Delaware Land for Sale

Delaware may be tiny in size, but it’s huge in historic significance: on December 7, 1787 Delaware became the first state in the nation to ratify the newly drafted U.S. Constitution, giving rise to the state’s nickname: the First State. Buying Delaware Land for Sale sets the right precedent!

Cost of Delaware is a low-lying coastal plain fronting the Atlantic ocean, rife with marshland, swamps and tidal creeks. The manmade Chesapeake & Delaware Canal cuts across the northern part of the state, connecting the Delaware River with Chesapeake Bay. Delaware’s northern boundary with Pennsylvania reflects the archaic surveying techniques embodied in the language of William Penn’s original 17th century land grant, making it the only circular state boundary in all of the United States. Delaware contains many significant historic sites including the Golden Fleece Tavern in Dover where Delaware’s delegates became the first to ratify the Constitution and Fort Delaware State Park, site of a Civil War era fortress and prison where 30,000 Confederate soldiers were once incarcerated.

Delaware has long held a reputation as a state with one of the most pro-business economic climates in the country, and the prosperity of Wilmington, its largest city, is a direct reflection of this. In 1981 Delaware enacted legislation called the Financial Center Development Act, which removed a longstanding cap on interest rates that banks can legally charge their customers. This became the driving force behind an emergent national credit card industry, centered in Wilmington, that, while feeling the effects of the recent economic downturn, still generates billions of dollars in profits every year. Several major domestic financial institutions including the Bank of America and Chase Card Services are headquartered in Wilmington; while international banks like HBSC base their American center of operations there. Wilmington is also headquarters for the DuPont Company, one of the largest chemical companies in the world. 

Dover, the state’s capital and second largest city, is a manufacturing center and the fastest growing part of the state. The resort towns of Lewes and Rehoboth Beach along the coast are popular vacation destinations 

The ocean exerts a moderating influence on Delaware’s weather – no part of the state is very far away from it. Winters are cold but not unbearably so; summers are temperate but very humid.

Right up until the beginning of the 2008 recession, Delaware was one of the most prosperous states in the nation. In fact, one of its state nicknames was the Diamond State, a reference to its immense wealth relative to its small size. Agriculture is still significant in the First State’s two southernmost and more sparsely populated counties; Delaware’s most important agricultural products are broiler chickens, soybeans, corn and dairy products. Delaware’s key industries, however, were credit cards, chemicals and cars. Even as the rest of the nation was struggling through the 2001 recession, Delaware experienced solid economic growth. Manufacturing – specifically chemical and automotive manufacturing – had been the largest component in the state’s economy throughout much of the 20th century, but starting in the 1980s, financial services became the most important driver of prosperity. 

But the 2008 recession started as a crisis in the financial sector. Wilmington’s financial services sector shed massive numbers of jobs, contributing to Delaware’s spiraling unemployment statistics. General Motors closed its assembly plant in Newport. Suddenly Delaware found itself with an unemployment rate higher than the national average. 

Most economists agree that Delaware should begin to see signs of economic recovery in the second half of 2010. Prosperity is on its way back. Buying Delaware Land for Sale gets you in on the ground floor when the First State reemerges as an important financial player once again.