From the National Park Service and Delaware’s Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs:
As part of a larger package of National Park Service provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015, Delaware is receiving its first national park. The First State National Historical Park will expand on historic areas included in the First State National Monument in 2013.
The First State National Monument included four historical areas in Delaware: Woodlawn Property in Brandywine Valley, New Castle Court House and Green, the Sheriff’s House in New Castle, and the Dover Green.
With the creation of the First State National Historical Park, the additional four sites will be added: Old Swedes Church National Historical Landmark in Wilmington, the Ryves-Holt House in Lewes, Fort Christina National Historic Landmark in Wilmington, and the John Dickinson Plantation in Dover.
The focus of the Delaware’s first national park is to “preserve and interpret resources associated with early Dutch, Swedish, and English settlement of the Colony of Delaware and portions of the Colony of Pennsylvania, as well as Delaware’s role in the birth of the nation as the first state to ratify the Constitution.”
For more information about the First State National Historical Park, please visit the National Park Service website or the announcement on the Delaware Historical and Cultural Affairs Blog.
For a full list of National Park Service-related provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2015 (including new national initiatives and assistance to Mid-Atlantic region parks) visit the National Park Service announcement.