Since I'm from here I'll give you guys a brief history. It is the second smallest state (rhode island is smaller). It was named after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr a British Nobleman and Virginia's first continental governor. If you've ever seen the state quarter it depicts Caesar Rodney's infamous ride to break the tie among Delaware's Delegates for the Declaration of Independence. I have a colored version of this quarter. I've never seen any of them colored before... There are only three counties. New Castle, Kent & Sussex. Most of the population is in New Castle (the top county) which hosts the city of Wilmington (a lot of business capitals are located here due to no tax) and the city of Newark -- New-ark not New-urk -- which is most famous for the University of Delaware. New Castle county has also helped the state in Science and Engineering. The DuPont family and business have a lot to do with the state as the chemical company is one of the largest in the world. They are also known for Longwood Gardens, Hagley Museum and Winterthur Gardens. They helped supply half the powder to the Union army in the civil war. That grew out into Dynamite and Smokeless Powder. They helped establish two of the first laboratories in the US. They helped make parachutes, tires and powdered bags in WW2. They bought and helped grow GM. Etc. Etc. Etc. Local legend also has it that the DuPonts are inbred and that there is a house on a back road that houses crazy members of the family - though I can't tell you whether or not this is true. The battle of Cooch's bridge is rumored to have been the first place the stars and stripes were flown in battle. Delaware was only nominally a slave state in the civil war and remained with the union. It is said that someone claimed "as the first to become a part of the new united states delaware will be the last to leave". Our state is quite fanatical about low licensed plates (for your car). The design for our current license plate has been in tact since 1959. It is the longest running continual plate design in the country. A black liscense plate (which contains the lower numbers) is only available for numbers UNDER 87,000. Numbers 1,2 & 3 are reserved for governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state - respectively. (http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080120/NEWS/801200351&template=printart). As per the article #6 is rumored to be sold at 1M dollars. Fort Miles (now Cape Henlopen) has 13 4/5 story towers constructed out of a concrete/sand mix that were put in place during WW2 to help ward off german U-boat (or any boat) sneaking into the area. They actually did capture a U-boat there. Here is a picture of what the towers look like and here is a general location (mapped by yours truly) where the towers are. . The black area. You can see why the towers being put where they are would be a huge help. C&D Canal Bridge goes over the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal - built in 1994 it is the first pre-cast construction bridge to be built in the US. Pre-cast basically means that the concrete is poured into a mold or a form and then lifted into place. Delaware is one of only few states where there is no open container law http://alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/index.asp?Type=BAS_APIS&SEC={F98BB5B8-BA6A-47FE-B6FA-669721E481BC}&DE={9A34CE25-7618-4F31-A634-AB33AB3E2214} State Bird - Blue Hen Flower - Peach Blossom Tree - American Holly State Marine Animal - Horseshoe Crab Other information = http://www.50states.com/delaware.htm http://portal.delaware.gov/delfacts/
Enough of the talk about the wrong side of the ditch (the C&D Canal) Sussex County is the largest county east of the Mississippi, it was/is known as the chicken capitol of the world. Not to sure if it still holds that distinction. In 1950 my Grandfather who worked for Mr. Mumford (Mumford Sheet metal works) helped make what was at the time the worlds largest frying pan. http://www.worldslargestthings.com/easterntour/delmarvafryingpan.htm gotta go for now but will add some more quick facts about Lower slower
Hey I was born on the wrong side of that ditch! (assuming you mean upper is the wrong side and not slower) but I am living on the right side now .. As far as your facts are concerned I think it is still considered the chicken capital of the world. I haven't heard otherwise and my family still mentions that any time we go through it. I completely forgot about that.. and I never knew that sussex is the largest county east of the misssissippi. For being such a small state you'd think someone else would own that distinction. That is a huge frying pan. How many chickens do you think we can fit in that sucker you know it is really odd, that ditch. the northerners of DE all seem to be crazy and in a rush and down here everything is so laid back. this is true from everything to casual social interactions to formal settings like the DMV and anything else.
Good idea Steve. I actually had a course on the history of Wilmington. I'll see if I can find my notebook and list some info. That is of course if the slower lower people are okay with it. The only thing I can seem to remember is the first settlement in Wilmington was made by the Swedes. They named the territory New Sweden but they didn't have much support from home and were soon taken over by the Dutch. In today's world Wilmington is a financial capital. A lot of credit card companies have their headquarters in Wilmington including: Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase Co., ING Direct, etc.
The slower people will just have to deal with your history on Wilmington . It's my thread and I say post it and that any history on delaware that wants to be shared by the 4 members from here is way more than welcome. We've got 3 of us in this thread now lets see if we can't find DeDolfan. I'm going to post about this thread in the DE group just in case. In addition to your history of Wilmington I know Newark was basically founded by Scots-Irish and Welsh.. and it has always been a school town starting with Newark Academy which basically changed its names so many times to become the U of D.
If you must, I will muddle through it Never knew it was first settled by the Swedes. Good stuff right there.
Okay here we go. I will warn you this is coming from my notebook so sometimes it might not be a complete sentence but I'll try to clean up as much as possible. I sold back the text books so can't really reference anything. Also, I did miss a couple of classes so some information is missing. Here is a brief time line: 1st settlement 1638. 1735-1740. We see the start of Wilmington as a community. 1740-1790. Mercantile Period. Communities main purpose was trade & commerce. 1790-1835. Early Industrial Period. Begin to develop as a center for industry. 1835-1875. Middle Industrial Period. Major industries really start to grow. 1875-1910. Mature Industrial Period. 1910. Center of industry + Corporate Capital. 1970's Post Industrial community. 1981-Financial Center Development Act. Became center of Banking operations. 1638- As mentioned in my previous post; the 1st Euro settlement in the Delaware Valley was made by the Swedes at Fort Christina. Gustavas Adolphus- Swedish King. Thought as a world power they should come to the new world. New Sweden Co. established New Sweden but most of the land had already been claimed. 2 ships come over: Kalmar Nyckel & Fogel Grip. Swedish communities started outside of Fort Christina but they never really took off. Mainly because of lack of defense. The biggest being Christina Ham. The log cabin is believed to have been created here. Swedish control didn't last very long. Taking over by the Dutch. In 1651 the Dutch built their own fort: Fort Casimir. There goal was to control the river. In 1653 the Swedes capture Fort Casimir for a year and re-name it Fort Trinity. This causes the Dutch to send a large force and reclaim New Sweden and re-named Fort Christina to Fort Altena. Swedish population had to go under Dutch rule. In 1664 the English wanted to take the area under control for growth. New Amstel became New Castle. In 1682 the area is giving to William Penn. The English government owed his father a great deal of money and decided to give them land in the New World. He was giving Pennsylvania and Delaware. I have to restart my computer so I'll post more in a bit
Thanks! I had no idea the reason why William Penn was given the land was due to the English Gov't owing his family money. When you say "New Amstel became New Castle" do you mean New Castle County or New Castle?
Just saw your website with the worlds largest frying pan. Very nice. My grandfather William Handy Mumford was the one who actually made the pan. Him and his four brothers who worked at Mumford sheet metal works were very involved in the poultry industry in Delaware. The pan was one of several actually. They had trouble welding the two halves together and several of them broke. The pan was actually brought to the delmarva poultry festival in 2 pieces and welded together there. They used to use snow shovels with extra long wood poles as spatulas and it took nearly 200 gallons of cooking oil to fry the chickens. For many years afterwards the boys made minature replicas of the pan as presents for clients around christmas times. They are considered collector items now and have been selling on E-bay as of late. My grandmother has several photos of the pan, one with our entire family at the time standing in the center of it during the festival. Another little known fact about Mumford Sheet Metal Works was there design of the Ocean City Beach Patrols orignal lifeguard bouy. In the 50's or 60's the OC Beach Patrol Captain asked my grandfather if he could make a floatable bouy that could hold up to 5 people afloat. My grandfather made it out of sheet metal, and it had two cones on each end attached to a cylindrical body and was about 3 feet long. Those bouys stayed in service for nearly 30 years and were sold to beach patrols up and down the eastcoast. Many lifeguards used them and praised them for there stability and torpedo like quality in the water. The guards were also taught how to use them as a defensive weapon against unruly beachgoers. According to my grandmother, who is now 90 years old, she was contacted by the Smithsonian and asked to donate one several years ago. Ironically those bouys about 30 in number were some of the only things to survive Mumfrod Sheet Metals fire about ten years ago. Another interesting tidbit told by many of my family memebers is that my grandfather was the inventor of needlenose vicegrips. As the story goes, a tool rep from Vise Grips came to the shop one day and saw a pair of modified vice grips laying on a work bench. He asked my grandfather about them, and he said they were a great tool, but he modified them by welding small tips onto the ends to allow for more delicate welding work necessary for fabricating chicken coop feeder systems. Apparently the rep asked him if he could have the tool in exchange for some free tools. My grandfather obliged, and a year later needle nose vicegrips were for sale everywhere. Needless to say he never saw a penny from vise gripes. Just thought you might find the history interesting.
Good stuff right there My Poppop went on his own and had Tingle sheet metal out on the highway in Selbyville. But I remember Mom telling me he was part of the group that made the pan.
