Events that helped shape the Sussex County of today

The Sussex County of today is not the same Sussex County of even 30 to 40 years ago.

Several significant events have occurred in the county's modern history that have changed its lifestyle and economy. I recently asked for suggestions on my Facebook page and was overwhelmed with ideas.

The long list included formation of Delaware State Parks in 1951, opening of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in 1952, Coastal Zone Act enacted in 1971, Delaware Farmland Preservation Act in 1991, formation of Sussex County paramedics in 1990, opening of Delaware Technical Community College in 1967, closing of NCR plant in Millsboro in 1981, opening of the first outlets in 1996, and denial of a coal port along the Delaware Bay shoreline in the early 1980s.

There are dozens of significant events that have shaped the Sussex County of today. Here are just a few to ponder.

A retirement haven. At some point, probably thanks to successful marketing and lots of word of mouth, eastern Sussex County became a retirement haven. The combination of proximity to beaches, no sales tax, shopping, restaurants and the slower Delaware lifestyle became a drawing card that has only increased to unbelievable levels over the past few years.

But one of the main reasons people from surrounding states retire here is because of low, low property taxes. Although the county is undergoing its first reassessment ever since the rate was set in 1974, the tax rate has remained unchanged for more than 30 years.

Retirees, who are often called “come-heres,” pay yearly what they paid monthly in some states.

This trend started with the construction of a multitude of manufactured home parks, especially the Pot-Nets communities in Long Neck.

As growth occurred, it boosted the tourism industry in the Cape Region. That’s a topic for another column.

Closing of Seaford DuPont nylon plant. Starting operation in 1939, the Seaford plant, the first nylon plant in the world, employed up to 4,000 workers who were paid well and had good benefits. The workforce came from all over Sussex County and neighboring counties.

Since construction was ongoing throughout the plant's history, hundreds of other workers also benefited from the plant.

Although the closing was not all at one time, the loss of that number of jobs pretty much ended the manufacturing industry in the county. In 2004, the nylon plant was sold.

In addition, because of foreign competition, shirt factories started closing, causing the loss of hundreds more jobs in towns throughout the county.

Although people today are not even aware of it, Lewes was a manufacturing town. The popular Brush Factory on Kings Highway did not just come up with that name – the building was an actual manufacturing plant for nearly a century.

Beginnings of the poultry industry. Prior to the 1920s, chickens were raised in people's backyards. That all changed in 1923 when the broiler industry started, thanks to a delivery mistake.

Sussex County is now ranked No. 1 among all United States counties in meat chicken production at about 200 million pounds per year.

In 2017, three area poultry companies were ranked among the top 20 in the country based on weekly production by weight: Perdue Farms, Salisbury, Md., ranked fourth; Mountaire Farms, Millsboro, ranked sixth; and Allen Harim Foods, Seaford (now Millsboro) ranked 20th.

The industry creates nearly $3.5 billion in economic activity per year with 3,500 direct jobs and another 3,000 industry-supplier jobs.

Nearly three-fourths of Delaware's cash farm income is from raising chickens, and nearly all of the corn and soybeans grown in Delaware are used for chicken feed.

The beginnings of growth. Another major event that has impacted the growth of Sussex County, especially in the resort area, was the designation of the Route 1, 13 and 113 corridors in the 1970s as commercial areas.

It didn't take long for farmland along Route 1 in the Lewes-to-Rehoboth corridor to disappear. When the outlets were built, it started a run on commercial construction.

Tying into that was the introduction of the county's central sewer system dating back to the late 1970s. The county got into the business by connecting Dewey Beach to the Rehoboth wastewater treatment plant. Soon after, the county built the South Coastal facility in the Bethany Beach area followed by the Wolfe Neck plant in the mid-1990s. With sewer capacity comes growth.

The opening of Charter Oaks in 1990, the first outlets near Rehoboth Beach, was also a significant event that not only changed the retail world in the area, but also made the area a shopping destination that continues to this day. Tanger purchased the outlets in 2003.

Dualization of Route 1. Those of us who had to endure the endless traffic signals along Route 13 and the long ride from the beach area to New Castle County still sing the praises of the finishing of the 102 miles of dual Route 1 in 2003. Hitting only one traffic signal at Route 16, which will soon be removed, between New Castle County and Lewes saves a lot of time and gas.

The road project, the most costly in Delaware history, was completed in sections, starting in 1994 from New Castle County to the Maryland state line in Fenwick Island.

Editor’s note: This story has been modified since its initial publication.

U you