The state of Delaware is known as the “First” state because on December 7, 1787, it became the very first state to approve the United States Constitution. Delaware lies along the Atlantic coastline and is close to many of our nation’s largest industrial cities. This has proven to be a large economic advantage to the people of this state. The Delaware River, the networks of canals, highways and railroads carry products from Delaware to Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. Some of the largest corporations in the United States have their home offices in Delaware, even if they do most of their business elsewhere. 

As one of the middle Atlantic states, Delaware is bordered on the north by Pennsylvania, and on the east by three bodies of water — The Delaware River, Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered on the south by Maryland, and on the west again by Maryland and a small strip of Pennsylvania. Delaware is the second smallest state in the nation and consists of only 2,057 square miles of land area. There are only three counties in the state — Kent, Newcastle and Sussex. The capitol of Delaware is Wilmington, which is sometimes called the “The Chemical Capitol of the World” being the home of the world-famous DuPont Company.   

The population is approximately 1.3 million people, which despite its small size contains more people than the states of Alaska, Vermont and Wyoming. The name Delaware came about when in 1610 a ship from the Virginia Colony sailed into what is now called Delaware Bay and the captain named the Bay a “De La Warr Bay” for Lord De La Warr, the Governor of Virginia. I didn’t know that, did you?  As a side note: this is why sharing information about a different state each month should be a welcome relief from what we see and read in the news each day. 

The state flower is the Peach Blossom, the state tree is the American Holly, the state bird is the  Blue Hen Chicken (A breed of Kent County, noted for its fighting qualities.) And the official state motto of Delaware is “Liberty and Independence.” Delaware is the only state in the union where the legislature can amend the constitution without the approval of the voters. There are many interesting places to visit in the state, including Fort Delaware (a Pentagon-shaped fort on Peach Patch Island), used as a prison during the Civil War, Great Cypress Swamp, the State House in Dover, and many houses of worship throughout the state. 

Well, that’s about it as far as a cursory review of the highlights of the small but powerful state. Since one of the columns in this series is going to be about our nation’s spiritual heritage and to solve our nation’s massive problems, we must, as a people return to God and His Divine protection. From the beginning, this was our foundation.

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(Jim Davidson is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist, and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. For a personalized copy of “Keep Your Fork” send $25, which includes postage and handling and tax, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)