Delaware Trivia & Tidbits - Page 15

Looking for Delaware trivia? Try our list Delaware little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

The Woodland Ferry across the Nanticoke River near Seaford (pop. 6,699), established in 1793, is the last cable-operated ferry in the state.

first appeared: 11/4/2001

Nancy Harkness Love (1914-1976) who commanded the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron in World War II—women who flew aircraft from factories to combat zones abroad—was also a campaigner for the rights of women veterans. A statue dedicated to her stands at the County Airport in New Castle (pop 4,862).

first appeared: 10/28/2001

Beaver pelts, a commodity available from American Indians, were a major factor attracting the Swedes to Delaware in the early 1600s.

first appeared: 10/21/2001

Parts of the movie Dead Poet’s Society (1989) were filmed at Saint Andrew’s School in Middletown (pop. 6,161).

first appeared: 10/14/2001

In its early days, Lewes (pop. 2,932) was occasionally troubled by pirates. The town was looted in 1698 by the pirate Canoot, and legend has it that Captain Kidd buried a chest of gold on nearby Cape Henlopen.

first appeared: 10/7/2001

The Indian River Lifesaving Museum on Fenwick Island in southern Delaware, built in 1876, was used as a station for “surfmen” who rescued sailors in distress. The museum is the only standing lifesaving station in its original location on the East Coast.

first appeared: 9/30/2001

In Delaware, bungee jumping is illegal.

first appeared: 9/23/2001

The Thousand Acre Marsh in northern Delaware, the state’s largest freshwater tidal wetland, originally was enclosed by the Dutch in the 1600s to control water levels for agriculture.

first appeared: 9/16/2001

Delaware’s poultry industry began by accident in 1923 when Cecile Steele of Ocean View (pop. 1,006) ordered 50 chicks and received 500 instead. With so many chicks on hand, Steele decided to go into the poultry business—which is a $500 million industry in Delaware today.

first appeared: 9/9/2001

Delaware-based corporations account for more than half of the Fortune 500 companies in the United States.

first appeared: 9/2/2001

The flour mill in Seaford (pop. 6,699) has been run by the Rawlins family since 1885 and still produces cornmeal, Dove brand flour, and buckwheat pancake mixes. It’s the only flour mill still operating in the state.

first appeared: 8/26/2001

Lt. David Buckingham earned the Medal of Honor in the Civil War while serving in Company E, 4th Delaware Volunteer Infantry at Rowanty Creek, Va. On Feb. 5, 1865, he swam the partly frozen creek, under fire, in an attempt to capture a creek crossing.

first appeared: 8/19/2001

Absalom Jones, born a slave near Seaford in 1746, became the first African-American priest of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

first appeared: 8/12/2001

The ladybug was chosen by the Legislature as the state bug in 1974 after an intensive effort on the insect’s behalf by Mollie Brown-Rust and her second grade students at Lulu M. Ross Elementary School in Milford (pop. 6,732).

first appeared: 8/5/2001

The word Rehoboth, in Rehoboth Beach (pop. 1,200) is a biblical term meaning “room enough.” When a railroad from Lewes was built in 1878, the town became a popular site for religious revival meetings well into the 1880s.

first appeared: 7/29/2001

Paul Revere wasn’t the only one who raced on horseback through the night for the cause of independence. Caesar Rodney (1728-1784), a Delaware statesman who signed the Declaration of Independence, made a hurried night ride from Dover to Philadelphia on July 2, 1776, to sway a tie vote to the side of independence.

first appeared: 7/22/2001

The once common Buffalo nickel (minted between 1913 and 1938) bears an imprint of John Big Tree, a Nanticoke Indian, on its opposite side. The Nanticokes are Delaware’s original inhabitants, and today their descendants, still living in the state, number about 500.

first appeared: 7/15/2001

Illustrator and author Howard Pyle (1853-1911), born in Wilmington, is best known for his books about pirates. It is from his famous Book of Pirates that our present-day concept of pirates has come.

first appeared: 7/8/2001

George Read (1733-1798) became a lawyer at age 19 in New Castle (pop. 4,900). Known for his efforts to reconcile with the British and refusing to sign the Declaration of Independence, he finally did sign and became a staunch supporter of independence.

first appeared: 7/1/2001

The adoption of the Peach Blossom as the state flower May 9, 1895, was prompted by Delaware’s reputation as the “Peach State.” Delaware’s orchards contained more than 800,000 peach trees when the act was passed and it is still a leading peach producer.

first appeared: 6/24/2001

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