Town of Ellendale
This area began as forest and swamp bridging
the Divide between the Chesapeake and Delaware
Bays. European Contact made it a province of
fur traders and hunters. In the 18th century,
farming and timbering pushed back the swamp.
With the 1780 Black Camp Insurrection during
the American Revolution, the “Nanticoke Swamp”
became a refuge for Loyalists. In the Federal
era, the Old State Road was built to connect
Georgetown with Dover. Railroads came after
the Civil War. With emancipation, African Americans
took up free lives in the area. The community was
first surveyed in 1867, and it soon absorbed
the older villages of Federalsburg and New Market.
Agricultural and forest products were shipped
over the rails. Churches and schools were founded.
The Town was incorporated in 1905. Canning and
refrigeration strengthened commerce. The DuPont
Highway was completed in 1918, and the Ellendale
State Forest was established in 1927. The Volunteer
Fire Department was organized in April 1920, the
Police Department in the 1970’s. Main Street became
a highway to the beaches and today the community’s
location continues to make it a thoroughfare for
commerce and beacon for growth.
Marker is on Main Street (Delaware Route 16) near McCauley Avenue, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
