Kent County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851, making it the least populous county in Delaware, but the most populous county in the United States to be the least populous in its state. The county seat is Dover, the state capital of Delaware. It is named for Kent, an English county.

Kent County comprises the Dover metropolitan area, which is included in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD combined statistical area.

History

thumb|1683 Seal of Kent County

In about 1670 the English began to settle in the valley of the St. Jones River, earlier known as Wolf Creek. On June 21, 1680, the Duke of York chartered St. Jones County, which was carved out of New Amstel/New Castle and Hoarkill/Sussex counties. St. Jones County was transferred to William Penn on August 24, 1682, and became part of Penn's newly chartered Delaware Colony.

Penn ordered a court town to be laid out, and the courthouse was built in 1697. The town of Dover, named after the town of Dover in England's Kent, was finally laid out in 1717, in what was then known as the Lower Counties. It was designated as the capital of Delaware in 1777. In 1787 Delaware was first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, and became "the First State." Through much of the late 18th century, the economy of Kent County was based on small grain farms. As a result, farmers did not need as many slaves as did owners of tobacco plantations. Delaware had a high proportion of free blacks among its African-American population by the early 19th century.

thumb|The new courthouse

In the 1960s, Dover was a center of manufacturing of spacesuits worn by NASA astronauts in the Apollo moon flights by ILC Dover, now based in the small town of Frederica. The suits, dubbed the "A7L," was first flown on the Apollo 7 mission in October 1967, and was the suit worn by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Apollo 11 mission. The company still manufactures spacesuits to this day—the present-day Space Shuttle "soft" suit components (the arms and legs of the suit).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (26.6%) is water.

Kent County, like all of Delaware's counties, is subdivided into Hundreds. There are several explanations given for how the Hundreds were arrived at, either being an area containing 100 families, an area containing 100 people, or an area that could raise 100 militiamen. Kent County was originally apportioned into six Hundreds: Duck Creek, Little Creek, Dover, Murderkill, Milford and Mispillion. In 1867, the Delaware legislature split Murderkill Hundred into North Murderkill Hundred and South Murderkill Hundred. In 1869, the legislature formed Kenton Hundred from parts of Little Creek and Duck Creek Hundred. Today the county contains eight Hundreds.

Adjacent counties

thumb|right|Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

  • New Castle County - north
  • Salem County, New Jersey - northeast
  • Cumberland County, New Jersey - east
  • Cape May County, New Jersey - east
  • Sussex County - south
  • Caroline County, Maryland - southwest
  • Queen Anne's County, Maryland - west
  • Kent County, Maryland - northwest

National protected area

  • Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Climate

Kent County has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) according to the Köppen climate classification. The Trewartha climate classification considers the climate oceanic (Do) because only seven months average above 50 °F (above 10 °C.) All months average above freezing and Dover has three months averaging above . The hardiness zone is 7b. [https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/]

Transportation

Major highways

thumb|right|The DE 1 toll road in Smyrna, northern Kent County

The following state highways are located in Kent County:

Railroads

The Delmarva Central Railroad operates two freight lines through Kent County. The Delmarva Subdivision runs north–south along the US 13 corridor through Farmington, Harrington, Felton, Wyoming, Dover, Cheswold, and Clayton and the Indian River Subdivision branches from the Delmarva Subdivision at Harrington and runs east to Houston and Milford along the DE 14 corridor. There is no passenger rail service in the county.

Public transportation

DART First State operates bus service within Kent County. There are several local bus routes that serve the Dover area. In addition, DART First State operates inter-county service to Wilmington, Newark, Georgetown, and Lewes, along with seasonal service to Lewes and Rehoboth Beach.

Airports

Kent County contains the following public-use and military airports:

  • Chandelle Estates Airport in Dover
  • Chorman Airport in Farmington
  • Dover Air Force Base in Dover
  • Delaware Airpark in Cheswold
  • Henderson Aviation Airport in Felton
  • Jenkins Airport in Wyoming
  • Smyrna Airport in Smyrna

Government and politics

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Kent County is governed by the Kent County Levy Court, which consists of seven members, six of whom are elected by district and the seventh who is elected at-large. The current members of the Kent County Levy Court are:

  • Joanne Masten (D) - 1st district
  • Jeffrey W. Hall (D) - 2nd district
  • Allan F. Angel (D) - 3rd district (Vice President)
  • Robert J. Scott (R) - 4th district
  • George Jody Sweeney (D) - 5th district
  • Paul Hertz - (R) 6th district
  • Terry L. Pepper (D) - At-Large (President)

The county row offices are held by: In the 2020 presidential election, Delaware resident Joe Biden took 51.19% of the vote compared to Trump's 47.12%, out of 87,025 votes cast. Trump lost the county in 2024, making him the first Republican in 100 years to win the presidency without the county.

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; font-size:95%;"

|+ Gubernatorial elections results

|- bgcolor=lightgrey

! Year

! Republican

! Democratic

! Third parties

|-

| style="text-align:center;" |2024

| style="text-align:center;" |49.75% 42,750

| style="text-align:center;" |50.25% 43,179

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.0% 0

|-

| style="text-align:center;" |2020

| style="text-align:center;" |46.05% 39,332

| style="text-align:center;" |51.93% 44,352

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|2.02% 1,731

|-

| style="text-align:center;" |2016

| style="text-align:center;" |48.05% 34,777

| style="text-align:center;" |49.68% 35,955

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|2.27% 1,646

|-

| style="text-align:center;" |2012

| style="text-align:center;" |36.04% 23,846

| style="text-align:center;" |61.5% 40,696

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|2.46% 1,628

|}