Lewes (Delaware)

Sussex County

10-41830

Lewes is a small town in Sussex County in the U.S. state of Delaware, USA, with 2747 inhabitants ( 2010). The population density is 309 inhabitants per square kilometer. As the oldest settlement of European immigrants in Delaware, the city was founded in 1631 by Dutch colonists. In the early days the young settlement was still called Zwaanendael ( "Valley of the Swans "). The first settlement in the first of the original 13 U.S. states, the acknowledged the Constitution of the United States, Lewes is proud of the nickname "The First Town in the First State " (the first town in the first state ). The inferential it to believe Lewes is thus the oldest city within the 13 original states, however, is a fallacy. The metropolitan area has a size of 11.1 km ².

From Lewes from there is a ferry across the Delaware to Cape May, the southernmost city in New Jersey.