St. Georges Hundred is an unincorporated subdivision of

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. Hundreds were once used as a basis for representation in the Delaware General Assembly, and while their names still appear on all real estate transactions, they presently have no meaningful use or purpose except as a geographical point of reference.

Boundaries and formation

St. Georges Hundred is that portion of

that lies south of the

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a -long, -wide and -deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States. In the mid‑17th century, mapmaker Augus ...

and the small remaining portion of St. Georges Creek, and north of Appoquinimink Creek, extended generally westward from its headwaters to the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

state line, excepting a small area south of the

, west of Summit Bridge and north of Back Creek. It was one of the original hundreds in

created in 1682 and was named for St. Georges Creek that once flowed along its northern boundary. Today most of the bed of St. Georges Creek has been used by the route of the

, which has effectively replaced it. Originally, the default boundary of

and

was the vague height of land between the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

and

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

s and St. Georges Hundred extended only to that point. With the running of the

Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...

in 1767, the western boundary of

was established in its present location and became a portion of St. Georges Hundred's western boundary. The towns of Middletown and

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

and the community of Port Penn are in St. Georges Hundred.

Development

St. Georges Hundred is rural and agricultural in places, but there has been considerable residential and commercial development in the 1980s and 1990s which continues to this day. This area is among the fastest growing parts of Delaware.

Geography

Important geographical features, in addition to the

, St. Georges Creek and Appoquinimink Creek, include the

, which forms its eastern boundary, St. Augustine Creek, Scotts Run, Drawyers Creek, Back Creek, and Reedy Island in the

. It is entirely in the coastal plain region on the Delmarva Peninsula.

Transportation

Important roads include portions of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway (

Delaware Route 1 Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) is the longest numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Fenwick Island, Sussex County, where the road continues south into that state as Maryland R ...

), the DuPont Highway (

U.S. Route 13 U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to US 1 in the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville. ...

), Levels Road,

U.S. Route 301 U.S. Route 301 (US 301) is a spur of U.S. Route 1 running through the South Atlantic States. It runs from Biddles Corner, Delaware at Delaware Route 1 to Sarasota, Florida at U.S. Route 41. It passes through the states of Delaware, Mar ...

, Summit Bridge Road and Boyd's Corner Road (

Delaware Route 896 Delaware Route 896 (DE 896) is a state highway located in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from U.S. Route 13 (US 13) in Boyds Corner north to the Maryland border northwest of Newark, where the road becomes unsig ...

), Augustine Beach Road and Taylor's Bridge Road (

Delaware Route 9 Delaware Route 9 (DE 9) is a state highway that runs from DE 1 near Dover Air Force Base in Kent County north to DE 2 in the city of Wilmington in New Castle County. DE 9 is a designated scenic highway known as the ...

). A portion of the old

Delaware Railroad The Delaware Railroad was the major railroad in the US state of Delaware, traversing almost the entire state north to south. It was planned in 1836 and built in the 1850s. It began in Porter and was extended south through Dover, Seaford and fin ...

, subsequently the Delmarva branch of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

, now the Delmarva Central Railroad's Delmarva Subdivision, runs north–south through Middletown.

References

{{Reflist Hundreds in New Castle County, Delaware