Sussex

Formed August 8, 1683 (1^st county)

Sussex County (237,680), Georgetown (7,135), Milford (11,182)                

The Colonial Revival style red brick courthouse looks the part.  It was built in 1837 and remodeled in 1914 and enlarged in 1969.  It is under renovation in 2024.  It is located in the city circle at Bedford and Market streets.  United States Highway 9 is Market Street in Georgetown.  William Strickland is the building designer.  A Courts building was added in 1988.  Lewis was the original county seat with Georgetown taking the seat in 1791.  The county is named for Sussex, England.  The county seat is named for King George.  The center of the county is in Georgetown .8 miles South-Southeast of the city center.  The county was established on August 8, 1683 as the original county.  Sussex County was the birthplace of 22 Delaware Governors, David Hall, Nathaniel Mitchell, Joseph Haslet, Daniel Rodney, John Collins, Caleb Rodney, Samuel Paynter, Charles Polk, Jr., David Hazzard, William B. Cooper, Joseph Maull, William H. H. Ross, Peter F. Causey, William Burton, William Cannon, James Ponder, Charles C. Stockley, Joshua H. Marvil, William T. Watson, Ebe W. Tunnell, Simeon S. Pennewill, and Ruth A. Minner.  It later provided the land for New Castle and Kent Counties. 

Sussex County government consists of a sheriff, recorder, and administrator (executive).  It has 5 Levy Court Members (legislative.)  Two Superior Court Judges and Two Common Pleas Judges, clerk, and county attorney serve Sussex County (judicial.)  Sussex County is the southern most county in Delaware on the border with New Jersey (across the Delaware River), the Atlantic Ocean, and Maryland.  The Atlantic Ocean is on the southeast.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Kent County and New Jersey and Maryland.  Georgetown is located near the center of the county.  Milford is located on the northern border of the county and extends into Kent County.  Georgetown is the county seat and Milford is the largest city.  Georgetown is 3.0% of the county population while Milford is 4.7% of the county population.  The county is shaped like a square bowl of popcorn. 

The area of the county is 1196 square miles.  It is 1 out of 3 in the state.  It ranks 2 out of 3 in population in the state.  It has a density of 198.5 persons per square mile making it 3 out of 3 in the state.  Sussex County has 25.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 9 crosses east to west inside the county.  United States Highway 13 enters from Kent County on the north and exits into Maryland on the south.  United States Highway 113 also travels north to south from Kent County to Maryland.  The county is in the Seaford Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Milford