First State National Historical Park

First State tells the story of Delaware, the first state to ratify the Constitution, across seven sites: the New Castle Court House where Delaware declared independence, the Dover Green, Fort Christina and Old Swedes Church from the 1638 Swedish colony, the John Dickinson Plantation, and the Brandywine Valley landscape.

Explore New Castle's cobbled colonial streets and the Dover Green; young kids can earn a Junior Ranger badge. For a challenge, take on the full seven-site circuit across Delaware and into Pennsylvania, a full day of early American history.