Delaware legislative building and surrounding building

We arrived at the Delaware campground around 11am on Wednesday July 11 and we were greeted by a nice lady that guided us to our camp site and stated that the "manager will catch up with you later". As the sign indicates it is an old park but for our needs it is OK. (50 amp, water and sewer)

On Thursday the 12th we drove into Dover. Delaware is the oldest state in our union and it actually has 3 state capitals to visit.  The first one we visited was the one that is now in use, it is not called a capital, or even a state house, it is called the Legislative House and was built in 1903. We had a wonderful tour with a most interesting knowledgeable retired school teacher. She actually made Delaware history come alive for us.

Ron is sitting in the Senate leader's position as the Senate president pro tem and I am his sidekick.

The state of Delaware has changed it's state seal several times and the last time was only a few months ago.

This love seat was given to the current Governor by a furniture store and it is used to block the doorway when the governor is not in. One interesting fact is you are not supposed to sit on the flag  and our tour director stated "why would you have a love seat and not be able to sit on it?

As usual we have different people take our picture in different places and yikes the folks in Delaware, for the most part are camera and picture taking challenged. The man that took the above picture actually took a movie of us and I could not get it to turn clockwise. The above picture is taken of the capital that was built in the 1777, it is very ornate, and most of the furnishings are reproductions. It is actually the second capital-the first one is in New Castle and we will be going next week to see it.

 

The above courtroom is on the main floor of the capital.(#2) There were 3 judges and you could tell the most senior or most important judge by his wig, he had the "big wig". So the story goes.

The above picture of George Washington hangs on the second floor of the capital in the representatives chambers.



We had 2 delightful young people give us a walking tour of the "Green". The "green" is an area about 1-2 city blocks square that have original or refurbished homes plus the 2 capitals surrounding it. In the early years it was a place for the people to gather and it is still used for festivals and different gatherings. When we were there it was just green grass and very empty.



One of the homes surrounding the green was originally a one story house and the owners wanted it a 2 story so they added they second story. You  can see the brown line under the second story windows. No room to go out, so they went up!

The Supreme court had it's own old building (next to #2 capital).The secretary of the supreme court was very kind and allowed us to sit in the seats of the judges-this time it was my turn to be the "big wig"

After our visit to the capitals we went to a museum of Victrola's. It was fascinating and the guide was very informative and played 78's on some of the "talking machines"

These are some of the horns that magnified the sound of the Victrola. When the Victrola was first made there was no way to control the volume and it could be quite loud-it was common for people to "put a sock in it" to control  the sound.