Delaware Public Archives

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Delaware Public Archives Created in 1905, DPA is one of the oldest state archives in the country. Welcome to the official Delaware Public Archives page.

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DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸Autumn Planting TimeThe Buntings’ Nursery opened near Selbyville around 1920, taking cash, checks, an...
10/22/2026

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸
Autumn Planting Time
The Buntings’ Nursery opened near Selbyville around 1920, taking cash, checks, and U.S. Liberty Bonds as payment, and began a family growing tradition continuing in nearby Maryland. Among our state’s nursery industry pioneers, Randolph Peters put New Castle County on the map. In 1857, he began growing fruit trees at his family’s Newark-area farm and later expanded to 200+ acres near Minquadale with national distribution known for orchard-ready peach and pear trees. Two factors are cited for a retail nursery boom here and nationwide after World War II: Massive development of suburban housing and the invention of plastic plant pots.
– Compiled by robin brown, Writer-in-Residence
Delaware Public Archives
Department of Agriculture Photograph Collection
Bunting Nursery Warehouse, Selbyville
Photo: October 1928
ID: 1380-000-006_937_

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸Delaware is Full of BeansAnd we mean that in the nicest possible, edible way. We’re “The First State”...
10/21/2026

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸
Delaware is Full of Beans
And we mean that in the nicest possible, edible way. We’re “The First State” for ratifying the U.S. Constitution before others did, but also first in the love-’em-or-hate-’em veggie category of lima beans. Of many bean varieties Delaware farmers grow, their 14,000+ acres of limas produce over 25% of the total annual U.S. harvest. Our top types are green baby limas for processing and pole limas or extra-plump Fordhook limas for fresh produce, often until just before the first full frost. To learn about our agriculture’s evolving autumn, check out “Grown & Gathered: Harvest in the First State,” the new digital exhibit at the Delaware Public Archives in Dover.
– Compiled by robin brown, Writer-in-Residence
Delaware Public Archives
Delaware Economic Development Office Photograph Collection
Lima bean inspection, H.P. Cannon & Son, Bridgeville
Photo: Undated
ID: 1306-000-000_0090p_

Today, we were pleased to host colleagues from state archives in Maryland (Maryland State Archives), Virginia (Library o...
10/20/2026

Today, we were pleased to host colleagues from state archives in Maryland (Maryland State Archives), Virginia (Library of Virginia), and Washington, D.C., for a regional meeting focused on digitization. Together, we shared experiences, discussed challenges and lessons learned, and explored how our institutions approach preservation and access in the digital age.

We’re grateful for the opportunity to connect with colleagues, exchange ideas, and continue these important conversations across institutions!

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸Recording Our Early GovernanceOur Delaware Public Archives, one of the oldest in the nation, was crea...
10/20/2026

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸
Recording Our Early Governance
Our Delaware Public Archives, one of the oldest in the nation, was created in 1905 to preserve our official state records. As we celebrate American Archives Month, we share one of our oldest government records, published to document votes and proceedings of our House of Representatives on October 20, 1762. William Penn gave New Castle, Kent, and Sussex counties a representative assembly separate from Pennsylvania’s government in 1704, but its actions still required the signature of the British-appointed governor. Leaders of our 1762 Assembly in Dover were Caesar Rodney and Thomas McKean, both future presidents of Delaware.
– Compiled by robin brown, Writer-in-Residence
Delaware Public Archives
House of Representatives Collection
Date: October 20, 1762
ID: 1115-000-000

Marker Monday: Delaware State College – First College for Blacks in DelawareDover, Kent County⁠"Established May 15, 1891...
10/19/2026

Marker Monday: Delaware State College – First College for Blacks in Delaware
Dover, Kent County⁠
"Established May 15, 1891, by an act of the Delaware General Assembly as the State College for Colored Students, by virtue of the 1890 Morrill Land-Grant Act and under the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act of Congress. Incorporated July 1, 1891. Reincorporated March 10, 1911. Name changed to Delaware State College in 1947."
⁠
Marker installed in 1988.
⁠
Learn more - https://archives.delaware.gov/delaware-historical-markers/delaware-state-college/

Resource IDs⁠
First Image: 9015-010-000-T6-011
Second Image (1897): 1302-T03-007
Third Image (1966 Chemistry Class): 9015-037-001_98-5n
⁠

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸Progress of The Post A Dover groundbreaking in May traces back to this building’s big move. Time was,...
10/19/2026

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸
Progress of The Post
A Dover groundbreaking in May traces back to this building’s big move. Time was, Loockerman Street ended nearly a mile shy of DuPont Highway and officials wanted to connect them. Problem was, the Dover Post Office was in the way. Solution? Move it. A new post office was built nearby, and the old one was moved to Loockerman Plaza – and photographed on October 19, 1933. After use as City Hall, it was razed in 1973 for a modern city office. In 2020, the USPS bought its own spot on South Queen Street. Developers who bought the old city-owned 1932 building site broke ground in May to transform it for mixed uses. Its new name? The Post.
– Compiled by robin brown, Writer-in-Residence
Delaware Public Archives
Board of Agriculture Photograph Collection
Photo: October 19, 1933
ID: 1380-000-006_1607_

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸Making Tracks to MilfordThis photo of Milford was taken October 18, 1928, when it had about a fifth o...
10/18/2026

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸
Making Tracks to Milford
This photo of Milford was taken October 18, 1928, when it had about a fifth of its modern population. The Milford Museum, earlier on South Walnut Street, is due to reopen next month at the Milford Welcome Center, sharing 400 NE Front Street with the Milford Chamber of Commerce. First organized as a town in 1807, Milford joined distinct communities flanking Mispillion Creek since the late 1700s. Long known for shipbuilding, Milford became a commercial hub after the railroad’s 1859 arrival. The Delaware Public Archives’ new exhibit, “Tracks, Towns & Transformation: How the Railroad Changed Delaware,” explores our early rail lines’ impact.
– Compiled by robin brown, Writer-in-Residence
Delaware Public Archives
Department of Agriculture Photograph Collection
Photo: October 18, 1928
ID: 1380-000-006_940_

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸Happy HauntingsFor a tiny state, we’re big on ghosts. The old Delaware City Hotel – shown at center, ...
10/17/2026

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸
Happy Hauntings
For a tiny state, we’re big on ghosts. The old Delaware City Hotel – shown at center, now Dolly Spanker’s – is said to house an early maid’s spirit, and Fort Delaware ghost stories abound. Legends say long-ago residents roam Rockwood Museum, and the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge left a headless soldier’s ghost to wander. Founding Father John Dickinson’s ghost is blamed for odd sounds and cold spots in his mansion. The 1790s’ resident of Woodburn, the governor’s mansion in Dover, supposedly visits in his colonial duds and a white wig. And in Lewes, the Ryves Holt and Cannonball houses get cited as ghost-spots. Got any other good Delaware ghost stories?
– Compiled by robin brown, Writer-in-Residence
Delaware Public Archives
Private Photograph Collections
Project Delaware Aerial Photo Collection
Lloyd Teitsworth & Dee Andrews
Photo: 1970s
ID: 9015-010-000-T3-045_

10/16/2026

Ask An Archivist! (Part 2)

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸Curbside for a CauseCurbside collections typified life on the homefront when this photo was taken in ...
10/16/2026

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸
Curbside for a Cause
Curbside collections typified life on the homefront when this photo was taken in October 1942. That month, students at one elementary school donated trikes, scooters, and roller skates while cheering “Win the War, bring some more! Scrap, scrap, scrap!” Downstate towns were organizing the October Harvest Scrap Drive to pool collections via the Civil Defense Council. And it was big news when remains of the Wilmington Post Office razed at Ninth and Shipley were “going back into federal service – this time to become part of American war materiel.” At the time, our state ranked No. 8 for metal collection, averaging 37 ½ pounds per person.
– Compiled by robin brown, Writer-in-Residence
Delaware Public Archives
Delaware in World War II Photograph Collection
Photo: October 1942
ID: 1325-003-206_2312pn_

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121 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard N
Dover, DE
19901

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Wednesday 8:30am - 4pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4pm
Friday 8:30am - 4pm

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