Grace United Methodist Church
SC-142: In the spring of 1891, Rev. Louis A. Bennett was directed to establish a Methodist Protestant Church in Georgetown. His efforts were successful, and a frame church was completed the following year on the northwest corner of East Market and King Streets. The present site was purchased in 1905, and the church was moved […]
The Judges
This home takes its name from the many judges who have lived in it. The Judges was built circa 1809 by Peter Robinson, who served as Secretary of State for Delaware under three governors and was appointed Associate Justice for Sussex County in 1832. Following his death in 1836, his daughter Mary and her husband […]
General Alfred T.A. Torbert
SC-96: Born in Georgetown on July 1, 1833, Torbert attended local schools prior to his appointment to the West Point Class of 1855. After the out-break of the Civil War he rose rapidly in rank, serving as a regimental and brigade commander of New Jersey troops, then as Commander of the 1st Cavalry Division of […]
Relocation of The County Seat
The conflicting claims of the proprietors of Maryland and Pennsylvania resulted in a lengthy and sometimes violent dispute concerning the ownership and boundaries of Sussex County. Residents who had been Marylanders before the controversy was resolved in 1775, found themselves to be inconvenienced when traveling to Lewes, the original seat of government. Hundreds of persons […]
Sussex County Courthouse
In 1835 a lottery was authorized to raise funds to replace the frame structure which had served as Courthouse since 1791. Construction of the new building began in 1837 following the sale and relocation of the original Courthouse to its present site on South Bedford Street. The Brick Hotel across the square was designated as […]
Pettijohn’s Old Field
The future home of Sussex County’s seat of government was a sparsely populated rural area when the 76 acres which would become the Town of Georgetown were purchased on May 9, 1791. Located “near the centre” of the country at a place known as “James Pettijohn’s Old Field,” the land was surveyed by Rhoads Shankland, […]
Return Day
SC-85: This event draws thousands as winning and losing candidates join in celebration on the Thursday following each general election. Poor traveling conditions and interest in the outcome of political contests may have resulted in an extended stay when all elections were held here. Creation of voting districts in 1811 required the meeting of a […]
Georgetown
RG# 7100 Once the dispute was settled which determined the boundary lines for Sussex County, the citizens of the newly-defined county would soon petition for the county seat to be moved to a more central location. In January 1791, An ACT for removing the Seat of Justice from Lewes to a more central part […]
Georgetown
Delaware Public Archives
