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This tour starts at the First State Heritage Park and includes several of the city's leading museums as well as historic buildings and landmarks. New entries will be added soon to expand the tour thanks to the effort of local historians.

Notable places in the park include the Biggs Museum of Art,
Delaware Public Archives, John Bell House, Johnson Victrola Museum, Legislative
Hall, Old State House and Woodburn and Hall House. Park leadership coordinates
a number of special events and tours throughout the park. There are also
special programs on the first Saturday of each month. 



The Park is also part of the Delaware History Trail. Special
educational resources are also available for teachers.

First State Heritage Park links the city’s historic and cultural sites in a “park without boundaries.” The Welcome Center offers parking, special programming and events and a rotating exhibitions in its gallery space. The exhibits feature Delaware’s historic documents. The park is operated by a joint effort of city and state agencies. The park office is located in Rose Cottage. 

First State Heritage Park in Dover is a park without boundaries that links historical and cultural locations. 

First State Heritage Park Welcome Center and Galleries

The building, designed by Architect
E. William Martin, was dedicated in 1933. It is a Georgian Revival colonial
structure of handmade brick. From 1965 to 1970 additions of the North and South
wings took place. These wings were designed by George Fletcher Bennet. This
allowed each legislator to have an office. 

Further additions were built in 1994
with wings added to the east side of the building. This section was designed by
The Architect Studio. The interior was fully renovated in the mid 1990s and
featured refurbishment of both chambers, the lobby, cafeteria and many offices.


In addition to the
Senate and House of Representatives, the building also houses the Division of Research
and the Office of the Controller General. The Governor and Lt. Governor also
have office space to use while the General Assembly is in session.

Delaware is known as “The First State” because its General Assembly was the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution. The state’s first capital was in New Castle but moved to Dover during the American Revolution. Today, Delaware’s General Assembly is housed in Legislative Hall located downtown in Capital Square. The building is open to the public and available for guided tours year round. 

Legislative Hall is home to the Delaware General Assembly. 

Legislative Hall

Opening
its doors in 1993, The Biggs Museum of American Art quickly became one of the
most important museums in Delaware. The Museum was founded to display the art
collection of its founder, Sewell C. Biggs, and to delight and educate its
visitors on the valuable cultural legacy of the region. The Museum displays the
finest Delaware-made furniture and silver collection as well as the only
painting and sculpture collection in the region able to tell the story of
American representational art. The Museum’s eighteen galleries are arranged to
emphasize the evolution of Mid-Atlantic fashion in the fine and decorative arts
from the early 1700s to the present and to present several focus exhibitions
annually. Art education is at the core of the Biggs Museum’s mission and
opportunities to experience the Museum in different ways are offered throughout
the year.

Sewell Biggs was Born on
November 12, 1914 in Middletown, DE. Sewell’s family was economically and
geographically tied to Delaware and the Mid-Atlantic Region through an
illustrious history of lawyers, bankers, farmers and politicians. Among the
hundreds of art objects and archival materials Sewell left to the Biggs Museum,
among his earliest personal items was a bag of marbles It was often discussed
that Sewell opened his first museum in his childhood bedroom where he charged
visitors a nickel to see his collection of marbles, seashells, Confederate
money, WWI artifacts and illustrations from American Boymagazine by Wilmington
illustrator Frank Schoonover.

Biggs expanded his horizons
with education, travel and real estate. After following in the family footsteps
and passing the Virginia Bar exam, Sewell immersed himself in the study of
architecture at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He and his friend, Charles
DuPont, spent 1937 traveling around the globe photographing the major
architectural structures of many of the world’s continents. Sewell’s own
photograph albums attest to his respect for the genius of each culture’s
architectural heritage while also embracing the new visual vocabulary of Modern
building. At the end of the War, modern architecture was heavily embraced by
the new world power of America and architects like Mies Van de Rhoe, Walter
Gropius, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier were spreading an electric
influence.

At this same time, Sewell
began buying and refurbishing 18th-century farmhouses throughout New Castle and
Kent Counties here in Delaware. These historic settings became the first
personal displays of his growing collection of Americana and, perhaps, set an
influential boundary to his collecting of art forms of a particularly domestic
nature. Even today, visitors of the Biggs Museum remark on the domestic mood of
the gallery spaces and the collections. Sewell never collected objects from
civic or professional architectural settings-he always collected to decorate
his own homes and the museum continues to reflect this interest.

Since the 2003 death of its
founder, the Biggs Museum continues to expand and refine its permanent
collection along the path carved by Sewell C. Biggs. His interest in displaying
the symbols of regional, artful spaces alongside his fine-art teaching
collection is maintained in every new accession. Sewell’s life-long passions of
collecting, architecture, American and regional arts, and modern-art patronage
are combined and presented in the Biggs Museum. The result is a museum founded
to define the artistic life of the entire State of Delaware.

The Biggs offers changing
exhibitions throughout the year relating to historical and contemporary art
topics.&nbsp; Intimate galleries offer guests an unexpected and personal
experience with the collection.&nbsp; The museum supports the public education of
art through educational programming for adults and children and special events
designed to bring art to everyone.

The Biggs Museum of American
Art is dedicated to promoting an understanding and appreciation of the fine and
decorative arts of Delaware, the Mid-Atlantic Region and the Nation from 1700
to the present. To fulfill its mission, the museum presents a broad range of
exhibitions and public programs, actively interprets and cares for its
collections, serves as an education resource to the community, and maintains
strong ties with artists in the region. The Biggs Museum aspires to be one of
the most prominent art museums in the Mid-Atlantic region—respected and valued
for its collections and programs, and admired for the diversity and commitment
of its audience. It will be a leading advocate for the importance of art and
creativity in education and in the daily life of the community.

Established in 1993, the Sewell C. Biggs Museum of American Art Museum houses one of the finest collections of American fine and decorative arts. Special features of the permanent collection include the only comprehensive representational American paintings collection on the Delmarva Peninsula with highlights by the Peale family, Albert Bierstadt, Gilbert Stuart, and Childe Hassam and a variety of art forms such as sculptures by Hiram Powers and images by Brandywine School illustrator, Frank E. Schoonover. The Museum also houses examples of furniture by early-American cabinetmakers such as, the Javier family of Odessa, and William Savery of Philadelphia, as well as one of the finest collections of regional silver in the country.

Biggs Museum of American Art

The first floor has an 18th century-style
courtroom. The second floor was the chambers of the state legislature. Through
the years the building received a number of updates, additions and renovations
to accommodate the state government’s growing needs. Once the General Assembly
moved to present home in Legislative Hall, the building was restored to its
original 18th Century appearance. 

The most recent upgrades to The Old State House came from
2005-07. It received a new floor, paint, HVAC system and upgrades to the
electrical and plumbing systems among other things. Guests will want to take
note of architectural details such as the dual stairways and the gilt sunflower
ceiling sham. 

The building now serves as a museum that is open every day
for tours. There are also lectures and special events throughout the year.

The Old State House was the first permanent capitol building in Dover. It was built from 1787 to 1791 in a two-story Georgian style. It was initially home to both state and county governments. The building was the home of the state capitol until 1933. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

The Old State House was the first permanent home to the state government of Delaware. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. 

The Old State House

Johnson graduated from Dover Academy in 1882 and was
encouraged to forego college and learn a trade. He became a machinist in New
Jersey. It was there he was asked by Emile Berliner about inventing a motor
that would play discs at a continuous speed so there would no longer be a need
to crank a gramophone. Berliner had developed a flat disc gramophone record. 

Johnson succeeded with his spring motor. This essentially made
Thomas Edison’s phonograph obsolete. Johnson was eventually successful in
getting the patent for his ideas and later purchased the patents and assets of
Berliner. 

That led to the rapid worldwide growth, millions in earnings
and produced some of the most famous recording artists in the world. Johnson
retired in 1927, and the company was sold to RCA in 1929. Johnson died in 1945.

Eldridge Reeves (E.R.) Johnson, a Dover native, founded the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901. He was a pioneer in the recording industry and posthumously given a Grammy Award in 1985. The Grammy and many other items and exhibits are on permanent display in the Johnson Victrola Museum. Much of it chronicles the development of the sound-recording industry.

The Johnson Victrola Museum highlights Dover native E.R. Johnson and his Victor Talking Machine Company. 

Johnson Victrola Museum

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;This Armed Forces marker is a patriotic memorial dedicated to those fall in service during the Korean and Vietnam war. "The Fallen but not forgotten" of honored here in Dover, Delaware making this a historic sight in military history. The Monument close to the Delaware public library and public archives.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Those named in Monument are "Korean War&nbsp;Clifton E. Brooks – PFC U.S. Army • Samuel L. Crawford – PFC U.S. Army • Paul N. Dill – Cpt U.S. Army • Joseph P. Donahue – PFC U.S. Army • Richard D. Hutchinson – PFC U.S. Army • William S. Kempen, Jr – ILT U.S. Army • Laurence C. Layton – ILT U.S. Air Force • Thomas C. Mays – Cpl US Marine Corps • James P. Pernell – Cpl US Army • Paul E. Robertson – PFC US Army • Irvin M. Tindall – Capt US Air Force • Charles F. Wright – Capt US Air Force Vietnam War&nbsp;Leonard A. Bird – ILT US Marine Corps • Gene K. Hess – SSGT US Air Force • Larry F. Potts – Cpt US Marine Corps • Edward A Willing – Cpl US Marine Corps • John M. Martin – LtCol US Air Force • William L. Nellans – Maj US Air Forces"(1)

A memorial dedicated to the Armed forces of the Korean and Vietnam War. This marker is at the intersection of Legislative Avenue and Loockerman Street on Legislative Avenue in Dover, Delaware. In honor of the fallen, but not forgotten and all armed forces who serve the United States of America

Armed Forces Memorial

The home which now serves as the Delaware Governor's mansion was built in approximately in 1790 by Charles Hillyard. The land on which the home sits was granted to Hillyard's great-grandfather by William Penn in 1683.&nbsp; At the time of its construction, the home was located a quarter-mile outside Dover on the King's Highway, but the town gradually grew to surround the home. It is now part of a residential district in the city. Hillyard was part of a prominent early Delaware family who were large landowners and active in the government. Hillyard lived in the home until his death, when one of his daughters bought the property.&nbsp; It is widely believed that the home served as a station on the Underground Railroad in the mid-1800s. Given the home's location and the fact that it was owned in the 1820s by Daniel Cowgill, an abolitionist, it&nbsp;is entirely likely that the home was used to shelter escaped slaves, but there is apparently no firm evidence of this. The claims may have originated in a novel published in the late 1800s that detail a slave-catcher's raid at a home based on Woodburn. Regardless of its status as a station on the Underground Railroad, the home has unquestionably served as a residence for several prominent families. Charles Hillyard's daughter, Mary, married Martin Bates, who served as a US Senator. In 1820, Bates leased the home to Jacob Stout, who was then serving as governor.&nbsp; In 1965, the state purchased the home for use as the Governor's Mansion. Charles Terry was the first governor to reside in the mansion after the purchase. The home has the distinction of being the smallest governor's mansion in the United States.&nbsp;

Woodburn, also known as Governor's House, has a long and significant history in Dover. Most importantly, the home has served as the official residence of the governor since 1965, when it was purchased by the state. Governor's House was built in 1798  and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Entries on This Tour

Dover Delaware Walking Tour

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