Transit of Venus Observatory
SC-252: In 1769, an international scientific effort was organized to observe a transit of Venus in order to determine the size of the solar system. This rare event, when Venus passes in the front of the Sun’s disk, makes such calculations possible when measured from widely separated sites. The American Philosophical Society sent Owen Biddle […]
History of Lake Comegys and Silver Lake
SC-238: Lake Comegys and Silver Lake are natural freshwater remnants of receding glaciers from the last Ice Age and are notable for their close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, The Nanticoke Tribe held summer encampments around Silver Lake to gather shellfish from the ocean, and various Native American artifacts have been found along the lake’s […]
Menhaden Fishing Industry
SC-214: The Atlantic Menhaden is a small herring-like fish found in the coastal waters of the Eastern United States. Used by Native Americans to fertilize crops, these oily fish were also used by European settlers to produce fuel for lamps. In the mid-19th century, technological improvements resulted in more-efficient processing methods and the menhaden fishing […]
Sudler House – Attawattacoquin
SC-71: A patent for 1200 acres called Attawattacoquin, upon which the house and outbuildings stand, was granted in 1684 by Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, 2nd Proprietor and 6th and 9th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, to Christopher Nutter, a government agent and Native American interpreter from Maryland. Attawattacoquin is an Algonquin Indian word meaning “Village […]
Pilot Town
SC-66: Pilot Town is the section of the Hamlet of Concord where many free African-American families have lived in harmony with the white families since around 1765. It was so named for the many black pilots who lived in the area and piloted vessels down the Nanticoke River to Chesapeake Bay. Two of the best […]
Eden Hill Farm
KC-117: In 1680, a large tract of land called “Brothers Portion” was warranted to John and Richard Walker. In 1694, 200 acres of the parcel were purchased to create the town of Dover. When the town plot was completed in 1718, John Mifflin purchased 69 acres of undeveloped land from the town. The property passed […]
Booker T. Washington School
KC-88: On November 13, 1922, 210 children and 6 teachers marched from two old school buildings located on Slaughter Street and Division Street to a new school for African-American students in Dover. Funding for the building was provided by the Delaware School Auxiliary Association, through the generosity of P. S. duPont. The school was named […]
St. Jones Neck: Site of Settlement in the 1660’s
KC-44: This part of what is now Kent County, Delaware was one of the state’s earliest sites of English colonization. Beginning in the 1660’s plantations were established along the St. Jones River. The Dickinson family of Talbot County, Maryland was among the families who obtained early land patents in this area. Parts of “Merritts”, “Whartons” […]
One Love Park
NCC-216: Originally named Tatnall Street Playground in 1907, this park is located across the street from the home at 2311 Tatnall Street that singer-songwriter Bob Marley occupied with his mother in 1966. In order to raise funds to start his own record label in Jamaica, Marley assumed the alias “Donald Marley” and worked as a […]
Poplar Hall
NCC-203: James Boulden the Elder and his family moved to Delaware from Maryland in the mid-18th century, amassing wealth and expanding their land ownership in Pencader Hundred as the century progressed. The two-story brick mansion house was built during this time period and is a strong representation of Gregorian architecture. A service wing erected between […]
