The Old State House and Dover's Green

At the center of Dover, ringed by government buildings and shaded by old trees, lies the Green — a public square laid out in the colonial era that has served as the stage for Delaware's civic life for more than three centuries. Around it, the Old State House still stands, one of the oldest seats of government in the country.

The Green has seen everything. Militias have mustered on it, proclamations have been read from it, and generations of Delawareans have gathered on its grass for celebrations, protests, and the ordinary business of a capital town. It is history you can walk across.

The Old State House anchors the scene. Though the working government long ago moved to larger quarters, the colonial building has been preserved and restored as a museum, its chambers evoking the era when Delaware's independence was debated within its walls.

Together they form the historic heart of the capital, a reminder that Delaware's story did not begin with its corporations or its beaches. It began here, on a colonial green, where it is still being told.