Delaware Facts and Attractions
The Basics
- State Flag
- State Bird: Blue Hen
- State Flower: Peach Blossom
- State Bug: Ladybug
- State Tree: American Holly Tree
- State Song: "Our Delaware"
- State Butterfly: Tiger swallowtail
- State Fish: Weakfish
- State Marine Animal: Horseshoe Crab
- State Beverage: Milk
- State Colors: Colonial blue and buff
- Nickname: "The First State" because Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution on December 7, 1787
- Other Nicknames: "The Diamond State," "Blue Hen State," "Small Wonder"
- State Motto: Liberty and Independence
- Counties: Three - New Castle, Kent and Sussex
- Capital: Dover
- 2000 Population Estimate: 783,600
- Average temperatures range from 75.8 to 32.0 degrees. Average temperature in the summer months is 74.3 degrees. About 57 percent of the days are sunny
- Highest Point: 447.85 ft. above sea level, near Ebright Road in New Castle County
- Lowest Point: sea level along the Delaware beaches
- Delaware is 96 miles long, and varies from 9 to 35 miles in width
Did You Know?
- Delaware was a part of Pennsylvania until 1776 when economic, cultural and political differences fostered a permanent separation. Prior to this, Delaware was referred to as the "Three Lower Counties," and the town of New Castle was the capital of this colony from 1704-1777, before the capitol moved to Dover.
- Tradition holds that America's new 13-star flag, the Stars and Stripes, was first unfurled at the Battle of Cooch's Bridge in Delaware on September 3, 1777.
- Delaware is the only state to be both north and east of the Mason-Dixon Line.
- Delaware was named for Lord de la Warr, the first governor of Virginia.
- Delaware has three counties, the fewest of any state having counties. Runners-up are Hawaii with four counties and Rhode Island which has five.
- Delaware is one of only five states without sales tax. The others are Alaska, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon.
- Delaware is the birthplace of the inventor of the phonograph, Eldridge Reeves Johnson (1867-1945). Born in Wilmington and raised in Dover, Johnson later founded the Victor Talking Machine Company, today known as RCA.
- Barratt's Chapel, erected in 1780 in Frederica, is known as the "Cradle of Methodism in America." The Methodists established the New World chapter of their religion here in 1784.
- Delaware's average altitude is about 60 feet above sea level, giving it the lowest average altitude of any state.
- Sussex County raises more broiler chickens than any other county in the United States.
- In 1971, in an effort to protect beaches and wetlands, Delaware's state legislature passed the nation's first Coastal Zone Act which prohibits new heavy industry and offshore bulk product transfer facilities in the coastal zone.
- The first tractor made, a John Deere, is in the Messick Agricultural Museum in Harrington.
- Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore are all within a two-hour drive.
Delaware Attractions by County
New Castle- Amstel House Museum - New Castle (18th-century home which once housed a wedding attended by George Washington)
- Ashland Nature Center - Hockessin (more than 600 acres of forests, field and marshes)
- Bellevue State Park - Wilmington (former estate of William DuPont, Jr.)
- Cooch's Bridge - Newark (only Revolutionary War Battle fought in Delaware)
- Delaware Art Museum - Wilmington
- Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts - Wilmington (about 30 exhibitions annually of regional and nationally known contemporary artists)
- Delaware History Museum - Wilmington
- Delaware Museum of Natural History - Wilmington
- Fort Delaware State Park - Delaware City (Civil War era fortress and prison to more than 30,000 confederate, federal and political prisoners)
- George Read II House and Garden - NEw Castle (built between 1797 and 1804)
- Greenbank Mills and Phillips Farm - Wilmington
- Hagley Museum and Library - Wilmington (original du Pont home)
- Historic Houses of Odessa - Odessa (four fully-restored 18th- and 19th-century homes)
- The Hotel du Pont - Wilmington
- Nemours Mansion and Gardens - Wilmington (chateau built for Alfred I. DuPont)
- Olde Swedes Church and Hendrickson House Museum - Wilmington (two of Wilmington's oldest structures)
- Riverfront Wilmington - Wilmington (restaurants, shops, museums, sports and entertainment as you stroll along the Christina River)
- Robinson House - Claymont (during the American revolution, home to George Washington, General "Lighthouse" Harry Lee, and others)
- Shipyard Shops - Wilmington (tax-free shopping)
- Winterthur Museum and Country Estate - Winterthur (home of Henry Francis du Pont)
- Air Mobility Command Museum - Dover Air Force Base
- Barratt's Chapel Museum - Frederica
- Biggs Museum of Art - Dover
- Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge - Smyrna
- Delaware Agricultural Museum - Dover
- Delaware State Fair - Harrington
- Delaware State Visitors Center - Dover
- Dover Downs - Dover (speedway, horseracing, video lottery, hotel, restaurants and spa)
- First State Heritage Park - Dover
- Kent Theatre Guild - Dover
- Killens Pond State Park - Felton
- Legislative Hall - Dover
- Old State House - Dover (18th century-style courtroom while the second floor is the former chambers of the state's legislature)
- Schwartz Center for the Arts - Dover
- Wicked R Ranch - Wyoming
- Beaches: Cape Henlopen State Park, Lewes, Rehoboth, Dewey, Indian River Inlet, Bethany, South Bethany, Fenwick Island State Park, Fenwick Island
- Bethel Heritage Museum - Laurel
- Cape-May Lewes Ferry - Lewes
- DiscoverSea Shipwreck Museum - Fenwick Island (artifact collections include coins and bullion recovered from local wrecks, silver and gold bars, weapons, jewelry, porcelain and pottery, and local colonial and maritime history exhibits)
- Fisher-Martin House - Lewes
- Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse - Lewes (constructed in 1901, only lighthouse still operating in Delaware)
- Indian River Lifesaving Station Museum - Rehoboth Beach (built in 1876, one of very few life-saving facilities still standing in its original location)
- Mason-Dixon Line Marker - Delmar
- Nanticoke Indian Museum - Millsboro (houses a large collection of Native American books, photographs and videos)
- Nassau Valley Vineyards - Lewes
- Nutter D. Marvel Carriage Museum - Georgetown (operated by the Georgetown Historical Society)
- Parson Thorne Mansion - Milford
- Tanger Outlet Center - Rehoboth Beach (tax-free Shopping)
- Trap Pond State Park - Laurel
- Treasures of the Sea Exhibit- Georgetown (artifacts from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank off the Florida Keys during a hurricane in 1622)
- Zwaanendael Museum - Lewes
Click here for more information about visiting Delaware.
« Return