Dover Light Infantry Kent County, Delaware Militia, 1776-1777
KC-A9: The Light Infantry Company of Dover, a part of the 1st Battalion of Kent County, mustered in on 2 April 1776. Each militia volunteer was uniformly armed, equipped, and wore a standard military coat of green faced with red lapels, cuffs, and collar. From 14 December 1776 to 14 January 1777, Captain Thomas Rodney, […]
Ridgely House (Built 1728)
KC-A4: Dr. Charles Greenbury Ridgely: Member Colonial and State Legislative Assemblies; Delegate First State Constitutional Convention 1776. Nicholas Ridgely (the younger): Member of Convention that ratified Federal Constitution 1787; Delegate Second State Constitutional Convention 1791-1792; Attorney General 1791-1801; Chancellor of Delaware 1801-1830. Henry Moore Ridgely: Three times Secretary of State of Delaware; Representative in Congress […]
Nicholas Ridgely
In this churchyard lie the remains of Nicholas Ridgely, Statesman, and Jurist. Born in Dover, 1762, eldest son of Dr. Charles Greenbury Ridgely and Mary Wynkoop Ridgely. Member of State Convention which ratified the Federal Constitution, December 7, 1787. Repeatedly Member of General Assembly from 1788 until 1801. Attorney-General of Delaware, 1791-1801. Delegate to Second […]
Caesar Rodney
KC-A2: Statesman, Soldier, and Patriot. Member of Stamp Act Congress and of First and Second Continental Congresses. Signer of Declaration of Independence. Member and Speaker of Colonial Assembly of “Three Lower Counties on Delaware.” Member of Council of Safety, Major-General of Delaware Militia, and President (Governor) of Delaware during American Revolution. Born 1728, died 1784. […]
The Allee House
KC-A1: Originally installed in 1963. In 1706 John Allee, of a Huguenot family, bought a 600-acre tract, “Woodstock Bower,” of which this land is a part. One of his sons, Abraham, was prominent in Kent County affairs until his death in 1776: Member of the General Assembly 1726, Justice of the Peace 1738, Chief Ranger […]
Laws Chapel
In 1802, Joshua Laws donated this land for the construction of a Methodist Episcopal chapel. Named in honor of Laws, the church served the local community until 1856 when a new building was constructed. Following a period of inactivity in the mid-twentieth century, the property was purchased in 1953 by Mennonites from the Greenwood area. […]
Little Creek United Methodist Church
KC-124. Installed in 2017. Little Creek United Methodist was established in 1820 as Gum Swamp Methodist Episcopal. By 1832 the church operated and maintained a non-segregated school. In February 1875 the congregation relocated Gum Swamp ME to its current site and on May 30, 1875 the church reopened under the name Little Creek Methodist. The […]
Former site of Whitehall Plantation
KC-123. Whitehall Plantation, once owned by the Chew family, contained over 400 acres of land and was worked solely by enslaved labor. Among those enslaved was Richard Allen who was born here and later founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church. By 1798 Benjamin Chew’s records indicate that he enslaved 42 men and women, making Whitehall […]
St. Paul AME Church
KC-122: Originally installed 8/5/2017. St. Paul AME was established as a congregation in 1830. Members met in congregants’ houses and public spaces before building a church. Construction of the church began in 1895 on New Street making St. Paul the last of eleven AME churches built in Kent County between 1867 and 1895. The congregation […]
Town of Bowers
The Town of Bowers, incorporated March 9, 1907, was established as an early settlement along the Delaware Bay. Named Whitwell’s Delight in 1675, the town was renamed Bowers in 1734. Bowers is nestled between the mouths of the St. Jones and Murderkill Rivers and the Delaware Bay. This location allowed settlers to create a maritime […]
