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55-843: Little Assawoman Bay is a body of water in Sussex County , Delaware . It is connected from Assawoman Bay to the south by a narrow canal known locally as "The Ditch," and is connected to Indian River Bay to the north by the Assawoman Canal . It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Fenwick Island barrier spit . This Delaware state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 38°28′30″N 75°04′00″W  /  38.47500°N 75.06667°W  / 38.47500; -75.06667 Sussex County, Delaware Sussex County

110-460: A border between free and slave states. Although Delaware remained a slave state, it already had a number of free blacks, and slaveholders manumitted more slaves in the first two decades after the Revolution. The resolution of the boundary dispute enlarged Sussex County considerably, and the new territory was nicknamed New Sussex. In 1769 a movement started to move the county seat from Lewes to

165-583: A piece of tin, whereon the arms of Holland were painted. One of their chiefs took this off, for the purpose of making tobacco-pipes, not knowing that he was doing amiss. Those in command at the house made such an ado about it that the Indians, not knowing how it was, went away and slew the chief who had done it, and brought a token of the dead to the house to those in command, who told them that they wished that they had not done it; that they should have brought him to them, as they wished to have forbidden him not to do

220-563: A variety of habitats, including freshwater and salt marshes , woodlands , grasslands , ponds , and forested areas, supporting 267 species of birds and a variety of reptiles , amphibians and mammals . Sussex County has a humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ) according to the Köppen climate classification . The Trewartha climate classification only has the area along the Atlantic Coast up to Cape Henlopen and Lewes as Cf and

275-535: Is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware , on the Delmarva Peninsula . As of the 2020 census , the population was 237,378, making it the state's second most populated county only behind New Castle and ahead of Kent . The county seat is Georgetown . The first European settlement in the state of Delaware was founded by the Dutch in 1631 near the present-day town of Lewes on

330-479: Is apportioned into eleven Hundreds : Cedar Creek , Broadkill , Georgetown , Nanticoke , Northwest Fork , Broad Creek , Little Creek , Dagsboro , Baltimore , Indian River , and Lewes & Rehoboth . The eastern portion of the county is home to Delaware's beaches on the Atlantic Coast and many seaside resorts. The western side of the county is the center of Delaware's agriculture, industry with more acres of arable land under cultivation than anywhere else in

385-585: Is composed of an elected county council and various elective executive heads of departments. The county council has five members, who serve four-year terms; all are elected from single-member districts . They form the legislative authority of the county, and choose a "County Administrator" or executive. The county council members are Council President Michael H. Vincent (R, District 1), Cynthia Green (R, District 2), Mark Schaeffer (R, District 3), Douglas B. Hudson (R, District 4), and Vice President John L. Rieley (R, District 5). The additional offices of Clerk of

440-604: Is no agreement on which European group was the first to settle in Sussex County. Historians believe that, in the early years of exploration from 1593 to 1630, Swedish explorers were likely the first Europeans to see the Delaware River and the lands of present-day Sussex County. On an expedition for the Dutch West India Company , Henry Hudson recorded discovery in 1609 of what was later named

495-682: Is water. It is the largest county in Delaware by area. The county's land area comprises 48.0 percent of the state's land area. It is the second-highest percentage of territory of a state of any county in the United States. Sussex County, like Delaware's two other counties, is subdivided into Hundreds . There are several explanations given for how the Hundreds were determined: as an area containing 100 families, an area containing 100 people, or an area that could raise 100 soldiers. Sussex County

550-427: The 2020 census , the county had a population of 237,378. According to the 2021 American Community Survey , the racial and ethnic makeup of the county was 75.4% non-Hispanic white, 11.8% Black or African American, 1.1% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 2.3% multiracial, and 9.6% Hispanic or Latino of any race. Most of Sussex County's economy revolves around agriculture. In fact, Sussex County produces

605-533: The British takeover in 1664. Franciscus van den Enden had drawn up charter for a utopian society that included equal education of all classes, joint ownership of property, and a democratically elected government. Pieter Corneliszoon Plockhoy attempted such a settlement near the site of Zwaanendael, but it was largely destroyed in 1664 by the British. A monument commemorating the colony named De Vries Palisade

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660-585: The Delaware River . Attempting to follow him, Samuel Argall , an English explorer, was blown off course in 1610 and landed in a strange bay which he named after the Governor of Virginia, Thomas West, Lord De La Warr . In the first half of 1613, Cornelius Jacobsen Mey , a Dutch navigator, discovered and named both Cape May and Cape Henlopen (originally Hindlopen) in the Delaware Bay. Later it

715-480: The Atlantic Coast. However, Sussex County was not organized until 1683 under English colonial rule. Sussex County is included in the Salisbury , MD -DE metropolitan statistical area which encompasses much of central Delmarva . Archaeologists estimate that the first inhabitants of Sussex County, the southernmost county in Delaware, arrived between 10,000 and 14,000 years ago. Various indigenous cultures occupied

770-518: The British under James Stuart, Duke of York prior to signing over to William Penn. It was called Durham County when claimed by the Lords Baltimore during the boundary dispute with the Penn family. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 1,196 square miles (3,100 km ), of which 936 square miles (2,420 km ) is land and 260 square miles (670 km ) (21.7%)

825-464: The Delaware Bay area south of what is today the city of Newcastle was not settled until 1662. At that time, the city of Amsterdam made a grant of land at the Hoernkills (the area around Cape Henlopen, near the current town of Lewes ) to a party of Mennonites . A total of 35 men were to be included in the settlement, led by a Pieter Cornelisz Plockhoy of Zierikzee, and funded by a sizable loan from

880-429: The Delaware territories to William Penn in settlement of family debts, and Penn reorganized all three Delaware counties: Deale County become Sussex County, and St. Jones County became Kent County, in recognition of Penn's homelands in the county of Sussex , England. He brought 200 people from Sussex, England as colonists. The town of New Deale was renamed Lewistown (today known as Lewes). At this time, Penn claimed that

935-504: The Delaware territory extended as far south as Fenwick Island . The 'Three Lower Counties' (Delaware) along Delaware Bay were considered under Penn's sphere of settlement and became the Delaware Colony , a satellite of Pennsylvania. But the boundary disputes continued between Pennsylvania and Maryland. Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore and William Penn both claimed the land between the 39th and 40th parallels, according to

990-667: The Delaware territory was returned to the English. It was then placed under the control of James Stuart, Duke of York . In 1680, the Duke reorganized the territory south of the Mispillion River as Deale County with the county seat at New Deale (modern-day Lewes); and created a third county, St. Jones , out of the Delaware territory between the Mispillion River and Duck Creek. In 1682, English King Charles II awarded

1045-515: The Delaware to establish a whaling colony in the mid-Atlantic of the New World. The colony lasted only until 1632, when De Vries left. Upon returning to Zwaanendael that December, he found the Indian tribes had killed his men and burned the colony. The Dutch set about settling the area once again. Although the Dutch and Swedes returned to resettle the Delaware River region as early as 1638, much of

1100-405: The Indians came down upon it as the result of a misunderstanding and it was destroyed, with only two boys, Pierre and Hendrick Wiltsee, surviving to tell the tale. The details of the attack were later recounted to De Vries by Nanticoke Indians when he arrived with the second wave of an additional 50 colonists: He then showed us the place where our people had set up a column to which was fastened

1155-536: The Peace , Register of Deeds , Register of Wills and Sheriff are elected at-large . These positions are held by Norman A. Jones Jr. (R), Alexandra Reed Baker (R), Gregory Fuller (R), and Robert Lee (R), respectively. Sussex County is split between five state senate districts and nine state house districts. State Senate : State House of Representatives : As of the census of 2000, there were 156,638 people, 62,577 households, and 43,866 families residing in

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1210-427: The age of 18 living with them, 54.90% were married couples living together, 11.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.90% were non-families. 24.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.88. In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.50% under

1265-466: The age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 26.30% from 25 to 44, 25.60% from 45 to 64, and 18.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $ 39,208, and the median income for a family was $ 45,203. Males had a median income of $ 30,811 versus $ 23,625 for females. The per capita income for

1320-470: The area after the English ejected the Dutch was slow. The Swedes and Finns who had settled in the area from the days of New Sweden had generally welcomed the English and were allowed to stay; the few Dutch found in the area were rounded up as prisoners and sent to Virginia as slaves. Lord Baltimore encouraged Marylanders to move east to settle the area. But the land was far removed from other, more established settlements and did not appeal to many new settlers. It

1375-547: The area then known as Cross Roads, the present day site of Milton . The current county seat of Georgetown was settled upon on January 27, 1791, after residents in western Sussex County successfully petitioned the Delaware General Assembly to move the county seat to a central location, as the limited roads at the time made it too difficult for outlying residents to reach the county seat in Lewes. Georgetown

1430-468: The area, especially along the river and the coast, often having seasonal fishing villages. Historic Native Americans in Sussex County were members of Algonquian -speaking tribes, as were most coastal peoples along the Atlantic Coast. By the historic period of European encounter, the most prominent tribes in the area were the Lenape , whose territory extended through the mid-Atlantic states to Connecticut and

1485-520: The charters granted to each colony. Whereas Penn claimed the Delaware territories extended to Fenwick Island, Calvert claimed the Maryland Colony ended at Lewes, with all the land south of the settlement belonging to Somerset County . In 1732 Charles Calvert signed a territorial agreement with William Penn's sons that drew a line somewhere in between the two colonies and renounced Calvert's claim to Delaware. But Lord Baltimore later claimed that

1540-486: The city to get them established. This settlement, established in 1663, was organized in part by the Dutch to respond to threats from the English colony of Maryland to the west beginning to assert rights over the area. The English wrested control of New Netherland from the Dutch in 1664 and they destroyed the Mennonite settlement that same year; English reports indicated that “not even a nail” was left there. Settlement in

1595-410: The county rejected Biden as a vice presidential candidate while simultaneously supporting him for Senate. The county's Republican bent is no less pronounced at the state level. Republicans hold every seat on the county council and every elected county office. Republicans also hold four of its five state senate seats and seven of the nine state house seats within the county. Sussex County's government

1650-525: The county was $ 20,328. About 7.70% of families and 10.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.00% of those under age 18 and 8.40% of those age 65 or over. Eastern parts of Sussex County, particularly the Cape Region , tend to be more affluent than western portions of the county, with a median household income of $ 77,030 in 2009. As of the 2010 census , there were 197,145 people, 79,368 households, and 53,698 families residing in

1705-424: The county. The population density was 210.6 inhabitants per square mile (81.3/km ). There were 123,036 housing units at an average density of 131.4 per square mile (50.7/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 79.0% white, 12.7% black or African American, 1.0% Asian, 0.8% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 4.1% from other races, and 2.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.6% of

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1760-706: The county. The population density was 167 inhabitants per square mile (64/km ). There were 93,070 housing units at an average density of 99 per square mile (38/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 80.35% White , 14.89% Black or African American , 0.60% Native American , 0.75% Asian , 0.04% Pacific Islander , 2.02% from other races , and 1.35% from two or more races. 4.41% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 14.9% were of English, 14.3% United States or American (Mostly British), 12.9% Irish, 12.5% German and 5.6% Italian ancestry, 93.3% spoke English and 4.3% Spanish as their first language. There were 62,577 households, out of which 27.10% had children under

1815-511: The document he signed did not contain the terms he had agreed to, and refused to put the agreement into effect. Beginning in the mid-1730s, violence erupted between settlers claiming various loyalties to Maryland and Pennsylvania. The border conflict between Pennsylvania and Maryland would be known as Cresap's War . In 1750–1751, a team of surveyors from both colonies surveyed and marked the Transpeninsular Line , which established

1870-400: The foundation and defined the singularly limited area of the state of Delaware , the major part of which was included in the purchase. A palisaded fort was built, with the "red lion, rampant," of Holland affixed to its gate, and the country was named Swaanendael or Zwaanendael Colony, while the water was called Godyn's Bay (now Delaware Bay). The existence of the little colony was short, for

1925-402: The future New York metropolitan area, and Nanticoke tribes. The people settled along the numerous bodies of water in the area where they were able to harvest fish, oysters, and other shellfish in the fall and winter. In the warmer months the women planted and cultivated crops, and processed the food. The men hunted deer and other small mammals, as larger game was not present in the area. There

1980-443: The house, - and the man who had command standing near the house, three of the stoutest Indians, who were to do the deed, bringing a lot of bear-skins with them to exchange, sought to enter the house. The man in charge went in with them to make the barter, which being done, he went to the loft where the stores lay, and in descending the stairs one of the Indians seized an axe and cleft his head so that he fell down dead. They also relieved

2035-410: The like again. They went away, and the friends of the murdered chief incited their friends, as they are a people like the Indians, who are very revengeful, to set about the work of vengeance. Observing our people out of the house, each one at his work, that there was not more than one inside, who was lying sick, and a large mastiff, who was chained, - had he been loose they would not have dared to approach

2090-544: The most poultry of any county in the United States. Tourism also plays a large part of the economy, particularly in eastern Sussex County. According to SeaGrant Delaware, the Delaware Beaches generate $ 6.9 billion annually and over $ 711 million in tax revenue. Zwaanendael Two directors of the Amsterdam chamber of the Dutch West India Company , Samuel Blommaert and Samuel Godyn , bargained with

2145-486: The natives for a tract of land reaching from Cape Henlopen to the mouth of Delaware River . This was in 1629, three years before the charter of Maryland , and is the oldest deed for land in Delaware . Its water-front nearly coincides with the coast of Kent and Sussex counties. The purchase was ratified in 1630 by Peter Minuit and his council at Fort Amsterdam . The estate was further extended, on May 5, 1630, by

2200-404: The new colonists to New Amsterdam (New York City). The Zwaanendael claims were then resold to the Dutch West India Company . Later Blommaert assisted with the fitting out of the first Swedish expedition to New Sweden in 1637 and engaged Peter Minuit (by then no longer Governor of New Netherland) to command it. A new experimental settlement on Delaware Bay was begun in 1663, just before

2255-572: The newly established boundaries between the Province of Pennsylvania, the Province of Maryland, Delaware Colony and parts of Colony and Old Dominion of Virginia. Between 1763 and 1767, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon surveyed the Mason-Dixon line , settling Sussex County's western borders. After Pennsylvania abolished slavery in 1781, the western part of this line and the Ohio River became

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2310-497: The original square surveyed by Shankland, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Georgetown was named after Senate President George Mitchell. Sussex County has been known by several names over the years, including Susan County, Hoorenkill or Whorekill County as named by the Dutch prior to 1680 when Kent County broke off. From 1680 to 1682 it was known as Deale County, after being taken over by

2365-443: The population. In terms of ancestry, 17.9% were Irish , 17.8% were German , 15.9% were English , 7.0% were Italian , and 6.2% were American . Of the 79,368 households, 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.3% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.3% were non-families, and 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size

2420-440: The purchase of a tract twelve miles square (31 km²) on the coast of Cape May opposite, and the transaction was duly attested at Fort Amsterdam. The Dutch West India Company was formed to colonize the tract that included Blommaert, Godyn, Kiliaen van Rensselaer ( Patroon of Rensselaerswyck ), Joannes de Laet (the geographer), David Pietersen de Vries and Mathijs Jansen Van Keulen. A ship of eighteen guns, The Walvis

2475-450: The remainder of the county as Do ( oceanic .) Three months average above 22°C (71.6°F), all months average above freezing, and seven to eight months average above 10 °C (50 °F). The hardiness zone is 7b except near the coast where it is 8a. [1] Unlike Northern Delaware, particularly New Castle County , Sussex County is highly conservative. Sussex County has only supported a Democrat for president three times since 1944. This

2530-530: The settlement, de Vries (who had received reports of the slaughter before leaving Europe) negotiated a treaty with the Indians and sailed up the Delaware River, attempting to trade for beans and corn. Failing his objective there, de Vries sailed to Virginia, where was successful in obtaining provisions for the new colonists in Zwaanendael, to which he returned. The massacre convinced the Dutch to retrench their settlements and de Vries shortly thereafter removed

2585-402: The sick man of life, and shot into the dog, who was chained fast, and whom they most feared, twenty-five arrows before they could dispatch him. They then proceeded towards the rest of the men, who were at work, and, going amongst them with pretensions of friendship, struck them down. Thus was our young colony destroyed, causing us serious loss. Arriving December 5, 1632, at the charred remains of

2640-512: The southern boundary of Sussex County. However, residents of the disputed territory continued to pay taxes to Maryland into the 1770s. The issue was unresolved until the Crown intervened in 1760, ordering Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore to accept the 1732 agreement. As part of the settlement, the Penns and Calverts commissioned the English team of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to survey

2695-517: The state. Sussex County is home to an extensive system of Southern saltwater and freshwater wetlands, notably the Great Cypress Swamp . This massive freshwater swamp contains the northernmost strand of Bald Cypress trees in the United States. In addition, Zigzag Swamp is located within Sussex County. Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge is a 10,000 acres (40 km ) along the western shore of Delaware Bay . The refuge contains

2750-466: Was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age was 45.4 years. The median income for a household in the county was $ 51,046 and the median income for a family was $ 59,053. Males had a median income of $ 41,978 versus $ 32,148 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 26,779. About 8.0% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line , including 20.4% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over. As of

2805-551: Was a tempting wilderness base for pirates to hide out from authorities and regularly pillage settlers for supplies. The Dutch briefly recaptured the territory in 1673 as part of the Third Anglo-Dutch War . At that point, they established courts in the town of New Castle and at the Hoerkill at the southern end of the territory, effectively creating two counties out of the territory. After the war concluded in 1674,

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2860-466: Was fitted out to bring over the colonists and subsequently defend the coast, with incidental whaling to help defray expenses. A colony of twenty-eight people was planted on Blommaert's Kill (now Lewes creek), a little north of Cape Henlopen, and its governorship was entrusted to Gillis Hosset. This settlement antedated by several years any in Pennsylvania , and the colony at Lewes practically laid

2915-473: Was found that what May had named Henlopen was Fenwick Island , protruding into the Atlantic Ocean. The name of the cape was moved to its present location just east of Lewes. Sussex County was the site of the first European settlement in Delaware, a Dutch trading post named Zwaanendael at the present site of Lewes . On June 3, 1631, Dutch captain David Pietersen de Vries landed along the shores of

2970-486: Was not a previously established town. On May 9, 1791, the 10 commissioners headed by President of the State Senate George Mitchell negotiated the purchase of 76 acres (310,000 m ), and Commissioner Rhodes Shankland began the survey by laying out "a spacious square of 100 yards (91 m) each way." Eventually the town was laid out in a circle one mile (1.6 km) across. It was centered on

3025-545: Was the only county in Delaware that Barack Obama did not carry in either of his presidential bids, despite the presence of Delawarean Joe Biden on the ballot. Biden himself lost the county by 11 points in his own successful bid for president in 2020 . Nonetheless, while Sussex County rejected the Obama-Biden presidential ticket in 2008 , Biden carried it in his simultaneous 2008 Senate run (as he did in six of his seven successful Senate campaigns), meaning some voters in

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