New Castle Common
NCC-13: This land is part of a tract of one thousand acres set apart by William Penn in 1701 for the inhabitants of the town of New Castle. Trustees were appointed and incorporated by Penn’s heirs in 1764, whose successors still hold and manage the land. Installed in 1932. Reinstalled in 1968. Sponsors: Historic Markers […]
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 […]
Jones Cemetery
SC-141: By the 1840’s, a group of local Methodists were meeting nearby in Jones School. Desiring a permanent place of worship, the congregation built a church in 1857 at a site one-half mile west of here. In 1861, Jacob Jones and his wife, Love Melson Jones, set aside half an acre of land at this […]
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” […]
