The first European settlement in the state of Delaware was founded by the Dutch in 1631 near the present-day town ofLewes on the Atlantic Coast. However, Sussex County was not organized until 1683 under English colonial rule.
Sussex County forms theSeaford, Delaware, Micropolitan Statistical Area.[4]
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 the area, especially along the river and the coast, often having seasonal fishing villages. Historic Native Americans in Sussex County were members ofAlgonquian-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 theLenape, whose territory extended through the mid-Atlantic states to Connecticut and the future New York metropolitan area, andNanticoke 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.[5]
There 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.[citation needed]
In the first half of 1613,Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, a Dutch navigator, discovered and named bothCape May andCape Henlopen (originally Hindlopen) in the Delaware Bay. Later it was found that what May had named Henlopen wasFenwick Island, protruding into the Atlantic Ocean. The name of the cape was moved to its present location just east of Lewes.[citation needed]
Sussex County was the site of the first European settlement in Delaware, a Dutch trading post namedZwaanendael at the present site ofLewes. On June 3, 1631, Dutch captainDavid Pietersen de Vries landed along the shores of 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.[6]
Although the Dutch and Swedes returned to resettle the Delaware River region as early as 1638, much of 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 ofLewes) to a party ofMennonites. A total of 35 men were to be included in the settlement, led by aPieter Cornelisz Plockhoy of Zierikzee, and funded by a sizable loan from 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.[7]
Settlement in 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 was a tempting wilderness base for pirates to hide out from authorities and regularly pillage settlers for supplies.
TheDutch briefly recaptured the territory in 1673 as part of theThird 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, the Delaware territory was returned to the English. It was then placed under the control ofJames Stuart, Duke of York.
1683 Seal of Sussex County
In 1680, the Duke reorganized the territory south of theMispillion 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 KingCharles II awarded the Delaware territories toWilliam 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 ofSussex, England. He brought 200 people from Sussex, England as colonists.[8] The town of New Deale was renamed Lewistown (today known as Lewes). At this time, Penn claimed that the Delaware territory extended as far south asFenwick Island. The 'Three Lower Counties' (Delaware) alongDelaware Bay were considered under Penn's sphere of settlement and became theDelaware Colony, a satellite of Pennsylvania.
But the boundary disputes continued between Pennsylvania and Maryland.Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore andWilliam Penn both claimed the land between the 39th and 40th parallels, according to 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 toSomerset County.[9]
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 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 asCresap's War.
In 1750–1751, a team of surveyors from both colonies surveyed and marked theTranspeninsular Line, which established 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, orderingFrederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore to accept the 1732 agreement. As part of the settlement, the Penns and Calverts commissioned the English team ofCharles Mason andJeremiah Dixon to survey 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 theMason-Dixon line, settling Sussex County's western borders. After Pennsylvania abolished slavery in 1781, the western part of this line and theOhio River became 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 the area then known as Cross Roads, the present day site ofMilton. The current county seat ofGeorgetown 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.[10]
Georgetown was not a previously established town. On May 9, 1791, the 10 commissioners headed by President of the State SenateGeorge Mitchell negotiated the purchase of 76 acres (310,000 m2), 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 the original square surveyed by Shankland, which is now listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. Georgetown was named after Senate President George Mitchell.[11]
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 whenKent County broke off. From 1680 to 1682 it was known as Deale County, after being taken over by 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.[12]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,196 square miles (3,100 km2), of which 936 square miles (2,420 km2) is land and 260 square miles (670 km2) (21.7%) is water.[13] 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.
The eastern portion of the county is home toDelaware'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 the state.[citation needed]
Sussex County is home to an extensive system of Southern saltwater and freshwater wetlands, notably theGreat Cypress Swamp. This massive freshwater swamp contains the northernmost strand ofBald Cypress trees in the United States.[15] In addition,Zigzag Swamp is located within Sussex County.[16]
Unlike Northern Delaware, particularlyNew Castle County, Sussex County is highly conservative. Sussex County has only supported a Democrat for president three times since 1944.
This was the only county in Delaware thatBarack Obama did not carry in either of his presidential bids, despite the presence of DelawareanJoe Biden on the ballot. Biden himself lost the county by 11 points in his own successful bid for president in2020. Nonetheless, while Sussex County rejected the Obama-Biden presidential ticket in2008, Biden carried it in his simultaneous2008 Senate run (as he did in six of his seven successful Senate campaigns), meaning some voters in the county rejected Biden as a vice presidential candidate while simultaneously supporting him for Senate.
United States presidential election results for Sussex County, Delaware[21]
Sussex County's government is composed of an electedcounty council and various elective executive heads of departments. Thecounty council has five members, who serve four-year terms; all are elected fromsingle-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).[22]
The additional offices ofClerk of the Peace,Register of Deeds, Register of Wills andSheriff are electedat-large.[23] These positions are held by Norman A. Jones Jr. (R), Alexandra Reed Baker (R), Gregory Fuller (R), and Robert Lee (R), respectively.[24]
Sussex County is split between five state senate districts and nine state house districts.
As of thecensus of 2000, there were 156,638 people, 62,577 households, and 43,866 families residing in the county. The population density was 167 inhabitants per square mile (64/km2). There were 93,070 housing units at an average density of 99 per square mile (38/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 80.35%White, 14.89%Black orAfrican American, 0.60%Native American, 0.75%Asian, 0.04%Pacific Islander, 2.02% fromother races, and 1.35% from two or more races. 4.41% of the population wereHispanic orLatino 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 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 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 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 theCape Region, tend to be moreaffluent than western portions of the county, with a median household income of $77,030 in 2009.[30]
As of the2010 census, there were 197,145 people, 79,368 households, and 53,698 families residing in the county.[31] The population density was 210.6 inhabitants per square mile (81.3/km2). There were 123,036 housing units at an average density of 131.4 per square mile (50.7/km2).[32] 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 the population.[31] In terms of ancestry, 17.9% wereIrish, 17.8% wereGerman, 15.9% wereEnglish, 7.0% wereItalian, and 6.2% wereAmerican.[33]
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 was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age was 45.4 years.[31]
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 thepoverty line, including 20.4% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.[34]
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 237,378. According to the 2021American 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.[2]
Most of Sussex County's economy revolves around agriculture. In fact, Sussex County produces the mostpoultry of any county in the United States.[35][36]
Tourism also plays a large part of the economy, particularly in eastern Sussex County. According to SeaGrant Delaware, theDelaware Beaches generate $6.9 billion annually and over $711 million in tax revenue.[37]
The average home and property price in Sussex County increased 250% in the ten years between 1995 and 2005. Local increases within Sussex County for this period include a 381% increase forMillsboro and a 609% increase forMillville.[38] Sussex County is served by theDelmarva Central Railroad and theMaryland and Delaware Railroad.[39]
There are several colleges and universities in Sussex County.Delaware Technical Community College has the largest presence in the county, but students can also attendDelaware State University,Goldey-Beacom College,University of Delaware all in Georgetown, the Philadelphia Bible College in Ellendale, and the Beebe Hospital School of Nursing in Lewes. The University of Delaware also maintains a marine science campus in Lewes.
The culture in Sussex County is much like that found in otherDelmarva counties. Sussex County is starkly different from the rest of theMid-Atlantic and is much like that of theSouthern United States.Sussex County is driven by agriculture and commercial fishing.[48] Most of the land is rural and there are but a few large population centers. Many local restaurants servesouthern cuisine such assweet tea and dishes including or composed entirely ofgreens in addition to menus heavy with fried food.[citation needed]
Many dialectic studies show that Sussex County residents, much like surroundingDelmarva counties, have a variation ofSouthern American English which is particularly prevalent in rural areas.[49]
Sussex County, Delaware is home to several festivals, fairs, and events. Some of the more notable festivals are the Bethany BeachJazz Funeral to mark the end of summer,Apple Scrapple Festival in Bridgeville, theReturn Day Parade held after elections in even-numbered years in Georgetown, the Laurel Independence Day Celebration, theNanticoke Indian Pow Wow in Oak Orchard, theRehoboth Beach Chocolate Festival, the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, theRehoboth Beach Jazz Festival, theSea Witch Halloween Festival and Parade in Rehoboth Beach, the Dagsboro Christmas Parade andSeaford Riverfest. Also, Sussex County is the home of the Senior League Softball World Series in Roxana at the Lower Sussex Little League Field. The World ChampionshipPunkin Chunkin was held in Sussex County.
Sussex County is officially classified as being part of the Salisbury television market. However, due to the association with the Philadelphia and Baltimore metropolitan areas, their channels are usually available on cable and sometimes provide news coverage.
^[Scharf, Thomas J.,History of Delaware, 1609 – 1888, 1888
^Lower, Mark Antony (1865).Worthies of Sussex: Biographical sketches of the most eminent natives or inhabitants of the county. Lewes: Sussex Advertiser. p. 341.
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