Georgetown

Georgetown is a town of 7,000 people (2020) in Delaware. It is known for its unusual town layout and for its many historic buildings. It is also the county seat for Sussex County.

Understand

The town was founded in 1791.

The raising and processing of chickens in the area has been a mainstay of the economy since the mid-20th century. Purdue Farms has a large chicken processing plant in Georgetown. It has attracted numerous immigrants from Haiti and Guatemala as workers, stimulating growth of the population and changing the town's demographics. Georgetown has a more diverse population than might be expected in a small Delaware inland town. Some residents speak Haitian French or Creole, while many more have a primary language of Spanish, in addition to those whose first language is English. In 2000 slightly more than one-third of the population was ethnic Hispanic and one-fifth was Black (including Haitians).

Get in

DE 404 passes through Georgetown as part of a route linking the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the Delaware Beaches

The Delaware Coastal Airport is east of Georgetown, offering general aviation. The nearest airport with commercial air service is the Wicomico Regional Airport in Salisbury, Maryland.

Get around

DART First State provides bus service to Georgetown out of the Georgetown Transit Hub along Route 206, which connects the town to the Lewes Transit Center near Lewes; Route 212, which links Georgetown to Bridgeville, Seaford, Laurel, and Delmar; Route 303, which connects the town to Dover. DART First State also operates a microtransit service called DART Connect serving the Georgetown and Millsboro areas.

See

Sussex County Courthouse

• Market Street: Georgetown is unusual among Delaware municipalities as the town was constructed around a circle, instead of the more traditional park square. The Town Hall, state and county buildings, and the historic Sussex County Courthouse are on The Circle.
  • 1 Sussex County Courthouse. The original courthouse was replaced by the current structure, which was built in 1837 on South Bedford Street. It was restored in 1976. (updated Dec 2022)
  • Lawyers' offices, the newer Court of Chancery and Family Court buildings, a bank, and the Brick Hotel, which have been renovated into offices, also line the Circle.
  • The center of Georgetown's circle is a small green park with a fountain.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

• 2 St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Georgetown's oldest church, it was constructed in 1844 and remodeled in 1881 in the early Victorian Gothic style; its congregation organized in 1794, shortly after the close of the American Revolutionary War. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). (updated Dec 2022)
• Other recognized historic properties are the Joseph T. Adams House, Brick Hotel, Peter S. Faucett House, First Broiler House, Georgetown Coal Gasification Plant, Stella Pepper Gyles House, Judge's House and Law Office, Dr. John W. Messick House and Office, Old Sussex County Courthouse, David Carlton Pepper Farm, Redden Forest Lodge, Forester's House and Stable, Richards Mansion, St. John's Methodist Church, Short Homestead, Thomas Sipple House, Sussex County Courthouse and the Circle, Gardiner Wright Mansion and McColley's Chapel, all listed on the NRHP.

Do

• 1 Possum Point Players, 441 Old Laurel Rd, ☏ +1 302-856-3460, mail@possumpointplayers.org. (updated Nov 2022)
• 2 Georgetown Speedway, at the intersection of U.S. Route 113 and Speedway Road. It has a fast, half-mile clay oval for high-speed racing. It has grandstands, parking, a large, flat pit area, and room for overnight camping. (updated Dec 2022)
• Return Day. Every two years, in even-numbered years. A half-day-long parade and festival two days after Election Day. It stems from colonial days, when the public would congregate in Georgetown two days after the election to hear the results (because it would take that long to deliver the results to the courthouse by horseback from the state capital in Dover, Delaware). The winners of that year's elections parade in horse-drawn carriages around The Circle. Together with the losers and the chairs of the county's political parties, they ceremonially "bury the hatchet" in a tub of sand. The day's events are marked by a traditional ox feast, and the beginning of the next round of campaigns. (updated Dec 2022)

Sleep

• 1 Microtel Inn & Suites, 22297 Dupont Highway, ☏ +1 302-396-9719. (updated Nov 2022)