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Delaware is also a place that has a great deal of colonial heritage that many people know very little about. We have a friend who has lived most of her life in North Wilmington, yet only recently visited Old New Castle for the first time! There are quite a few colonial churches scattered all over the State, as well as various houses and some public buildings. Also there are even more houses and other structures that date from the first few decades after independence. The thing is, most of this tends to be on a smaller scale than historic houses, churches and other buildings in Virginia and other states with colonial heritage, so it seems to have a lower profile. I suspect that the people in Delaware who are most aware of the colonial and early federal heritage live in Dover, Lewes, and Old New Castle where so much history has been preserved.
I've decided to make a short list of facts and opinions which reflect my experiences of living in Brandywine Hundred for 11 years and eastern Sussex for the past 26 years. Some will also include statements from my husband whose is from west Seaford and has family with deep Seaford and Blades roots. Here we go!
New Castle County:
-Urban areas
-Quite a few extremely affluent families and also many families living in poverty
-Large Jewish and Catholic population
-Much more fast paced than Kent and Sussex
-Has many schools that are not considered safe or a good place for students who WANT to learn, although Wilmington Charter, some Brandywine area schools, and Appo district are extremely desirable schools. There are many schools up there I would not want my son to attend.
-Lots of history and beautiful scenery in old New Castle and extreme northern Delaware
-Has the most industry and favorable jobs/employment
-Just my opinion, but the Brandywine Hundred area is one of the best and safest places to live up there.
Below the canal (will focus on Sussex since I am still unfamiliar with Kent):
Eastern Sussex/Beach area:
-Geared towards the tourism industry
-Not a great place for jobs that pay well and/or don't cut hours or lay employees off unless you are self-employed or work for the state
-Quite a few wealthy people living at the beaches
-Born and bred Delawareans are a minority here. Most residents are from out of state
-Large senior citizen population
-Decent sized Catholic population
-Can be considered "sleepy" during the months of December-March but that suits me just fine
-Has some of the best and safest schools in the state. Indian River School District is excellent and Cape is decent as well.
-Plenty of state parks and bays, creeks, canals, etc. for kayakers, bikers, hunters, or fishermen.
-Ample wildlife
-Growing problem with "pillheads" but I think that's everywhere
Western Sussex, where my husband is from and I used to work:
-Still many locals
-Geared towards agriculture
-Obvious poverty almost everywhere
-Not as developed as the DE beaches
-More of a slower pace compared to where I live
-Very friendly and down to earth people. Some of the nicest and most genuine people I have EVER met are from western Sussex
-Has a beautiful and rather large park east of Laurel--Trap Pond
-Growing crime and drug issue. Some areas are very unsafe at night
-Schools are not very good at all with the exception of Delmar school district and Sussex Tech
-Cheaper housing and COL in western Sussex compared to eastern Sussex
-Close to Salisbury which has some worthwhile employment opportunities. Some residents even head across the bay bridge for their jobs
-Has some very quaint and historic towns that are worth visiting
I'm sure I'll think of more descriptions for above and below the canal later
I've decided to make a short list of facts and opinions which reflect my experiences of living in Brandywine Hundred for 11 years and eastern Sussex for the past 26 years. Some will also include statements from my husband whose is from west Seaford and has family with deep Seaford and Blades roots. Here we go!
New Castle County:
-Urban areas
-Quite a few extremely affluent families and also many families living in poverty
-Large Jewish and Catholic population
-Much more fast paced than Kent and Sussex
-Has many schools that are not considered safe or a good place for students who WANT to learn, although Wilmington Charter, some Brandywine area schools, and Appo district are extremely desirable schools. There are many schools up there I would not want my son to attend.
-Lots of history and beautiful scenery in old New Castle and extreme northern Delaware
-Has the most industry and favorable jobs/employment
-Just my opinion, but the Brandywine Hundred area is one of the best and safest places to live up there.
Below the canal (will focus on Sussex since I am still unfamiliar with Kent):
Eastern Sussex/Beach area:
-Geared towards the tourism industry
-Not a great place for jobs that pay well and/or don't cut hours or lay employees off unless you are self-employed or work for the state
-Quite a few wealthy people living at the beaches
-Born and bred Delawareans are a minority here. Most residents are from out of state
-Large senior citizen population
-Decent sized Catholic population
-Can be considered "sleepy" during the months of December-March but that suits me just fine
-Has some of the best and safest schools in the state. Indian River School District is excellent and Cape is decent as well.
-Plenty of state parks and bays, creeks, canals, etc. for kayakers, bikers, hunters, or fishermen.
-Ample wildlife
-Growing problem with "pillheads" but I think that's everywhere
Western Sussex, where my husband is from and I used to work:
-Still many locals
-Geared towards agriculture
-Obvious poverty almost everywhere
-Not as developed as the DE beaches
-More of a slower pace compared to where I live
-Very friendly and down to earth people. Some of the nicest and most genuine people I have EVER met are from western Sussex
-Has a beautiful and rather large park east of Laurel--Trap Pond
-Growing crime and drug issue. Some areas are very unsafe at night
-Schools are not very good at all with the exception of Delmar school district and Sussex Tech
-Cheaper housing and COL in western Sussex compared to eastern Sussex
-Close to Salisbury which has some worthwhile employment opportunities. Some residents even head across the bay bridge for their jobs
-Has some very quaint and historic towns that are worth visiting
I'm sure I'll think of more descriptions for above and below the canal later
As usual you're spot on which is what I'd expect from you and your better half, lol. I'd hate to jinx myself but this area, Shipley rd, Marsh rd, Weldin, rd like you said Brandywine hundred is really nice and virtually crime free as far as I know. Your DH could probably crush Laurel on certain aspects but I'm glad you guys didn't. I can't put my finger on it, I just like the town.
Last edited by James420; 12-18-2011 at 11:53 AM..
Reason: n
Thanks, James! Yep, we never had any issues while living on Foulk Road. We were gone every weekend from May-September to go camping at Holly Lake and nobody ever bothered our home while we were gone.
I have a couple friends who live in Laurel, and I used to go out for lunch at both Pizza King and the Laurel Pizzeria often when I was teaching in western Sussex. I LOVED their food (cheap but good!) and the small town atmosphere. I'd often see the same people eating there day after day, and it was just a very cozy atmosphere in general for my dining experiences. Oh, and their Georgia House is awesome too!!
It seems to me that a lot of the threads on this forum and indeed on C-D forums generally struggle with issues of trying to establish an reasonably objective picture of an issue at hand, related to a particular state or community. On the Delaware forum, the several crime threads would be a case in point. Statistics are offered in the service of objective fact, yet there is still frequently a "disconnect" between factually based statistical aggregate information and personal experience.
By the same token, it seems to me that some on this and other forums can brook no perceived or actual criticism of their native state, region, or community -- critiques are perceived and treated as attacks.
So this got me to wondering what set of descriptions of Delaware we could come up with, upon which we might all reasonably agree.
For example: The very northern top of Delaware is piedmont country that is consistent with the land and nature of Southeastern Pennsylvania just across the border. By contrast, most of Delaware is coastal plain, with sizeable wetlands.
I'm trying to choose what seems to me a very uncontroversial aspect to describe,
Don't know if anyone else would like to play this game, but here's how it would work. You make a statement describing some aspect of Delaware or part of Delaware. Other posters can accept the statement without comment, or alternatively offer some refinement to the description, or challenge it with a differing description (providing some explanation as to why). Everyone can keep adding new descriptive statements meant to flesh-out a picture of the state as a whole, geographically, culturally, demographically, etc.
I've decided to make a short list of facts and opinions which reflect my experiences of living in Brandywine Hundred for 11 years and eastern Sussex for the past 26 years. Some will also include statements from my husband whose is from west Seaford and has family with deep Seaford and Blades roots. Here we go!
New Castle County:
-Urban areas
-Quite a few extremely affluent families and also many families living in poverty
-Large Jewish and Catholic population
-Much more fast paced than Kent and Sussex
-Has many schools that are not considered safe or a good place for students who WANT to learn, although Wilmington Charter, some Brandywine area schools, and Appo district are extremely desirable schools. There are many schools up there I would not want my son to attend.
-Lots of history and beautiful scenery in old New Castle and extreme northern Delaware
-Has the most industry and favorable jobs/employment
-Just my opinion, but the Brandywine Hundred area is one of the best and safest places to live up there.
Below the canal (will focus on Sussex since I am still unfamiliar with Kent):
Eastern Sussex/Beach area:
-Geared towards the tourism industry
-Not a great place for jobs that pay well and/or don't cut hours or lay employees off unless you are self-employed or work for the state
-Quite a few wealthy people living at the beaches
-Born and bred Delawareans are a minority here. Most residents are from out of state
-Large senior citizen population
-Decent sized Catholic population
-Can be considered "sleepy" during the months of December-March but that suits me just fine
-Has some of the best and safest schools in the state. Indian River School District is excellent and Cape is decent as well.
-Plenty of state parks and bays, creeks, canals, etc. for kayakers, bikers, hunters, or fishermen.
-Ample wildlife
-Growing problem with "pillheads" but I think that's everywhere
Western Sussex, where my husband is from and I used to work:
-Still many locals
-Geared towards agriculture
-Obvious poverty almost everywhere
-Not as developed as the DE beaches
-More of a slower pace compared to where I live
-Very friendly and down to earth people. Some of the nicest and most genuine people I have EVER met are from western Sussex
-Has a beautiful and rather large park east of Laurel--Trap Pond
-Growing crime and drug issue. Some areas are very unsafe at night
-Schools are not very good at all with the exception of Delmar school district and Sussex Tech
-Cheaper housing and COL in western Sussex compared to eastern Sussex
-Close to Salisbury which has some worthwhile employment opportunities. Some residents even head across the bay bridge for their jobs
-Has some very quaint and historic towns that are worth visiting
I'm sure I'll think of more descriptions for above and below the canal later
Delaware is also a place that has a great deal of colonial heritage that many people know very little about. We have a friend who has lived most of her life in North Wilmington, yet only recently visited Old New Castle for the first time! There are quite a few colonial churches scattered all over the State, as well as various houses and some public buildings. Also there are even more houses and other structures that date from the first few decades after independence. The thing is, most of this tends to be on a smaller scale than historic houses, churches and other buildings in Virginia and other states with colonial heritage, so it seems to have a lower profile. I suspect that the people in Delaware who are most aware of the colonial and early federal heritage live in Dover, Lewes, and Old New Castle where so much history has been preserved.
I did genealogy for many years - My mother's side of the family were born and raised in Delaware as was I. I was born in Wilmington, DE, and raised first in Middletown, then in Newark. Much of the farmland around Middletown, DE was in my family, so I definitely see the changes over the years. Currently my husband and I are retired in Ferndale, WA. Here I see fields, silos, barns, etc. that remind me of how it once was in Delaware. At least one of my grandfather's silos still stands as does the farmhouse. Have been giving some thought to returning to Delaware, but have not decided for sure.
If it's accessable, I may be able to photograph them for you if desired.
OK...do you charge? I'll have to look up the names of the roads..so much as changed. One point of reference is "Boyd's Corner". "The Plains" ...with the remaining silo is on the part of the property and a housing development is on the rest of the property. The streets are named after my Uncle Gene's (Bullen) children, etc. Have a great day! *Tricia*
If it's accessable, I may be able to photograph them for you if desired.
OK...do you charge? I'll have to look up the names of the roads..so much as changed. One point of reference is "Boyd's Corner". "The Plains" ...with the remaining silo is on the part of the property and a housing development is on the rest of the property. The streets are named after my Uncle Gene's (Bullen) children, etc. Have a great day! *Tricia*
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WOW...not an "average" response! good job!
k good job of summarizing
Delaware family..
Family in Delaware
