DELAWARE CITY – Port Penn Interpretive Center is proud to introduce Treasures of the Delaware Public Archives on Saturday, August 17 at 2:00 p.m. Tom Summers, a twelfth generation Delawarean, will be present a wide variety of documents and photographs preserved at the Delaware Public Archives.

Summers is a graduate from Washington College and a Navy veteran who served as an air traffic controller for four years.  In his current role as Manager of Outreach Services and Public Services for the Delaware Public Archives, Tom presents numerous programs throughout the state.

Treasures of the Delaware Public Archives aims to showcase and promote the resources that can be found at the archives which tell the story of the First State’s rich history and culture. Some of the items presented have had a significant impact on the social, economic, and political lives of Delawareans while other images reflect the joys and concerns that take place in everyday Delaware life.

The event is free and open to public. Further questions about the program can be directed to the Fort Delaware park office at 302-834-7941.

For more information, contact Monique Tamang, marketing intern, Fort Delaware/Fort DuPont State Parks, 302-834-7941

DELAWARE CITY  – As a result of the dangerous weather conditions, Fort Delaware State Park will be closed today and tomorrow, July 20 -21, 2019. Patrons who purchased tickets in advance will be issued a refund or credit for a future visit.

The decision to close the park is based on safety to the park staff, volunteers and guests. Pea Patch Island has limited air conditioning and transportation from the island can be difficult for a person experiencing a heat emergency. Furthermore, staff and volunteers wear Civil War-era costumes made from wool.

DNREC encourages Delawareans and visitors to stay safe during the high temperatures the region is experiencing.

For more information, Fort Delaware/Fort DuPont State Parks, 302-834-7941.

DOVER  – DNREC’s First State Heritage Park will feature “S.T.R.E.A.M” as the theme for the First State Heritage Park’s monthly “First Saturday in the First State.” The program will feature a variety of free events and activities.

The John Bell House will feature “Herbal Remedies,” a program taking place throughout the day about what medicine was like in the 18th century. Join historical interpreters in colonial clothing to find out about the natural remedies used to make people well in the 18^th century. Compare and contrast to the medical science used today and see the variety of herbs grown in the Bell House garden.

“Sickness and Health…and the occasional poisoning Walking Tour” leaving from the Bell House on the hour between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. will share some of the ways in which diseases were treated in Dover in the past. Visitors will hear how revolutionary Delawareans used science to help solve mysteries, make people well and even commit murder.

Visitors to The Old State House will be able to participate in “The Doctor is In” at 1 p.m. Are you suffering from consumption, the gout, apoplexy? Learn of the medical and political contributions of a Delaware doctor. Historical re-enactor Dennis Fisher takes on the persona of noted 19th century Delaware Physician James Sykes.

Lucas Clawson will present “DuPont and the Manhattan Project” at the Delaware Public Archives. .  Though better known for manufacturing things like smokeless powder, TNT, Nylon, and Teflon, DuPont also was involved in the Manhattan Project and the development of atomic weapons. This lecture will focus on how the DuPont Company played a major role in arming and equipping America’s military during World War II.    

The Johnson Victrola Museum will feature the “From Tinfoil to the 78” guided tours and the technology used to make sound part of daily life. At the Biggs Museum of American Art, visitors can enjoy one of the free community days at the museum and participate in the Biggs Kids Program to see art and science collide. Legislative Hall will have a guided tours of the Delaware’s current capitol building.

Below is a list of other programs and activities for First Friday and First Saturday in the First State:

 

First Saturday – August 3

9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

·         Herbal Remedies

John Bell House on The Green, 43 The Green

Learn 18th century uses and preparations for common household herbs and how to grow and care for your own.

 

·         A Capitol Experience

Legislative Hall, 411 Legislative Avenue

Tour Delaware’s State Capitol building and experience Delaware history. Photo ID is required for all adults entering the building.

 

·         Biggs Kids: Science in Action

Biggs Museum of American Art, 406 Federal Street

Learn what happens when art and science collide by making a STEAM based craft. Don’t forget to tour the rest of the museum and see some science in action! For ages 5-10.

·         From Tinfoil to the 78

Johnson Victrola Museum, 375 S. New Street

Guided tours will explore the origins of recorded music from the days of earliest tinfoil phonographs to the Victrola created by E. R. Johnson, taking recorded music from a novelty to a daily part of our lives.

10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

·         Tours of the Governor’s House

At Woodburn – The Governor’s House, 151 King’s Highway

Enjoy guided tours of the official residence of Delaware’s Governor since 1965, and Hall House, the Governor’s guest house.

10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

·         Sickness and Health…and the Occasional Poisoning Walking Tour

Meet at the John Bell House on The Green, 43 The Green

Highlighting stories of medical curiosities of Dover’s past.

10:30 a.m.

·         DuPont and the Manhattan Project

Delaware Public Archives, 121 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

Learn about how DuPont helped usher in the Nuclear Age in this talk by Hagley Historian Lucas R. Clawson. 

1 p.m.

·         The Doctor is In

The Old State House, 25 The Green

Physician Dr. James Sykes shares his medical and political contributions. No appointment or insurance necessary.

 

1:30 – 4:00 p.m.

·         The Once and Future Courthouse

Kent County Courthouse, 38 The Green, Courtroom #1

From the 1690s to the present, learn how this site went from a courthouse to a hotel and back again.

 

Each month during “First Saturdays in the First State,” the First State Heritage Park offers a variety of free programs at each of the park’s partner sites, including tours of the two capitol buildings in Delaware’s capital city – the Old State House and Legislative Hall – hourly walking tours leaving from the John Bell House, and the monthly “Biggs Kids” program at the Biggs Museum of American Art. Exhibits are also on display at the Biggs Museum, the First State Heritage Park Welcome Center and Galleries and the Johnson Victrola Museum.

Admission to all park sites and programs is free. Centrally-located free parking is available at the First State Heritage Park Welcome Center and Galleries, located at 121 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard North. For more information about “First Saturday” events and all First State Heritage Park programs, please call 302-739-9194 or visit www.destateparks.com/heritagepark.

The First State Heritage Park is Delaware’s first urban “park without boundaries,” linking historic and cultural sites in the city that has been the seat of state government since 1777. The park is a partnership of state agencies under the leadership of DNREC’s Division of Parks & Recreation, working in collaboration with city and county government, nonprofit organizations and the private sector.

DOVER – On Friday evenings at 8:30 p.m. this summer, DNREC’s First State Heritage Park’s lantern tours of The Green and three of Dover’s historic cemeteries will entertain with stories from Dover’s history.

• The Green
Friday, July 19, August 16 and September 6

• Old Methodist Cemetery
Friday, July 26, and August 9

• Christ Episcopal Churchyard
Friday, August 2

• Presbyterian Churchyard Cemetery
Friday, August 23

Take a walk through Dover’s history by the light of a lantern on one of the four evening tours offered by the park:

Lantern Tour of the Dover Green
Meet at the John Bell House on The Green
Join historical interpreters from the First State Heritage Park dressed in colonial attire as they relate the stories of historic Dover. Dover’s public square was the site of markets and fairs, suffragists and abolitionists, soldiers and slaves, lawmakers and law breakers. Hear tales of the most infamous resident of Dover’s jail, of devastating fires that threatened the town, of poisonings and tragic love.

Old Methodist Cemetery
Meet at the Johnson Victrola Museum Parking Lot – 375 S. New Street
The stories of those buried in this historic cemetery help reveal the meanings behind the elaborate rituals associated with death and mourning in the 19th-century as you are guided among the ornately decorated tombstones of the Wesley United Methodist Church’s historic cemetery. Uncover the meanings of the carefully chosen and crafted funeral art that decorates the tombs of the high and low alike and what those symbols might reveal about the people buried beneath them. Varied and often unusual funerary customs of the Victorian Period will be revealed including mourning clothes and customs and how the Civil War helped develop methods of preserving the dead.

Christ Episcopal Churchyard
Meet at Christ Church – At the corner of S. State & Water Streets
Encounter characters from the past to hear not only tales of the tombstones, but also tales of joy and sorrow from those who are laid to rest within the walls of the churchyard. From Caesar Rodney’s unrequited love to Civil War opponents buried within yards of one another, be prepared for a surprise or two on this unique tour.

Presbyterian Churchyard Cemetery
Meet at the Johnson Victrola Museum Parking Lot – 375 S. New Street
Visit by lantern light the Presbyterian Church of Dover’s historic cemetery, where many prominent Delawareans and their families are buried. Among them is Delaware’s great statesman John M. Clayton and Revolutionary War martyr Colonel John Haslet, who died a hero’s death at the Battle of Princeton in 1777. Meet these figures from Dover history along with Revolutionary War hero Major John Patton, 19th-century Dover’s James Fulton who was the first resident of Rose Cottage, and several 18th-century Dover widows with decided opinions about their husbands!

Admission to all lantern tours this summer is $10. All summer tours begin at 8:30 p.m. Space is limited; call (302) 739-9194 to reserve your lantern. Lantern tours cancelled due to inclement weather will not be rescheduled.

The churchyard tours are made possible with the cooperation of the Presbyterian Church of Dover, Christ Episcopal Church and Wesley United Methodist Church.

The First State Heritage Park is Delaware’s first urban “park without boundaries,” linking historic and cultural sites in the city that has been the seat of state government since 1777. The park is a partnership of state agencies under the leadership of DNREC’s Division of Parks & Recreation, working in collaboration with city and county government, nonprofit organizations and the private sector.

Media Contact: Jayme Gravell, DNREC Division of Parks and Recreation, 302-739-9112 or jayme.gravell@delaware.gov.

DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife announced today the temporary closure of the Phillips Landing Boat Ramp parking lot and fishing area to allow repaving of the parking lot from Thursday, March 21 through Monday, March 25, weather permitting.

The parking lot repaving is one of the final steps in the expansion and upgrading of the boat ramp, which has been closed for construction since last November.

The closest alternative location for shoreline fishing is the Edward R. Koch Fishing Access Area, located on Broad Creek near Bethel.

For more information on the Phillips Landing Boat Ramp closure, please call the DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914.

Follow the Division of Fish & Wildlife on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.

Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 49, No. 63