Elaine Brenchley, The First State Heritage Park at Dover, 302-739-9194 (elaine.brenchley@state.de.us),
Necia Beck, Delaware State Parks, 302- 739-9175, Necia.Beck@state.de.us
Four Fridays in August Feature First State Heritage Park Lantern Tours
DOVER (July 28, 2011) – Visitors will experience history by the light of a lantern on the First State Heritage Park’s popular candlelight tours of The Green and Dover’s historic cemeteries, offered each Friday evening this August. Admission to all lantern tours is $5. Space is limited; reservations can be made by calling 302-739-9194. Lantern tours cancelled due to inclement weather will not be rescheduled.
The churchyard tours are made possible with the cooperation of Christ Episcopal Church and Wesley United Methodist Church.
Lantern Tour of the Dover Green
Fridays, August 5 and August 19
Begins at the John Bell House on The Green
Historical interpreters from the First State Heritage Park dressed in colonial attire relate the stories of historic Dover. Dover’s public square was the site of markets and fairs, suffragists and abolitionists, soldiers and slaves, lawmakers and law breakers. The tours include tales of the most infamous resident of Dover’s jail, of devastating fires that threatened the town, of poisonings and of tragic love.
Christ Church Cemetery
Friday, August 12
8:30 p.m.
Begins at Christ Church – At the corner of S. State and Water Streets
Characters from the past relate tales of tombstones, joy and sorrow. Featured on the tour are Caesar Rodney’s unrequited love and Civil War opponents buried within yards of one another, along with others laid to rest in this historic churchyard.
Old Methodist Cemetery
Friday, August 26
8:30 p.m.
Begins at the Johnson Victrola Museum Parking Lot – 375 S. New Street
The lives and stories of those buried in this historic cemetery provide an opportunity to examine 19th -century funeral practices. Guides will explain the meanings behind mourning clothes and customs, tombstone symbols, and why and how the Civil War prompted the development of methods to preserve the dead.
The First State Heritage Park at Dover is Delaware’s first urban “park without boundaries” linking historic and cultural sites in the city that has been the seat of state government since 1777. The park is a partnership of state agencies, under the leadership of Delaware State Parks, working in collaboration with city and county government, nonprofit organizations and the private sector.
Vol. 41, No. 298
