DelaFAQs
(Frequently Asked Questions)

2,044 square miles
Most of Delaware is on the Atlantic Coastal plain.  The northern part of the state is on the Piedmont plateau, a hilly area between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coastal plain.  The dividing line runs east-west between the cities of Wilmington and Newark.

96 miles

39 miles

442 feet above sea level (Ebright Road, north Wilmington)

Sea level

Delaware declared its independence from Great Britain on June 15, 1776.  It thereby also became independent of Pennsylvania with which it had been connected since 1682.  It is known as the "First State" because on December 7, 1787, it became the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

Signers of the Constitution from Delaware

Signers of the Declaration of Independence from Delaware

Dover 

Counties

New Castle - north

Kent - center of Delaware, 11 miles south of the capital Dover

Sussex - the larges county, measuring 950 square miles

In 1610 explorer Samuel Argall named the Delaware River and Bay for the governor of Virginia, Thomas West, Lord De La Warr.  The state of Delaware takes its name from the river and bay. Lord de la Warr  Photo from the  A.N. Sanborn Collection

Delaware's government consists of the General Assembly,  comprised of a Senate and House of Representatives, the Governor, and the judiciary. 

Who's who in state Government:
Governor - Ruth Ann Minner  (2000 - )
Lt. Governor - John C. Carney, Jr. (2000-   )
Attorney General - Joseph R. Biden III
Secretary of State - Harriet Smith Windsor 
State Treasurer - Jack A. Markell 
State Auditor - R. Thomas Wagner, Jr. 
Insurance Commissioner - Matt Denn
U.S. Senator - Thomas R. Carper  - D
U.S. Senator - Joseph R. Biden, Jr. - D
U.S. Representative - Michael N. Castle - R

This image is from a 19th century commemorative ribbon.  There are three dates on Delaware's state seal - 1704 reflects the establishment of Delaware's first General Assembly; 1776 for the Declaration of Independence from England; and 1787, the year that Delaware ratified the United States Constitution - making us the first state in the union! The current seal reflects the final changes made in 1907.

Delaware adopted the current state flag on July 24, 1913.  The state seal is enclosed in a buff diamond on a colonial blue background.  Below the diamond is printed "December 7, 1787," the date that Delaware ratified the U.S. Constitution and became the first state.

 

Blue Hen Chicken

The mascot of Delaware's Revolutionary War soldiers, a fighting game cock, was named the state bird in February, 1939. Picture on left from The Sons of Delaware 1901 Banquet Program

peach blossom

Adopted on May 9, 1895, after farmers and schoolchildren petitioned the General Assembly.  Beginning in the early 1800s, Delaware became a leading producer of peaches until a blight called "the yellows" destroyed the orchards in the late 1800s.

 

State
Fossil

Belemnitella americana (ancestors of the modern squid).

State
Herb

ladybug

Adopted April 25, 1974, after state schoolchildren petitioned the General Assembly.

 

American holly (Ilex opaaca Aiton)

Adopted by Act of the General Assembly and Governor on May 1,1939.  During the late nineteenth century until the 1930s, Sussex County became the leading producer of holly, used for Christmas decorations and wreaths.

sillimanite, adopted March 24, 1977.

A white, brownish, greenish aluminum silicate (Al₂SiO₅), only found in rocks that have been under great pressure (metamorphic rocks).  In Delaware, you can find sillimanite in northwest areas such as Brandywine Springs and Hoopes Reservoir.

milk, adopted 1983

   

Colonial blue and buff

Our Delaware

Written by George B. Hynson (words) and William M.S. Brown (music), published 1906.
It became the state song in 1925 by an act of the General Assembly.  The fourth verse was written by Donn Devine for the American Revolution Bicentennial in 1976.

"Liberty and Independence"

First State - first to ratify the Constitution.

Diamond State - Legend has it that Thomas Jefferson called Delaware a "jewel" among the states because of it's strategic location along the East Coast.

Blue Hen State - One form of entertainment during the Revolutionary War for Delaware soldiers was cock fighting.  It was so popular, Delaware Soldiers brought their own Blue Hens with them during their stay in the army.  The Blue Hen was noted for its fighting ability, and because of their bravery, the men of Captain Jonathan Caldwell's company was soon compared to this breed.

Small Wonder

Home of Tax Free Shopping

Peach State -the first state to produce peaches commercially.

Corporate Capital

Chemical Capital

Who?

The first known inhabitants of Delaware were two tribes of Native Americans, the Lenni Lenape and the Nanticoke.