Dela-Where? Trivia Quiz

Answer: 3

Delaware is the second smallest state and with a little under million people is the 44th largest state in population. However it is the sixth most densely populated state.

Delaware has three counties, the fewest of all fifty states (Even Rhode Island has five). However because of its small size, typical county functions such as law enforcement and the court system have been centralised by the Delaware state government giving considerably more power to the state than in other states.

Delaware is located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, by New Jersey on the north-east, and to the north by Pennsylvania. The state is named after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, Virginia's first colonial governor and a British nobleman.

Answer: True

Delaware has a multi-cultural past: The Dutch established a settlement in 1631 near what is now Lewes but all the settlers were killed off within a year by Native Americans. At a site near what is now downtown Wilmington, a colony called New Sweden was established by Swedes in 1638. This was the first settlement in the US by Sweden and it lasted 17 years before it was taken over by the Dutch. Nine years later in 1664, the Duke of York then appointed Sir Robert Carr who with his fleet of ships conquered the Dutch. There was competition from Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, Proprietor of Maryland and William Penn for this tract of land. Penn desperately wanted ocean access for the Province of Pennsylvania. The Duke of York passed Delaware onto Penn in 1682. The new territory was known as "Lower Counties on the Delaware".

The boundary was drawn 12 miles around the town of New Castle from the Delaware river and extending straight down the Delmarva Peninsula. This circular boundary has caused problems where it meets the Mason-Dixon Line and other surrounding areas. Over the years the disputed territory has been handed over to Delaware.

Penn established a representative government over his two possessions in 1682 but the Province became so large, two governments formed, one in Philadelphia and a territorial one in New Castle. However a single governor ruled over both jurisdictions.

Government was stable until 1765 with the introduction of the Stamp Act. On June 15, 1776, the Delaware Colonial Assembly declared itself separated from British and Pennsylvania rule.

Answer: Kent

The Delaware counties from north to south are New Castle, Kent and Sussex.

English settlers migrated to the valley of the St. Jones River. In 1680, the Duke of York chartered St. Jones County, which took in parts of New Castle (formerly New Amstel under Dutch rule) County and Sussex (formerly Hoarkill County). St. Jones County was transferred to William Penn in 1682, as part of the Lower counties and became part of Penn's newly chartered Delaware Colony.

Dover, named after the more famous town in Kent, England, was founded as the court town for Kent County a year later. The capital was moved from New Castle in 1777 because of its closeness to the Delaware River which was susceptible to attack from the British. Whilst the capital was transitory for four years, in 1781 it settled permanently in Dover, primarily due to its central location.

Answer: A line west of Fenwick Island

The Delaware southern boundary was also controversial. This time the dispute was with Maryland. This boundary was to be a line from Cape Henlopen across to the western boundary but Lord Baltimore's map showed Cape Henlopen some 25 miles south at Fenwick Island. This is where the boundary was drawn as Lord Baltimore could not argue that his own map was incorrect in court. This line runs east west to meet the north-south part of the Mason Dixon line that separated Maryland and Delaware. This latter line is called the Transpeninsular Line.
The very tip of the Delmarva Peninsula actually belongs to Virginia.

This decision caused a town to be created right on the north/south boundary between Delaware and Maryland in 1859. Delmar (a portmanteau word of the two states) came into being as the Delaware Railroad Company Charter only allowed the building of a railroad within the State of Delaware. The corresponding Maryland railroad company had a similar charter for its own state. Hence the town was built with railroad track up to each state border facilitating a continuous track. Delmar spans both sides of the state boundary billing itself as the "The Little Town Too Big for One State" despite having less than 10000 residents in both towns.

Answer: DuPont

With the decline of the manufacturing industries, Wilmington has had to reinvent itself as a major finance and insurance centre. It has been able to do this because of its favorable legislation regarding usury laws which facilitate many banks and credit companies locating their headquarters in this city.
However, heavy industry came to Wilmington with DuPont or in full, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, which started as a gunpowder mill on the banks of Brandywine Creek in 1802. It worked its way to be the fourth largest chemical company in the world. Even in the 21st century with de-emphasis on heavy industry, DuPont is still one of the biggest employers in town.

Both Wilmington DE and Wilmington NC are named after Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington. In both cities the town charter was incorporated in 1739.

Answer: Newark-On-Trent, England

There are 17 US states that have a Newark or a Newark Valley place names. Both Newark, DE and Newark NJ are named after Newark-On-Trent, a market town in Nottinghamshire England. Ironically both American cities are larger than the English town. (The New Jersey city has almost ten times the population as the Delaware city).

Newark is just inside Maryland state line, and is less than a mile south of the triple point called the wedge where Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania meet.

Schools have played an important role in this city. A grammar school was founded in the town as early as 1743 and it is the home town of the University of Delaware. It is an international centre of excellence for figure skating due mainly to its program within the university. The University is also the home of The Delaware 87ers who are a professional basketball team that play in the NBA Development league.

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario was once called Newark.

Answer: Ebright Rd, near Wilmington

Britton Hill, Florida is the lowest highest point in the US. It is only 345 feet above sea level. A point on Ebright Rd near Wilmington, a stone's throw from the Pennsylvania border, is Delaware's highest point at 447 feet. It is the country's second lowest highest point by state.

Delaware is the flattest state in the US with an average elevation of 60 feet due mainly to the state been located mainly on a flat coastal plain with only the very northernmost part of the state, which is part of the Piedmont Plateau, that has rolling hills (but no mountains).

Mt Mitchell is in North Carolina and is the US tallest point east of the Mississippi. The Catskills are in New York State.

Answer: I-95

Interstates that are odd numbered run north-south and even numbered ones run east-west. The lower numbers start low in the west and increase as you move east. On this logic you would pick I-95 and that is indeed the highway. However it runs east west through Delaware before turning north again when in Pennsylvania. Towards Baltimore, the highway runs south-west. Another curious feature, when travelling on the I-95, if you are wondering why two tolls booths are only 12 miles apart, it is because you have just traversed the width of Delaware, from crossing the Delaware River in New Jersey to the western boundary near Newark. Delaware is as wide as 35 miles near the southern border.
Two loops of the I-95, the I-295 crosses the Delaware River into New Jersey, and the I-495 runs parallel to the the I-95 from Wilmington north before rejoining the I-95 at the Pennsylvania border.

The Eastern Terminus of the I-40 is at Wilmington NC.

Answer: False

Julia Roberts was indeed born in Smyrna but in Smyrna, Georgia on 28 October 1967. The Delaware town's most famous person is international jurist John Bassett Moore who was born in Smyrna, Delaware (1860-1947).
Although the town is the fifth biggest settlement in Delaware, its 2010 census population was just over 10 000. It is situated half way between Wilmington and Dover on State Highway 1.

The original name of the town was the far less romantic: Duck Creek Cross Roads. It received its current name in 1806. It is named after the Ancient Greek and biblical seaport of Smyrna, now located in present-day Turkey.

Answer: Brazil

According to folklore, Delaware is the jewel among states, as reportedly stated by Thomas Jefferson, due to "its strategic location on the Eastern Seaboard"

The flags of Delaware and Brazil are both unusual as they contain centrally mounted diamonds (officially called lozenges) on a plain field. The colours are different though: Delaware has a buff diamond on a blue field; Brazil has a yellow diamond on a dark green field.

The Delaware flag's "colonial" blue field and the buff colored diamond were reputedly representative of the colors of a uniform worn by General George Washington. The diamond shape is a particular reference to the "jewel" quote. The coat of arms depicts "early occupational symbols" for shipping, farming, and hunting. The flag is also inscribed with the date December 7 1787 which is the date Delaware ratified the constitution becoming the First State.