Qualla: Dover, Delaware

Dover, Delaware: Introduction

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Every box of Jell-O made in America comes from Dover. General Foods opened the Dover plant in 1964, relocating production from LeRoy, New York - Jell-O's original home for fifty-seven years. When Kraft merged with General Foods in 1989, the Dover plant became part of Kraft, and after further consolidation it is now operated by Kraft Heinz. The move happened because Dover had cheaper land, a non-union labor force, and a generous tax package. More than sixty years later, the plant still makes every flavor: lime, strawberry, cherry, orange. About 158 million boxes a year. The state capital of Delaware is also, for trivia purposes, the capital of American gelatin desserts. Most state capitals have one signature. Dover has at least four.

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Image: Public domain

Dover, Delaware: The Green and the Capital

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant), CC BY-SA 2.5. Dover was founded in 1683 by William Penn as a court town for the new Kent County, then formally laid out in 1717 by Thomas Penn around a public square known simply as The Green. The Green sits at the geographic heart of downtown Dover and has functioned continuously as a public ...

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Image: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) | CC BY-SA 2.5

Dover, Delaware: Air Force Mortuary and Jell-O

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit GB fan, CC BY-SA 3.0. Dover Air Force Base sits in the southeast corner of the city limits, home to the 436th and 512th Airlift Wings flying C-5 Super Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III strategic transports. The base also houses the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs - the only port mortuary i...

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Image: GB fan | CC BY-SA 3.0

Dover, Delaware: Annie Jump Cannon

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bluesnote, CC BY-SA 4.0. Annie Jump Cannon was born in Dover on December 11, 1863. Her father was a Delaware state senator. Her mother taught her to identify the stars from the family's attic on State Street. Cannon went on to attend Wellesley College, then joined the Harvard College Observatory in 1896 ...

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Image: Bluesnote | CC BY-SA 4.0

Dover, Delaware: NASCAR and Firefly

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Michael Jester, CC BY-SA 3.0. Dover Motor Speedway hosts a NASCAR race weekend every May. The Monster Mile - the one-mile, high-banked concrete oval - has been a NASCAR fixture since 1969 and was a stop on the Cup Series schedule until the schedule was reorganized in 2021. The races still draw around 65,000 s...

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Image: Michael Jester | CC BY-SA 3.0

Dover, Delaware: The Amish, the Volunteers, and the State Capital Without an Interstate

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0. Dover is one of only four state capitals in the United States not served by an Interstate highway - the others are Pierre, South Dakota; Jefferson City, Missouri; and Juneau, Alaska. The closest Interstate is I-95, more than 50 miles north in Wilmington. Dover is also the only st...

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Image: Famartin | CC BY-SA 4.0