NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
Contact: Elaine Brenchley or Nate Davidson, The First State Heritage Park at Dover, 302-739-9194 (elaine.brenchley@state.de.us), or Necia Beck, Delaware State Parks, 302-739-9175, Necia.Beck@state.de.us
The First State Heritage Park offers
Lantern Tours of the Green this summer
Dover, Del. - A stroll across the Dover Green is a stroll through time. The historic town center of Dover was the site of markets and fairs, suffragists and abolitionists, soldiers and slaves, lawmakers and law breakers. And there is no better way to experience this history than by the light of a lantern. Tours will be offered at 8:30 p.m. on three Fridays this summer: July 31, August 21 and September 4.
Historical interpreters from the First State Heritage Park dress in colonial attire as they relate the stories of the sights and sounds of historic Dover. Among them are tales of the legendary Caesar Rodney, devastating fires that threatened the town, tragic love, the auctioning of slaves on the steps of the Old State House and the most infamous resident of Dover’s jail and the only Loyalist executed in Delaware during the Revolution.
Tour admission is $5, and each begins at the Delaware Visitor Center, 406 Federal Street, Dover. Tour space is very limited and advance reservations are strongly suggested. Reservations and payment information, as well as more information about this and other programs are available at (302) 739-9194. The First State Heritage Park can be found online at www.destateparks.com/heritagepark.
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Established by Governor Ruth Ann Minner in 2004, The First State Heritage Park at Dover 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 to create 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.
