Delaware Farming

Images of America: Delaware

by Ed Kee

Delaware's agricultural traditions have helped define the state for generations. Farmers and millers were part of the Breadbasket of the Revolution, providing critically important wheat and flour for George Washington's armies. In the 19th century, Delaware became known as the Peach State, shipping fresh peaches by rail to urban markets throughout the eastern United States. In 1855, the first cannery on the Delmarva Peninsula started operations in Dover, inaugurating a still viable and active agricultural industry. Sussex County, Delaware, is the birthplace of the modern broiler chicken industry, beginning with an accidental experiment on Cecile Steele's Ocean View farm in 1923. This agricultural heritage continues; 42 percent of Delaware's land mass remains in farms, despite significant land development since World War II.

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2007

About the author

Ed Kee graduated from William Penn High School in 1969 and the University of Delaware with a B.S.

In 1996 he completed the requirements for a Master of Arts-Liberal Studies at the University of Delaware.

His thesis project was the 1954 School Integration Crisis in Milford. This work was published in Delaware History, the publication of The Delaware Historical Society.

He has authored or co-authored more than 30 articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. These include articles published in the fields of horticulture, vegetable science, agricultural engineering, agricultural economics, history and civil rights.

He and his wife Debbie have two grown daughters who live in Michigan and Pennsylvania.