Kent County, Delaware facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kent County
County of Delaware
The Kent County Courthouse in Dover in 2006
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Delaware
Delaware's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Delaware
Founded	August 8, 1683
Named for	Kent, England
Seat	Dover
Largest city	Dover
Area
• Total	798 sq mi (2,070 km2)
• Land	586 sq mi (1,520 km2)
• Water	212 sq mi (550 km2)  26.6%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	181,851
• Density	310.33/sq mi (119.82/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	At-large

Kent County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851, making it the least populous county in Delaware. The county seat is Dover, the state capital of Delaware. It is named for Kent, an English county.

Kent County comprises the Dover metropolitan area, which is included in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD combined statistical area.

History

1683 Seal of Kent County

In about 1670 the English began to settle in the valley of the St. Jones River, earlier known as Wolf Creek. On June 21, 1680, the Duke of York chartered St. Jones County, which was carved out of New Amstel/New Castle and Hoarkill/Sussex counties. St. Jones County was transferred to William Penn on August 24, 1682, and became part of Penn's newly chartered Delaware Colony.

Penn ordered a court town to be laid out, and the courthouse was built in 1697. The town of Dover, named after the town of Dover in England's Kent, was finally laid out in 1717, in what was then known as the Lower Counties. It was designated as the capital of Delaware in 1777. In 1787 Delaware was first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, and became "the First State." Through much of the late 18th century, the economy of Kent County was based on small grain farms. As a result, farmers did not need as many slaves as did owners of tobacco plantations. Delaware had a high proportion of free blacks among its African-American population by the early 19th century.

The new courthouse

In the 1960s, Dover was a center of manufacturing of spacesuits worn by NASA astronauts in the Apollo moon flights by ILC Dover, now based in the small town of Frederica. The suits, dubbed the "A7L," was first flown on the Apollo 7 mission in October 1967, and was the suit worn by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Apollo 11 mission. The company still manufactures spacesuits to this day—the present-day Space Shuttle "soft" suit components (the arms and legs of the suit).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 798 square miles (2,070 km²), of which 586 square miles (1,520 km²) is land and 212 square miles (550 km²) (26.6%) is water.

Kent County, like all of Delaware's counties, is subdivided into Hundreds. There are several explanations given for how the Hundreds were arrived at, either being an area containing 100 families, an area containing 100 people, or an area that could raise 100 militiamen. Kent County was originally apportioned into six Hundreds: Duck Creek, Little Creek, Dover, Murderkill, Milford and Mispillion. In 1867, the Delaware legislature split Murderkill Hundred into North Murderkill Hundred and South Murderkill Hundred. In 1869, the legislature formed Kenton Hundred from parts of Little Creek and Duck Creek Hundred. Today the county contains eight Hundreds.

Adjacent counties

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

• New Castle County - north
• Salem County, New Jersey - northeast
• Cumberland County, New Jersey - east
• Cape May County, New Jersey - east
• Sussex County - south
• Caroline County, Maryland - southwest
• Queen Anne's County, Maryland - west
• Kent County, Maryland - northwest

National protected area

• Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Climate

Kent County has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) according to the Köppen climate classification. The Trewartha climate classification considers the climate oceanic (Do) because only seven months average above 50 °F (above 10 °C.) All months average above freezing and Dover has three months averaging above 22 °C (72 °F).) The hardiness zone is 7b. [1]

Transportation

Major highways

The DE 1 toll road in Smyrna, northern Kent County

The following state highways are located in Kent County:

• US 13
• US 113
• DE 1
• DE 6
• DE 8
• DE 9
• DE 10
• DE 11
• DE 12
• DE 14
• DE 15
• DE 16
• DE 42
• DE 44
• DE 300

Railroads

The Delmarva Central Railroad operates two freight lines through Kent County. The Delmarva Subdivision runs north–south along the US 13 corridor through Farmington, Harrington, Felton, Wyoming, Dover, Cheswold, and Clayton and the Indian River Subdivision branches from the Delmarva Subdivision at Harrington and runs east to Houston and Milford along the DE 14 corridor. There is no passenger rail service in the county.

Public transportation

DART First State operates bus service within Kent County. There are several local bus routes that serve the Dover area. In addition, DART First State operates inter-county service to Wilmington, Newark, Georgetown, and Lewes, along with seasonal service to Lewes and Rehoboth Beach.

Airports

Kent County contains the following public-use and military airports:

• Chandelle Estates Airport in Dover
• Chorman Airport in Farmington
• Dover Air Force Base in Dover
• Delaware Airpark in Cheswold
• Henderson Aviation Airport in Felton
• Jenkins Airport in Wyoming
• Smyrna Airport in Smyrna

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 162,310 people, 60,278 households, and 42,290 families living in the county. The population density was 276.9 inhabitants per square mile (106.9/km²). There were 65,338 housing units at an average density of 111.5 per square mile (43.1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 67.8% white, 24.0% black or African American, 2.0% Asian, 0.6% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 2.0% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 5.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 17.5% were German, 15.4% were Irish, 11.5% were English, 7.2% were Italian, and 5.9% were American.

Of the 60,278 households, 35.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.8% were non-families, and 23.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.09. The median age was 36.6 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $53,183 and the median income for a family was $60,949. Males had a median income of $43,418 versus $35,603 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,194. About 9.3% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.0% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.

2020 census and 2021 census estimates

As of the 2020 census, there were 181,851 people living in the county; according to the 2021 American Community Survey, its racial makeup was 58.8% non-Hispanic white, 28.4% Black or African American, 0.8% Native American, 2.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 4.1% multiracial, and 7.8% Hispanic or Latino of any race.

In 2021, there were 66,720 households and an average of 2.63 people per household. Among its population, 88.2% were living in the same residency one year ago. The median household income for the county was $63,715; the county had a per capita income of $30,804. An estimated 12.2% of the population lived at or below the poverty line.

Amish community

Kent County is home to an Amish community residing to the west of Dover, consisting of 9 church districts and about 1,650 people. The Amish first settled in Kent County in 1915 after migrations from Wisconsin, Montana, Alabama, and Ohio. The area is home to several Amish businesses selling items such as Amish food, furniture, quilts, and handmade crafts. Every September, the Amish Country Bike Tour, one of the largest cycling events in Delaware, takes place in the area. In recent years, increasing development has led to the decline in the number of Amish living in the community.

Communities

Cities

Dover

Milford

• Dover
• Harrington
• Milford (partly in Sussex County)

Towns

Smyrna

Census-designated places

Unincorporated localities

• Andrewville
• Berrytown
• Little Heaven
• Marydel

Education

School districts include:

• Caesar Rodney School District
• Capital School District
• Lake Forest School District
• Milford School District
• Smyrna School District
• Woodbridge School District

Tertiary institutions:

• Delaware State University (DSU)

Wesley College merged into DSU in 2021.

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Kent (Delaware) para niños