Henry
Hudson, sailing under the Dutch flag, is credited with Delaware's discovery
in 1609. The following year, Capt. Samuel Argall of Virginia named Delaware for
his colony's governor, Thomas West, Baron De La Warr. An attempted Dutch settlement
failed in 1631. Swedish colonization began at Fort Christina (now Wilmington)
in 1638, but New Sweden fell to Dutch forces led by New Netherlands' governor
Peter Stuyvesant in 1655.
England
took over the area in 1664, and it was transferred to William Penn as the lower
Three Counties in 1682. Semiautonomous after 1704, Delaware fought as a separate
state in the American Revolution and became the first state to ratify the Constitution
in 1787.
During
the Civil War, although a slave state, Delaware did not secede from the Union.
In
1802, Ëleuthère Irénée du Pont established a gunpowder
mill near Wilmington that laid the foundation for Delaware's huge chemical industry.
Delaware's manufactured products now also include vulcanized fiber, textiles,
paper, medical supplies, metal products, machinery, machine tools, and automobiles.
Delaware
also grows a great variety of fruits and vegetables and is a U.S. pioneer in the
food-canning industry. Corn, soybeans, potatoes, and hay are important crops.
Delaware's broiler-chicken farms supply the big Eastern markets, and fishing and
dairy products are other important industries.
Points
of interest include the Fort Christina Monument, Hagley Museum, Holy Trinity Church
(erected in 1698, the oldest Protestant church in the United States still in use),
and Winterthur Museum, in and near Wilmington; central New Castle, an almost unchanged
late 18th-century capital; and the Delaware Museum of Natural History.
Popular
recreation areas include Cape Henlopen, Delaware Seashore, Trap Pond State Park,
and Rehoboth Beach.
Coming
soon!
See
more on Delaware: Encyclopedia: Delaware Encyclopedia: Geography Encyclopedia:
Economy Encyclopedia: Government Encyclopedia: History Monthly Temperature
Extremes
Accredited
Colleges and Universities
Selected
famous natives and residents:
Richard Allen founder of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church; Valerie Bertinelli actress; Robert Montgomery
Bird writer and artist; Henry S. Canby editor and author; Annie Jump Cannon
astronomer; Elizabeth Margaret Chandler author; Felix Darley artist; John
Dickinson statesman; E. I. du Pont industrialist; Oliver Evans inventor;
Thomas Garrett abolitionist; Henry Heimlich surgeon, inventor; William
Julius “Judy” Johnson baseball player; J. P. Marquand novelist;
Howard Pyle artist and author; George Read jurist, signer of Declaration
of Independence; Jay Saunders Redding educator and author; Caesar Rodney
patriot, signer of Declaration of Independence; Frank Stephens sculptor; Estelle
Taylor actress; George Alfred Townsend journalist and author.
Capital:
Dover
State
abbreviation/Postal code: Del./DE
Governor:
Ruth Ann Minner, D (to Jan. 2009)
Lieut.
Governor: John C. Carney, Jr., D (to Jan. 2009)
Senators:
Joseph R. Biden, Jr., D (to Jan. 2009); Thomas R. Carper, D (to Jan. 2007)
U.S.
Representatives: 1
Secy.
of State: Harriet Smith Windsor, D (to Jan. 2007)
Treasurer:
Jack Markell, D (to Jan. 2007)
Atty.
General: Jane Brady, R (to Jan. 2007)
Entered
Union (rank): Dec. 7, 1787 (1)
Present
constitution adopted: 1897
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
Nicknames:
Diamond State; First State; Small Wonder
Origin
of name: From Delaware River and Bay; named in turn for Sir Thomas West, Baron
De La Warr
Largest
county by population and area: New Castle, 519,396 (2004); Sussex, 938 sq
mi.
State
forests: 3 (over 15,000 ac.)
State
parks: 14 (over 20,000 ac.)
Residents:
Delawarean
2004
resident population est.: 830,364
2000
resident census population (rank): 783,600 (45). Male: 380,541 (48.6%); Female:
403,059 (51.4%). White: 584,773 (74.6%); Black: 150,666 (19.2%); American Indian:
2,731 (0.3%); Asian: 16,259 (2.1%); Other race: 15,855 (2.0%); Two or more races:
13,033 (1.7%); Hispanic/Latino: 37,277 (4.8%). 2000 percent population 18 and
over: 75.2; 65 and over: 13.0; median age: 36.0.
