Sussex County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the southern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, on the

Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Eastern Shore of Virginia. The peninsula is l ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 237,378, making it the state's second most populated county behind New Castle and ahead of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

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 Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

on the Atlantic Coast. However, Sussex County was not organized until 1683 under English colonial rule. Sussex County forms the Seaford, Delaware, Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Beginnings

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 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 The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

, whose territory extended through the mid-Atlantic states to Connecticut and 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.

European discovery

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. On an expedition for the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

recorded discovery in 1609 of what was later named the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

. Attempting to follow him,

Samuel Argall Sir Samuel Argall ( or 1580 – ) was an English sea captain, navigator, and Deputy-Governour of Virginia, an English colony. As a sea captain, in 1609, Argall was the first to determine a shorter northern route from England across the Atlan ...

, 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 Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Th ...

and

Cape Henlopen Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. Off the coast on the bay side are two ...

(originally Hindlopen) in the Delaware Bay. Later it 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.

European settlement

Sussex County was the site of the first European settlement in Delaware, a Dutch trading post named

Zwaanendael or was a short-lived Dutch colonial settlement in Delaware. It was built in 1631. The name is archaic Dutch for "swan valley." The site of the settlement later became the town of Lewes, Delaware. History Two directors of the Amsterdam ...

at the present site of

. On June 3, 1631, Dutch captain

David Pietersen de Vries David Pieterszoon de Vries ( – 13 September 1655) was a Dutch navigator from the city of Hoorn.Joris van der MeeKoopman in de West; De indianen en de Nieuw Nederlanders in het journaal van David Pietersz. De Vries, 2001 (Dutch) Biography ...

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. 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 of

) to a party of

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

s. 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 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 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. The

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

briefly recaptured the territory in 1673 as part of the

Third Anglo-Dutch War The Third Anglo-Dutch War, began on 27 March 1672, and concluded on 19 February 1674. A naval conflict between the Dutch Republic and England, in alliance with France, it is considered a related conflict of the wider 1672 to 1678 Franco-Dutch W ...

. 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 of

James Stuart, Duke of York James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glori ...

In 1680, the Duke reorganized the territory south of the

Mispillion River The Mispillion River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in southern Delaware in the United States. It is approximately long and drains an area of on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. It rises in northern Sussex County, approximately southwest of ...

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 the Delaware territories to

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

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 Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, 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 the Delaware territory extended as far south as Fenwick Island. The 'Three Lower Counties' (Delaware) along

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltw ...

were considered under Penn's sphere of settlement and became the

Delaware Colony The Delaware Colony, officially known as the three Lower Counties on the Delaware, was a semiautonomous region of the proprietary Province of Pennsylvania and a '' de facto'' British colony in North America. Although not royally sanctioned, ...

, a satellite of Pennsylvania. But the boundary disputes continued between Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, (29 September 1699 – 24 April 1751) was a British politician and colonial administrator who served as the proprietary governor of the Province of Maryland. He inherited the title to Maryland aged just f ...

and

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 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 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 Cresap's War (also known as the Conojocular War, from the Conejohela Valley where it was mainly located along the south bank) was a border conflict between Pennsylvania and Maryland fought in the 1730s. Hostilities erupted in 1730 with a serie ...

. In 1750–1751, a team of surveyors from both colonies surveyed and marked the

Transpeninsular Line The Transpeninsular Line (at approximately 38°27′ N) is a surveyed line, the eastern half of which forms the north–south border between Delaware and Maryland. The border turns roughly north from the midpoint of the line towards the Twelve-M ...

, 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, ordering

Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore (6 February 1731 – 4 September 1771), styled The Hon. Frederick Calvert until 1751, was a British landowner who was the last Baron Baltimore. Although he exercised almost feudal power in the Province of ...

to accept the 1732 agreement. As part of the settlement, the Penns and Calverts commissioned the English team of

Charles Mason Charles Mason (25 April 1728 Jeremiah Dixon Jeremiah Dixon (27 July 1733 – 22 January 1779), British surveyor and astronomer, created the Mason–Dixon line with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, which became significant during the American Civil War. Early life and education Dixon wa ...

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 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 The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

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 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 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 , and Commissioner Rhodes Shankland began the survey by laying out "a spacious square of each way." Eventually the town was laid out in a circle across. It was centered on the original square surveyed by Shankland, which is now listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. 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 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.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (21.7%) 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 is apportioned into eleven

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

s: Cedar Creek, Broadkill, Georgetown, Nanticoke, Northwest Fork, Broad Creek, Little Creek, Dagsboro,

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, 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 the state. Bald Cypress

Sussex County is home to an extensive system of Southern saltwater and freshwater wetlands, notably the

Great Cypress Swamp The Great Cypress Swamp (also known as ''Burnt Swamp'', ''Great Pocomoke Swamp'', ''Cypress Swamp'', or ''Big Cypress Swamp''), is a forested freshwater swamp located on the Delmarva Peninsula in south Delaware and southeastern Maryland, United St ...

. This massive freshwater swamp contains the northernmost strand of

Bald Cypress ''Taxodium distichum'' (baldcypress, bald-cypress, bald cypress, swamp cypress; ; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a w ...

trees in the United States. In addition, Zigzag Swamp is located within Sussex County.

Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge is a sanctuary for migratory birds located east of Milton, Delaware, United States. It was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 on along the western shore of Delaware Bay. The refuge contains a va ...

is a along the western shore of

. The refuge contains a variety of habitats, including

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

and

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

es,

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s, and

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

ed areas, supporting 267 species of birds and a variety of

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

s and

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
"Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge: Welcome."
January 3, 2011.

Adjacent counties

* Kent County – north *

Cape May County, New Jersey Cape May County is the southernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on the Cape May peninsula, bound by the Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. ...

– northeast *

Worcester County, Maryland Worcester County is the easternmost county of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 52,460. Its county seat is Snow Hill. The county is part of the Lower Eastern Shore region of the state. It is the only cou ...

– south *

Dorchester County, Maryland Dorchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 census, the population was 32,531. Its county seat is Cambridge. The county was formed in 1669 and named for the Earl of Dorset, a family friend of the Calvert ...

– southwest *

Wicomico County, Maryland Wicomico County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Maryland, on the Delmarva Peninsula. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 103,588. The county seat is ...

– southwest *

Caroline County, Maryland Caroline County is a rural County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 33,293. Its county seat is Denton, Maryland, Denton. The county is part of the Eastern Shor ...

– northwest

Major highways

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

National protected area

Climate

Sussex County has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa'') according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

. The

Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC), or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC), is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köp ...

only has the area along the Atlantic Coast up to

and Lewes as ''Cf'' and the remainder of the county as ''Do'' (

oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...

.) Three months average above 22 °C (71.6 °F), all months average above freezing, and seven to eight months average above . The

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

is 7b except near the coast where it is 8a

Government

Unlike Northern Delaware, particularly New Castle County, Delaware, New 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 that

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

did not carry in either of his presidential bids, despite the presence of Delawarean

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

on the ballot. Biden himself lost the county by 11 points in his own successful bid for president in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. Nonetheless, while Sussex County rejected the Obama-Biden presidential ticket in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Biden carried it in his simultaneous 2008 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. Sussex County's government is composed of an elected

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

and various elective executive heads of departments. The

has five members, who serve four-year terms; all are elected from

single-member districts A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

. 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 the Peace,

Register of Deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights ove ...

, Register of Wills and

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

are elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

. 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 In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

: *District 6 –

Russ Huxtable Russ Huxtable is an American politician from the Delaware Democratic Party. He represented the 6th district in the Delaware State Senate from 2022 to 2025. He was elected to the 16th district in 2024 The year saw the list of ongoin ...

(D) *District 18 – David L. Wilson (R) *District 19 – Brian G. Pettyjohn (R) *District 20 –

Gerald Hocker Gerald W. Hocker (born January 9, 1948) is an American politician who is a Republican member of the Delaware Senate, where he has represented the 20th district since 2012. Hocker previously served in the Delaware House of Representatives where ...

(R) *District 21 –

Bryant Richardson Bryant Richardson is an American politician who is a Republican member of the Delaware Senate, where he has represented the 21st district since 2015. Electoral history * Richardson ran in the 2012 election for Delaware State Senate Distric ...

(R) State House of Representatives: *District 14 – Pete Schwartzkopf (D) *District 20 – Stell Parker Selby (D) *District 35 – Jesse Vanderwende (R) *District 36 – Bryan Shupe (R) *District 37 –

Ruth Briggs King Ruth Briggs King (born March 8, 1956) is an American politician. A Republican, she served as a member of the Delaware House of Representatives, representing district 37, from 2009 to 2023. In 2024, she ran for lieutenant governor but lost to De ...

(R) *District 38 – Ronald E. Gray (R) *District 39 – Daniel Short (R) *District 40 – Timothy Dukes (R) *District 41 – Richard Collins (R)

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 156,638 people, 62,577 households, and 43,866 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 93,070 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 80.35%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 14.89%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.60% Native American, 0.75% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.02% from other races, and 1.35% from two or more races. 4.41% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

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 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 the

Cape Region The Cape Floral Region is a floristic region located near the southern tip of South Africa. It is the only floristic region of the Cape Floristic Kingdom, and includes only one floristic province, known as the Cape Floristic Province. The Cap ...

, tend to be more

affluent Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an ...

than western portions of the county, with a median household income of $77,030 in 2009.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 197,145 people, 79,368 households, and 53,698 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 123,036 housing units at an average density of . 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. In terms of ancestry, 17.9% were Irish, 17.8% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 15.9% were

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, 7.0% were

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, and 6.2% were

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. 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. 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 The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 20.4% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

2020-2021 census and census estimates

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 237,378. According to the 2021

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, 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.

Economy

Most of Sussex County's economy revolves around agriculture. In fact, Sussex County produces the most

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

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 The Delaware Beaches are located along the Atlantic Ocean in the eastern part of Sussex County, Delaware, which is in the southern part of the state. In addition to beaches along the ocean, the area offers many amenities, including restaurants ...

generate $6.9 billion annually and over $711 million in tax revenue. 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 for Millsboro and a 609% increase for Millville. Sussex County is served by the

Delmarva Central Railroad The Delmarva Central Railroad is an American short-line railroad owned by Carload Express that operates of track on the Delmarva Peninsula in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The railroad operates lines from Porter, Delaware to Ha ...

and the

Maryland and Delaware Railroad The Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company is a Class III railroad, Class III short-line railroad, formed in 1977 to operate several branch lines of the former Penn Central Railroad in both Maryland and Delaware, United States. These branches wer ...

Education

Public

Sussex County is served by eight public school districts. * Cape Henlopen School District * Delmar School District * Indian River School District * Laurel School District *

Milford School District Milford School District is the school district of Milford, Delaware, United States. It includes areas in Kent County and Sussex County, including all of Milford, Ellendale, Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by popu ...

(also serves Kent County) * Seaford School District * Woodbridge School District (also serves Kent County) * Sussex Technical School District (County-wide overlay school district) The county also contains one charter school, the Sussex Academy of Arts & Sciences. Those state funded public high schools which participate in sporting events are members of the

Henlopen Conference The Henlopen Conference is a high school sports conference comprising public schools in Kent County and Sussex County in lower Delaware. The teams participate in a variety of sports including football, boys and girls soccer, track and field, cr ...

. In the period of de jure

educational segregation in the United States School segregation in the United States was the segregation of students in educational facilities based on their race and ethnicity. While not prohibited from having or attending schools, various minorities were barred from most schools that ad ...

, K-12 students of black African descent attended segregated schools. William C. Jason Comprehensive High School District 192 in Georgetown housed high school students of black African descent during the period 1951 to 1967. Desegregation occurred after 1967. In the past, a school called Warwick School 225 educated

Nanticoke people The Nanticoke people are a Native American Algonquian-speaking people, whose traditional homelands are in Chesapeake Bay area, including Delaware. Today they continue to live in the Northeastern United States, especially Delaware, and in Okl ...

Private

In 2010, 14.8% of the county students enrolled in K-12 schools were in private institutions. There are several private schools in Sussex County: Bible Center Christian Academy (Laurel), Children Craft CO (Seaford), Delmarva Christian High School (Georgetown, Destiny Christian School (Georgetown), Eagle's Nest Christian School (Milton), Epworth Christian School (Laurel), Greenwood Mennonite School (Greenwood), Harbor Christian Academy (Ellendale), The Jefferson School (Georgetown), Jesus Is Lord Christian Academy (Georgetown), Lighthouse Christian School (Dagsboro), Lighted Pathway Christian Academy (Seaford), Milford Christian School (Milford) and Seaford Christian Academy (Seaford).

Higher education

There are several colleges and universities in Sussex County.

Delaware Technical Community College Delaware Technical Community College (previously Delaware Technical & Community College, also known as DTCC, Delaware Tech, or Del Tech) is a public college, public community college in the U.S. state of Delaware. Delaware Tech is an open admis ...

has the largest presence in the county, but students can also attend

Delaware State University Delaware State University (DSU or Del State) is a Statutory college#Outside New York State, privately governed, state-assisted Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Land-grant university, land-grant research universi ...

, Goldey-Beacom College,

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

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.

Culture

The culture in Sussex County is much like that found in other

Delmarva The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Eastern Shore of Virginia. The peninsula is l ...

counties. Sussex County is starkly different from the rest of the

Mid-Atlantic Mid-Atlantic or Mid Atlantic can refer to: *The middle of the Atlantic Ocean *Mid-Atlantic English, any mix between British and American English *Mid-Atlantic Region (Little League World Series), one of the United States geographic divisions of the ...

and is much like that of the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

. Sussex County is driven by agriculture and commercial fishing. Most of the land is rural and there are but a few large population centers. Many local restaurants serve

southern cuisine The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several subregions, including cuisine of Southeastern Native American tribes, Tidewater, Appalachian, Ozarks, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, African American cuisi ...

such as

sweet tea Sweet tea, also known as sweet iced tea, is a popular style of iced tea commonly consumed in the United States (especially the South) and Indonesia. Sweet tea is most commonly made by adding sugar or simple syrup to black tea while the tea is ...

and dishes including or composed entirely of greens in addition to menus heavy with fried food. Many dialectic studies show that Sussex County residents, much like surrounding

counties, have a variation of

Southern American English Southern American English or Southern U.S. English is a regional dialect or collection of dialects of American English spoken throughout the Southern United States, primarily by White Southerners and increasingly concentrated in more rural areas ...

which is particularly prevalent in rural areas.

Festivals, fairs, and events

Sussex County, Delaware is home to several festivals, fairs, and events. Some of the more notable festivals are the Bethany Beach Jazz Funeral to mark the end of summer, Apple Scrapple Festival in Bridgeville, the Return Day Parade held after elections in even-numbered years in Georgetown, the Laurel Independence Day Celebration, the Nanticoke Indian Pow Wow in Oak Orchard, the Rehoboth Beach Chocolate Festival, the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, th
Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival
the Sea Witch Halloween Festival and Parade in Rehoboth Beach, the Dagsboro Christmas Parade and Seaford 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 Championship

Punkin Chunkin Punkin chunkin or pumpkin chucking is the sport of hurling a pumpkin by mechanical means for distance. The devices used include slingshots, catapults, Centrifugal force, centrifugals, trebuchets, and Air gun, pneumatic (air) cannons. Punkin chu ...

was held in Sussex County.

Media

Newspapers

Cape Gazette ''Cape Gazette'' is an independently owned and operated twice-weekly, community newspaper published in Lewes, Delaware. It is currently available every Tuesday and Friday. The newspaper covers the Cape Region, an area in southeastern Sussex Co ...

* Coastal Point, Ocean View * Delaware Coast Press, Rehoboth Beach * Delaware Wave, Bethany Beach * Hoy en Delaware, Georgetown * Laurel Star, Laurel * Leader & State Register, Seaford * Seaford Star, Seaford * Sussex Countian * Sussex Post, Georgetown * The Script, Georgetown (published at various times throughout the school year, stories by DelTech students majoring in communications)

Radio

Television

* 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. * WBOC, Salisbury,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

* WDPB, Seaford,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

WMDT WMDT (channel 47) is a television station in Salisbury, Maryland, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW Plus. It is the flagship television property of locally based Marquee Broadcasting, and has common ownership with low-power Weath ...

, Salisbury,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

WRDE-LD WRDE-LD (channel 31) is a low-power television station in Salisbury, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the Draper Holdings Business Trust alongside dual CBS and Fox affiliate WBOC-TV (channel 16), and low-power Ca ...

, Salisbury,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

and

MyTV MyTV (or My TV) may refer to these television brands: Africa * MYtv, a South African TV channel Asia *Television Broadcasts Limited's online service in Hong Kong *My TV (Bangladeshi TV channel) *MYTV Broadcasting, a Malaysian digital terrestrial ...

* WBAL, Baltimore, NBC * WJZ, Baltimore, CBS *

WCAU WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jersey–licensed ...

, Philadelphia, NBC *

WTXF WTXF-TV (channel 29) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Owned and operated by the Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on Market Street in Center City and ...

, Philadelphia, Fox

Communities

Rehoboth Beach boardwalk looking north toward Rehoboth Avenue

Cities

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

(partly in Kent County) * Rehoboth Beach * Seaford

Towns

* Bethany Beach *

Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...

Blades A blade is the sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are intended to cut. ...

* Bridgeville * Dagsboro * Delmar *

Dewey Beach Dewey Beach is an incorporated coastal town in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 341, an increase of 13.3% over the previous decade. It is part of the rapidly growing Cape ...

* Ellendale * Fenwick Island * Frankford * Georgetown *

Greenwood Green wood is unseasoned wood. Greenwood or Green wood may also refer to: People * Greenwood (surname) Settlements Australia * Greenwood, Queensland, a locality in the Toowoomba Region * Greenwood, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ...

* Henlopen Acres *

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

* Millsboro * Millville * Milton * Ocean View * Selbyville * Slaughter Beach * South Bethany

Unincorporated communities

* Gumboro * Harbeson *

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

) * Long Neck (a

) * Oak Orchard * Reliance (partial) *

Roxana Roxana (died BC, , ; Old Iranian: ''*Raṷxšnā-'' "shining, radiant, brilliant", ) sometimes known as Roxanne, Roxanna and Roxane, was a Bactrian or Sogdian princess whom Alexander the Great had married after defeating Darius, ruler of the ...

* Stockley

Ghost Towns

* Banning *

New Market New Market may refer to: Bangladesh *New Market, Dhaka *New Market, Khulna, in Sonadanga Model Thana *New Market, Chittagong, near Government City College, Chittagong India * New Market, Bhopal *New Market, Kolkata Jamaica *New Market, Jam ...

* Owens station * Saint Johnstown

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial Auction of Sussex County
{{coord, 38.68, -75.34, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-DE_source:UScensus1990 1683 establishments in Delaware Delaware counties Salisbury metropolitan area Populated places established in 1683