This Coastal Connection is sponsored by Baths by Spicer Bros.
HARBESON, Del. — Tommy Engel's backyard in Harbeson isn't an ordinary collection of antiques. It's what friends and family have come to call "Tommy Town" — a 25-acre property filled with historic buildings, vintage signs, classic cars and countless pieces of local history.
Among the property's most recognizable features is the original Ellendale post office, which Engel moved to his property after learning it was slated for demolition.
"My phone rang off the hook one day. They were going to tear this down, and there was a piece of OSB on the front, and it said 'free must move within two weeks,'" Engel said. "So, of course, everybody's calling me ... all the locals."
The former post office has since been transformed into a vintage gas station. Engel said many of the pieces inside were collected from across the country, including gas pumps and signs from the Carolinas. He also built a deck using boards from the Ocean City Boardwalk.
A Harbeson man's 25-acre backyard, known as "Tommy Town," preserves historic buildings, vintage signs, classic cars and local memorabilia in a one-of-a-kind collection that continues to grow.
A Harbeson man's 25-acre backyard, known as "Tommy Town," preserves historic buildings, vintage signs, classic cars and local memorabilia in a one-of-a-kind collection that continues to grow.
"Me and the dog kind of just chill up here sometimes," Engel said.
The property also features a restored barber shop that was once a cottage in Rehoboth Beach, nearly a dozen classic cars, historic prison doors and memorabilia from longtime local businesses, including Lewes Dairy.
A Harbeson man's 25-acre backyard, known as "Tommy Town," preserves historic buildings, vintage signs, classic cars and local memorabilia in a one-of-a-kind collection that continues to grow.
"But I even got like their old credit cards. They don't work. I tried running them already," Engel joked. "Old milk tops. This scale was in there."
Each item has its own story, Engel said.
A Harbeson man's 25-acre backyard, known as "Tommy Town," preserves historic buildings, vintage signs, classic cars and local memorabilia in a one-of-a-kind collection that continues to grow.
"This is the first sign I ever got," he said while pointing to one of his vintage signs. "Drove all the way to Connecticut to get this sign before I got real big in the sign game."
A Harbeson man's 25-acre backyard, known as "Tommy Town," preserves historic buildings, vintage signs, classic cars and local memorabilia in a one-of-a-kind collection that continues to grow.
Some pieces are exceptionally rare.
"This is the only one in existence," Engel said of a porcelain 76 gasoline globe. "You don't ever see a porcelain. The neon was added and a rotator was added. But this was set up at the refinery plant in California."
A Harbeson man's 25-acre backyard, known as "Tommy Town," preserves historic buildings, vintage signs, classic cars and local memorabilia in a one-of-a-kind collection that continues to grow.
Despite the extensive collection, Engel said Tommy Town is far from finished.
"See the neon in here? I think I'm going to make it look like Las Vegas. ... I want so much neon, like, you got to wear shades when you go in there."
While Tommy Town primarily serves as a personal passion project and a place where Engel hosts friends and family, he occasionally opens the property for fundraisers and community events.
"I always tell everybody, I was like, 'Doesn't everybody do this in their backyard?'" Engel said.
For most people, the answer is no. But that's exactly what makes Tommy Town a one-of-a-kind destination, preserving pieces of Delaware's past one artifact at a time.
