and protected coastal habitat. Its public history reaches to 1682, when William Penn set its beaches aside for local citizens, making it among the earliest public lands in what became the United States, though it officially became a state park in 1964. The cape also held major strategic value in multiple American wars, especially during World War II, when Fort Miles was built here. Its significance is further deepened by the former Cape Henlopen Light and by important wildlife and recreation.