Sussex County, Delaware
| Sussex County, Delaware | ||
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Sussex County Courthouse in Georgetown
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 Location in the U.S. state of Delaware |
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 Delaware's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | August 8, 1683 | |
| Seat | Georgetown | |
| Largest city | Seaford | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 1,196 sq mi (3,098 km2) | |
| • Land | 936 sq mi (2,424 km2) | |
| • Water | 260 sq mi (673 km2), 21.7% | |
| Population (est.) | ||
| • (2015) | 215,622 | |
| • Density | 211/sq mi (81/km²) | |
| Congressional district | At-large | |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 | |
| Website | www |
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Sussex County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware, on the Delmarva Peninsula. As of the 2010 census, the population was 197,145. The county seat is Georgetown.
The first European settlement in the state of Delaware was founded by the Dutch in 1631 near the present-day town of Lewes on the Atlantic Coast. However, Sussex County was not organized until 1683 under English colonial rule.
Sussex County is included in the Salisbury, MD-DE Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses much of central Delmarva.
Archaeologists estimate that the first inhabitants of Sussex County, the southernmost county in Delaware, arrived between 10,000 and 14,000 years ago. Various indigenous cultures occupied the area, especially along the river and the coast, often having seasonal fishing villages. Historic Native Americans in Sussex County were members of Algonquian-speaking tribes, as were most coastal peoples along the Atlantic Coast.
By the historic period of European encounter, the most prominent tribes in the area were the Lenape, whose territory extended through the mid-Atlantic states to Connecticut and the future New York metropolitan area, and Nanticoke tribes. The people settled along the numerous bodies of water in the area where they were able to harvest fish, oysters, and other shellfish in the fall and winter. In the warmer months the women planted and cultivated crops, and processed the food. The men hunted deer and other small mammals, as larger game was not present in the area.
There is no agreement on which European group was the first to settle in Sussex County. Historians believe that, in the early years of exploration from 1593 to 1630, Spanish or Portuguese explorers were likely the first Europeans to see the Delaware River and the lands of present-day Sussex County.
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