Delaware and 50 facts we learned

Abbreviation	DE
Capital	Dover
Population	897,934
Governor: John C. Carney Jr., D (to Jan. 2021) Lieut. Governor: Bethany Hall-Long, D (to Jan. 2021)
Entered the Union	December 7, 1787 as the 1st state
Motto: Liberty and independence State symbols: colors colonial blue and buff flower peach blossom (1895) tree American holly (1939) bird blue hen chicken (1939) insect ladybug (1974) butterfly tiger swallowtail (1999) fish weakfish, cynoscion regalis(1981) song “Our Delaware” beverage milk fossil belemnite
Professional Sports Teams	No NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS, or NHL teams. (sports listing policy)
Origin of Name	From the Delaware River and Bay, which were named for Sir Thomas West, Lord De La Warr
Historical Sites	Holy Trinity Church, the oldest Protestant church in the U.S. still in use, in Wilmington
Points of Interest	The Delaware Museum of Natural History; New Castle, an almost unchanged 18th-century city center; the Delaware Seashore
Bordering States	Delaware borders Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
Flag		Nicknames: Diamond State; First State; Small Wonder

• England gave Delaware to William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, in 1682 to be part of Pennsylvania. But in the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Delaware fought as a separate state, and it was the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution in 1787.
• Although Delaware was a slave state, it did not secede (withdraw) from the U.S. and join the Confederacy during the Civil War (1861-1865).
• Delaware has a state insect! The lady bug was adopted as the official state insect in 1974 after a group of elementary school children convinced the state legislature to do so.

Some Famous People from this State

• Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
• Valerie Bertinelli, actress
• Annie Jump Cannon, astronomer
• Henry Heimlich, surgeon and inventor, developed the Heimlich Maneuver to save choking victims

Rehoboth Beach

10 largest cities (2014): Brandywine, 82,672; Wilmington, 71,292; Pike Creek-Central Kirkwood, 44,493; Lower Christiana, 38,118; Dover, 37,089; Central Pencader, 33,750; Newark, 32,367; Piedmont, 30,902; Upper Christiana, 25,793; Central Kent, 21,857; Middletown, 19,483

Land area: 1,954 sq mi. (5,161 sq km)

Geographic center: In Kent Co., 11 mi. S of Dover

Number of counties: 3

Largest county by population and area: New Castle, 538,479 (2010); Sussex, 938 sq mi.

State forests: 3 (over 15,000 ac.)

State parks: 14 (over 20,000 ac.)

Residents: Delawarean

Delaware Facts and Trivia

1. Delaware was the first state to ratify the United States constitution. It did so on December 7, 1787.
2. Delaware shares a semi-circular border with Pennsylvania. The border was drawn at the time of the original land grants to William Penn from King Charles II and the Duke of York.
3. The nation's first scheduled steam railroad began in New Castle in 1831.
4. The United States battleship Delaware was commissioned in 1910.
5. Delaware is the only state without any National Park System units such as national parks, seashores, historic sites, battlefields, memorials, and monuments.
6. Delmar is popularized as the little town too big for one state. The community has the distinction of being located partly in Delaware and partly in Maryland.
7. The most historic site in Frederica is Barratt's Chapel east of town. The chapel is where the Methodist Church of America was organized in 1784.
8. Today about 500 descendants of the original Nanticoke Indians reside in Delaware. They celebrate their heritage each September with the Nanticoke Indian Pow Wow.
9. The log cabin originated in Finland. Finnish settlers arrived in Delaware in the mid-1600s and brought with them plans for the log cabin, one of the enduring symbols of the American pioneer. One of the cabins has been preserved and is on display at the Delaware Agricultural Museum in Dover.
10. John Dickinson was called the Penman of the Revolution for his writings on independence. His boyhood home is preserved in Dover.
11. Tradition holds the first time Betsy Ross's famous flag was flown was at the Battle of Cooch's Bridge. This historic site is located on route 4 in Newark.
12. The Blue Hen chicken is the official state bird. The hens were noted for their fighting ability. Delaware is sometimes referred to as the Blue Hen State.
13. The Lady Bug is Delaware's official state bug.
14. Eleven years after the landing of the English pilgrims the first white settlement was made on Delaware soil.
15. In 1785 Oliver Evans of Newport invented the automatic flour-milling machinery that revolutionized the industry.
16. "Our Delaware" is the official state song. The words are by George Hynson, music by William Brown.
17. In total area Delaware ranks 49th in the nation. It contains 1,982 square miles. It is 96 miles long and varies from 9 to 35 miles in width.
18. Ebright Road in New Castle County is the highest state elevation at 442 feet above sea level. The lowest elevation is along the coast at sea level.
19. Thomas Garret lost his entire fortune in his battle against slavery. He was sued by a Maryland slave owner and fined for aiding a black family in flight. Over his lifetime, Garrett reportedly helped more than 2,000 fugitive slaves move through Delaware, an important stop on the Underground Railroad.
20. Rehoboth Beach is the state's largest coastal resort town. Methodists who purchase the land for a summer camp and meeting place originally constructed it.
21. The 87-foot Fenwick Island Lighthouse was painted in 1880 for a total cost of about $5.00.
22. Twelve concrete observation towers along the coast were constructed during World War II to protect the state's coastal towns from German u-boat attacks.
23. Fisher's popcorn is a famous coastal caramel corn. It has been ordered from as far away as Vietnam and Indonesia.
24. The American holly is the official state tree. The tree can reach a maximum of 60 feet in height and a trunk diameter of 20 inches.
25. The peach blossom is Delaware's official state flower and has prompted Delaware's nickname as the peach state.
26. New Sweden was founded as a colony in 1638 and is recognized as the first permanent colony on Delaware soil.
27. Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, six miles northwest of Wilmington features one of the world's finest naturalistic gardens.
28. Hagley Museum was originally the du Pont black powder manufactory, estate, and gardens.
29. The state's Coastal Heritage Greenway consists of a corridor of open space running along 90 miles of coast and spanning the area between Fox Point State Park and the state line at Fenwick Island.
30. Thousand Acre Marsh is the largest freshwater tidal wetland in northern Delaware. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canals border the marsh.
31. In 1812 Port Penn was considered the best port in Delaware.
32. Augustine Beach was named for Augustine Hermann. He was a Bohemian adventurer who mapped the Delmarva Peninsula and surrounding areas in the mid-1600s.
33. Odessa possesses one of the finest collections of late 18th- and early 19th-century architecture in the middle Atlantic region. The center of town is on the National Register of Historic Places and the entire town has been zoned as historic.
34. Barratt's Chapel is known as the Cradle of Methodism. It was built in 1780 and is the oldest surviving church built by and for Methodists in the United States.
35. The 80-food Great Dune is the state's highest. It is located at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes.
36. The Maryland/Delaware boundary and the Mason-Dixon Line divide Delmar. A double crown stone marker was erected in 1768 as the southern end of the only North-South portion of the Mason-Dixon line.
37. Horseshoe crabs may be viewed in large numbers up and down the Delaware shore in May. The crabs endure extremes of temperature and salinity. They can also go for a year without eating and have remained basically the same since the days of the dinosaur.
38. The Du Pont Laboratories first produced nylon at its plant in Seaford. This earned the town the distinction of being the Nylon Capital of the World.
39. In recognition of sportfishing's overall recreational and economic contributions to the state of Delaware and of the specific values of the weakfish (Cynoscion genus) as a game and food fish, the state Legislature adopted the weakfish as Delaware's State fish in 1981. This fish is also known as sea trout, gray trout, yellow mouth, yellow fin trout, squeteague, and tiderunner.
40. Colonial blue and buff are Delaware's official state colors.
41. Delaware was named for Lord de la Warr. He was the first governor of Virginia.
42. The sheaf of wheat, ear of corn, and the ox on the state seal symbolize the farming activities of early Delaware.
43. The Delaware Indians were one of the most advanced tribes of the eastern United States.
44. New Castle County includes the largest population and smallest area of Delaware's three counties.
45. Wilmington's Delaware History Center is housed in a renovated, art deco former Woolworth five-and-ten-cent store.
46. America's newest tall ship is ten stories high and 139 feet long. The recreation is the Kalmar Nyckel that landed on the Christina River in 1638.
47. Quaker merchant Thomas Garret is thought to be the model for a Quaker farmer in the novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Garret and famed abolitionist Harriett Tubman worked closely with Delaware's anti-slavery forces.
48. The frying pan built in 1950 for use at the Delmarva Chicken Festival is 10 feet in diameter and holds 180 gallons of oil and 800 chicken quarters.
49. The Delaware Breakwater at Cape Henlopen State Park was the first structure of its kind in the western hemisphere.
50. The town of Milton was named after the English poet John Milton in 1807.

Thanks to: Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Delaware Economic Development Office.