Nicknames: First State / Diamond State / Blue Hen State/ Small Wonder

Capitol: Dover

Motto: Liberty and Independence

Song: Our Delaware written by George B. Hynson

Flower: Peach Blossom Prunus persica

Tree: American Holly Ilex opaca

Bird: Blue Hen Chicken

Gained Statehood: December 7, 1787

Name Origin: Named after an early Virginia governor, Lord De La Warr

Delaware's main center is Wilmington. Founded in 1638, the city includes museums, galleries, a port and a trolley car system much like the world-famous cable cars in San Francisco. Fort Christina Historic Park is the site of Delaware's first permanent settlement.

Henry Hudson in 1609 under the commission of Samuel Argall in 1610, by Cornelius May in 1613, and by Cornelius Hendricksen in 1614 is credited with the discovery of Delaware. Blown off course during a storm, Argall sailed into the bay which he named in honor of his governor Lord De La Warr. In 1631 the first white settlement was made in Delaware. Their settlement was located on the wet bank of the Lewes Creek and was called Zwaanendael, meaning "valley of swans". Captain de Vries found the settlers had been killed and their buildings burned by the Indians when he arrived in 1632. In 1638, when the Swedes established their colony in present day Wilmington. Two ships lead by Peter Minuit arrived to settle the colony; the Kalmar Nyckel (Key of Kalmar) and Vogel Grip (Griffen). This first Swedish settlement was located at "The Rocks" on the Christina River. Fort Christina was built and named after the young queen of Sweden. Colonel Johan Printz, who ruled the new colony from 1643 to 1653 was succeeded by Johan Rising. In 1655, Peter Stuyvesant came from New Amsterdam with a Dutch fleet and claimed the former Sweden colony, the Colony of New Netherlands. Swedish history can be found throughout Delaware. Old Swedes (Holy Trinity) Church built by the Swedes at Wilmington is one of the oldest Protestant Churches in North America still in use.
The Dutch renamed the colony Fort Casmir. In 1681 King Charles II granted the Province of Pennsylvania to William Penn. Soon after, a dispute broke out between Lord Baltimore of the Province of Maryland and William Penn regarding the lands controlled on the lower counties New Castle, St. Jones, and Deale of Delaware. In 1776 Delaware declared itself free from the British Empire and also established a state government entirely separate from Pennsylvania. Delaware's boundaries were surveyed by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. Following the Revolutionary War, Delaware's economy rebounded with the invention the automatic flour milling machinery by Oliver Evans. Delaware was the first of the thirteen original states to ratify the Constitution of the United States. This unanimous ratification took place in a convention of Dover on December 7, 1787, and Delaware became "The First State" of Union.

Richard Allen , Valerie Bertinelli , Robert Montgomery Bird , Henry S. Canby , Annie Jump Cannon , Elizabeth Margaret Chandler , Felix Darley ,John Dickinson , E. I. du Pont , Oliver Evans , Thomas Garrett , Henry Heimlich , William Julius "Judy" Johnson , J. P. Marquand , Howard Pyle , George Read ,Jay Saunders Redding , Caesar Rodney , Frank Stephens , Estelle Taylor , George Alfred Townsend