Sussex County is 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.
Lewes is an incorporated city on the Delaware Bay in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population is 2,747. Along with neighboring Rehoboth Beach, Lewes is one of the principal cities of Delaware's rapidly growing Cape Region. The city lies within the Salisbury, Maryland–Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lewes proudly claims to be "The First Town in The First State."
Dewey Beach is an incorporated coastal town in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 341, an increase of 13.3% over the previous decade. It is part of the rapidly growing Cape Region and lies within the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2011, the NRDC awarded Dewey Beach with a 5-Star rating in water quality. This award was given only to 12 other locations, one being neighboring Rehoboth Beach. Out of the 30 states with coastline, the Delaware Beaches ranked number 1 in water quality in 2011.
Fenwick Island is a coastal town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to 2010 census figures, the population of the town is 379, a 10.8% increase over the last decade. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is located on Fenwick Island, a barrier spit.
Rehoboth Beach is a city on the Atlantic Ocean along the Delaware Beaches in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 1,327, reflecting a decline of 161 (11.2%) from the 1,488 counted in the 2000 Census. Along with the neighboring coastal city of Lewes, Rehoboth Beach is one of the principal cities of Delaware's rapidly growing Cape Region. Rehoboth Beach lies within the Salisbury metropolitan area.
The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a 3,000-mile (4,800 km) inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Boston, southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following the Gulf Coast to Brownsville, Texas. Some sections of the waterway consist of natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays, and sounds, while others are artificial canals. It provides a navigable route along its length without many of the hazards of travel on the open sea.
Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. Approximately 782 square miles (2,030 km2) in area, the bay's fresh water mixes for many miles with the salt water of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Broadkill River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in southern Delaware in the United States. It is 13.3 miles (21.4 km) long and drains an area of 110 square miles (280 km2) on the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
A tidal creek or tidal channel is a narrow inlet or estuary that is affected by ebb and flow of ocean tides. Thus it has variable salinity and electrical conductivity over the tidal cycle, and flushes salts from inland soils. Tidal creeks are characterized by slow water velocity resulting in buildup of fine, organic sediment in wetlands. Creeks may often be a dry to muddy channel with little or no flow at low tide, but with significant depth of water at high tide. Due to the temporal variability of water quality parameters within the tidally influenced zone, there are unique biota associated with tidal creeks which are often specialised to such zones. Nutrients and organic matter are delivered downstream to habitats normally lacking these, while the creeks also provide access to inland habitat for salt-water organisms.
Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) is a 102.63-mile-long (165.17 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Fenwick Island, Sussex County, where the road continues south into that state as Maryland Route 528 (MD 528), north to an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95) in Christiana, New Castle County, where the road continues north as part of DE 7. Between Fenwick Island and Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Kent County, DE 1 is a four- to six-lane divided highway with at-grade intersections and occasional interchanges. The route heads north through the Delaware Beaches resort area along the Atlantic Ocean before it runs northwest through rural areas, turning north at Milford to continue to Dover. Upon reaching Dover, DE 1 becomes the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, a four- to six-lane freeway that is partially tolled. Between Dover and Tybouts Corner, DE 1 parallels U.S. Route 13 (US 13), crossing over and featuring interchanges with it multiple times. Past Tybouts Corner, the freeway heads north parallel to DE 7 to its terminus in Christiana. DE 1 serves as the main north-south state route in Delaware, connecting the Delaware Beaches with the Dover and Wilmington areas.
Indian River Bay is a body of water in Sussex County, Delaware. It is part of Delaware's inland bay system, along with Little Assawoman Bay and Rehoboth Bay. Fed by the Indian River at its western end, the bay is connected to the Atlantic Ocean to the east via the Indian River Inlet. A natural waterway that shifted up and down a two-mile (3.2 km) stretch of the coast until 1928, the inlet was kept in its current location by dredging between 1928 and 1937, and in 1938 was fixed in place by the construction of jetties. The Charles W. Cullen Bridge, commonly known as the Indian River Inlet Bridge, spans the inlet.
The Lewes and Rehoboth Canal is a canal in Sussex County, Delaware, which connects the Broadkill River and the Delaware Bay to Rehoboth Bay. It forms a portion of the Intracoastal Waterway.
Delaware Seashore State Park is located near Dewey Beach, in Delaware, United States. It is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the west by Rehoboth Bay and Indian River Bay. The park covers 2,825 acres (1,143 ha). It is a major attraction for millions of visitors who come to the Delaware Beaches for water-related activities. Delaware Seashore State Park was created in 1965.
Holts Landing State Park is a 203-acre (82 ha) Delaware state park northwest of Bethany Beach, Sussex County, Delaware, USA. Prior to becoming a state park the land of Holts Landing State Park was the Holt family farm. The Holts sold the land to the state of Delaware in 1957 and Holts Landing State Park was opened to the public in 1965. The park is on the southern shore of Indian River Bay. Holts Landing State Park is open for year-round recreation and features the only pier on the east coast of Delaware that has been purpose-built for crabbing, the recreational harvesting of blue crabs.
Nanticoke Wildlife Area is a state wildlife area located in Sussex County, Delaware, along the Nanticoke River and Broad Creek, near to Seaford, Delaware, and Bethel, Delaware. There is a monument commemorating Captain John Smith's journey into the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries at Phillips Landing along Broad Creek, a tributary of the Nanticoke River in Delaware. It is made up of three large land tracts totaling 4,510 acres (1,825 ha), it is managed by Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Division of Fish and Wildlife. The area also holds one of the few Delmarva fox squirrel populations within Delaware, along with controlled populations in Prime Hook Wildlife Refuge and Assawoman Wildlife Area.
The Cape Henlopen Region, or the Cape Region, is a region in Sussex County, in southern Delaware, on the Delmarva Peninsula. The region is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The region takes its name from Cape Henlopen, as does the Cape Henlopen School District and Cape Henlopen State Park. Much of the region's populated areas are found along the Delaware Bay, Rehoboth Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Northern and western parts of the Cape Region are rural areas dominated by farmland and wetlands. The area is often referred to as the Delaware Beaches.
The Assawoman Canal is a canal in Sussex County, Delaware. The canal links the Indian River Bay to the north with the Little Assawoman Bay to the south. It is bordered by Bethany Beach and South Bethany to the east and Ocean View to the west. Because of it, Fenwick Island is detached from the Delaware mainland.
Assawoman Wildlife Area is a state wildlife area located in Sussex County, Delaware located near Frankfort, Delaware and Little Assawoman Bay. It is made up of three large tracts of land that total 3,100 acres (1,300 ha) that were originally former farms that were lost due to the Great Depression, and managed by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC). The wildlife areas name came from the nearby Little Assawoman Bay which was originally named Assateague, an Algonkian word meaning "stream or inlet in the middle" before it was changed to another Algonkian name which means "midway fishing stream."
