Richard Allen School
SC-249: In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, Delaware did not have a comprehensive state-wide education system. By 1915, Delaware schools were ranked among the poorest in the country. Worse yet, African American students often attended dilapidated schools under deplorable conditions. Seeing an opportunity to help all students in Delaware, Pierre S. du Pont […]
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 […]
Woodland United Methodist Church
SC-236: On December 10, 1832, land was deeded to several trustees by Isaac and Jacob Cannon with the understanding that “…a House of Worship, in or at the Village of Cannons Ferry… by the name of Canton Church” was to be built. The deed for the land was recorded on April 17, 1833. A small […]
McColley’s Chapel
SC-231: McColley’s Chapel was built and dedicated in 1858 as a Methodist Church. Congregation members had previously worshipped in a small house on the opposite side of the road. James Redden, a member of the board of trustees, sold the property to the church in 1857 for one dollar. The original church building was constructed […]
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 […]
Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse
SC-185: Located on the eastern end of the Delaware Breakwater, this brown conical structure was built in 1885. The tower is composed of four tiers of cast iron plates lined with two feet of brick. It is twenty-two feet in diameter at the base and is set upon a circular concrete foundation. When completed it […]
Jacobs School #143
SC-131: In 1863 the Sussex County Levy Court formally approved the creation of a new school district to serve the needs of local citizens. A frame schoolhouse was built on this site on land provided by Thomas Jacobs, measuring twenty feet in width and thirty-two feet in length. A single teacher was responsible for teaching […]
Bethany United Methodist Church (Lowe’s Crossroads)
SC-105: In the early part of the twentieth century, members of the Old Jones’ Methodist Church began to search for a more central location for the congregation to worship. Although the land for the new church was donated by Sarah C. Collins in 1914, construction of the building had already begun the previous year. Incorporated […]
Ocean View Delaware (Birthplace of the Commercial Broiler Industry)
SC-78: In 1923, Cecile Long Steele started a flock of 500 chicks. At 16 weeks, they weighed 2¼ pounds and sold for 62 cents a pound. By 1989, growers produce birds of twice the weight in half the time. Sussex County leads the nation in broiler production, now a multibillion dollar industry. Installed in 1989. […]
Transpeninsular Line
SC-74: This stone monument, erected April 26, 1751, marks the eastern end of the Transpeninsular Line surveyed 1750-1751 by John Watson and William Parsons of Pennsylvania and John Emory and Thomas Jones of Maryland. This line established the east-west boundary between Pennsylvania’s “Three Lower Counties” (now Delaware) and the Colony of Maryland. It established also […]
