Area Information
Delaware
Seaford, DE
Seaford was once part of Dorchester County in the Province of Maryland. First called “Hooper’s Landing”, Seaford was laid out in 1799, and incorporated in 1865, just three days prior to the end of the Civil War. In 1939, Seaford became the “Nylon Capital of the World” when the DuPont Company opened the first Nylon plant. Tobacco cultivation was also prominent in Seaford. William Henry Harrison Ross, an innovative farmer with extensive land holdings in Seaford, became Delaware’s Governor in 1851. The Ross Mansion and Plantation features his Italian Renaissance style home.
Seaford Chamber of Commerce Website
Bethel, DE
The entire town of Bethel, a quaint village of Victorian and Italianate architecture, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Once a prosperous shipbuilding center, the community is traced to 1840 when Kendall Lewis laid out twelve building lots. Originally known as Lewisville, the name changed to Bethel in 1880. Bethel sits on the north bank of Broad Creek, a Nanticoke River Tributary.
Laurel, DE
Laurel is home to more historic buildings than any town in Delaware with 800 on the National Historic Record. Broad Creek flows through Laurel.
Maryland
Sharptown, MD
Sharptown once laid claim to the largest fleet of schooners anywhere on the river, building eighteen U.S. merchant ships in the latter part of the 1800’s. This industry flourished up until the early 19th century when most of the area’s forests had been cleared (as a result of boatbuilding and farming) and shipbuilding all but disappeared from the region. While shipbuilding is no longer a way of life on the Nanticoke, barges still actively transport goods up and down the river as in colonial times. Cherry Beach and Cope Bennet Parks provide the following amenities.
Vienna, MD
The waterfront community of Vienna was known as a hub for commerce and trade and in 1762 was an official customs collecting port in the colonies. It became a fortress both during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The British attacked the town time and time again, due to its importance as a major transportation hub and supply line for American troops. Prior to John Smith’s voyage in 1707, this shoreline was first inhabited by Native Americans.
Mardela Springs, MD
Originally called Barren Creek Springs, Mardela Springs has many historic buildings including: Barren Creek Heritage Center and Museum, Barren Creek Presbyterian Church built 1842 (location of the original Mason-Dixon Marker), the Barren Creek Spring House which was the focus of the town’s attraction as a mineral water spa in the 1800s through the early 1900s, and the Adkins Historical Complex & Museum. Other sites of interest include: the Tobacco Warehouse which was an official exporting center for locally grown tobacco through much of the 1700s, ship yards which once stood on the Barren Creek, and the Barren Creek Hotel site which dates from the latter 1700s.
Federalsburg, MD
The town of Federalsburg is located on the Marshyhope Creek in the southern-most part of Caroline County, the heart of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, which has long been known for being a land of hospitable and gracious living
