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The name "Delaware" originates from the Delaware River and Bay, which were named in honor of Sir Thomas West (Lord De La Warr), the first governor of the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia in 1610. All State Name Origins.
WHY’S IT CALLED THAT? In 1610 explorer Samuel Argall named the bay and river after Virginia ’s governor, Lord De La Warr—Delaware! Delaware was the first state to ratify, or sign, the U.S....
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Delaware, constituent state of the United States of America. The first of the original 13 states to ratify the federal Constitution, it occupies a small niche in the Boston–Washington, D.C., urban corridor along the Middle Atlantic seaboard. It ranks 49th among the 50 U.S. states in terms of total area and is one of the most densely populated. The state is organized into three counties—from north to south, New Castle, Kent, and Sussex—all established by 1682. Its population, like its industry, is concentrated in the north, around Wilmington, where the major coastal highways and railways pass through from Pennsylvania and New Jersey on the north and east into Maryland on the south and west. The rest of the state comprises the northeastern corner of the Delmarva Peninsula, which Delaware shares with Maryland and Virginia (hence its name). Most state government operations are located in Dover, the capital.
Historically, geographically, and economically, Delaware has had close ties with Pennsylvania, particularly the city of Philadelphia, where the Delaware River and other transportation arteries direct its commerce. The stability and conservatism that were once characteristics of Delaware, especially in the southern areas that lie adjacent to Maryland’s Eastern Shore, long maintained a grip on political life vastly out of proportion to their proponents’ numbers.
Delaware, located mainly within the Atlantic Coastal Plain, is second only to Florida for having the lowest average elevation. A long sand beach forms the state’s oceanfront, stretching from the border with Maryland, at Fenwick Island, north to Cape Henlopen, at the mouth of Delaware Bay. Only one major break, Indian River Inlet, occurs along the 23-mile (37-km) length of the beach. Much of the beach is a low bar between the ocean and a series of lagoons or shallow bays, but at Bethany Beach, near the southern boundary, and again at Rehoboth Beach, near the northern end, the mainland reaches directly to the ocean.
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Much of the shoreline of Delaware Bay is marshy. The mouths of tributaries such as the Murderkill, the Mispillion, and the St. Jones are so shallow that only fishing boats find safe harbours north of Lewes. Farther north, on the banks of the Delaware River, spots of high, dry land appear, as at Port Penn, New Castle, and Edgemoor. The state’s main port, at Wilmington, is located at the confluence of the Delaware River and the Christina, one of its tributaries.
Most of Delaware is drained by streams that run eastward to the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean, but the Nanticoke River and its tributaries in southwestern Delaware flow into Chesapeake Bay. So does the Pocomoke River, which drains the Cypress Swamp, or so-called “Burnt Swamp,” in the extreme south of Delaware, athwart the Maryland line.
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Mar 4, 2020 · Discovering the Bay. The story of Delaware begins in the spring of 1609, when two ships went to sea. One, the Half Moon ( Halve Maan ), sailed out of Amsterdam under the auspices of the Dutch...
Jul 5, 2018 · 1:21. Delaware was first defined in a March 22, 1682 gift from King Charles II to his brother James, duke of York. It included land within 12 miles of New Castle, “extending south to Cape Lopen.”...
List of Delaware state symbols. Location of the in the United States of America. In the state of Delaware, numerous symbols have been approved by the Delaware General Assembly and added to the Delaware Code.
May 23, 2002 · Exploring the Atlantic coast north of Jamestown in 1610, Captain Samuel Argall discovered a large bay which he named in honor of Sir Thomas West, Third Lord de la Warr and the first governor of the Virginia. The title is likely ultimately derived from the Old French de la werre ("of the war"or a warrior).
