Dover was founded as the court town for newly established Kent County in
1683 by William Penn, the proprietor of the territory generally known as the
"Lower Counties on the Delaware." Later, in 1717, the city was
officially laid out by a special commission of the Delaware General Assembly.
The capital of the state of Delaware was moved here from Newcastle in 1777
because of its central location and relative safety from British raiders on the
Delaware River. Because of an act passed in October 1779, the assembly elected
to meet at any place in the state they saw fit, meeting successively in
Wilmington, Lewes, Dover,
