Milford chronicle., 1931-01-16
RECOMMEND
LEGISLATIVE
BUILDIN
[COniinued from F,rn Page]

4ldi illiSIOH, OOF6I, MIS-. I1eIiy II
Ridgely, Dover; H. Rodney Sharp
Wilmington, and Harry l.. Cannon
Bridgeville. The report was cOmpil
ed after repeated conferences Will
architects and State officials in var
iOus States.
William Morrison Isham, Provi
dence, r. l., one of the OUTSTANDING
architects of the country, mas lad
charge of the preparation of pre-
liminary plans for the commission
Mr.. Isham is a specialist in ;Colon-
ial architecture and in the subject of
State House architecture. He is the
designer for the famous American
Wing of the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York City, one of the
famous examples of American arch
itecture on display.
VIII Require % Years
The development of the program
recommended by the committee is
expected to consume at least 25
years. Each of the individual de-
partmental buildings proposed for
the parkway, for the various State
Office departments will be so con-
structed that they can be added to
at any time. A survey has been made
as to the present and future plans
of needs of each department.
The plans call for the direct ap-
plication of Colonial architecture, of
the kind found in eighteenth CEN
tury Delaware buildings, Of which
the State House since it has been
renovated is a first class example.
Mr.. Isham has made preliminary de-
sign for the various buildings, and
a model, now on display at DOVer,'
for the use of the Governor in any
recommendation he might make to
the legislature in the matter. All
these plans call for strict adherence
to the Colonial architecture.
The report recommends that, as
one large State House. to care for
the various Bureaus of Administra-
tion of Government, would be made
quate and can be called out of date
under modern conditions, and as the
business carried on by the State
today is many sided and intricate, a !
number of smaller buildings should |
be constructed It is pointed out that |
when the State enlarged the old |
building in 1898, it did so in keep
ing with the times when the old +
building was constructed, in 1882.
The report states that it is we'll
tury architecture in America is of /
lasting beauty and it cannot be i'm
proved on from an artistic point of
view. 1t is recommended that
group of State buildings be con-
structed near the old State House
and in keeping with its design and
With modern cdfveniences. ,~'
The early history of the old State
House is wrapped up in the history
and people of Kent county, for it
was the Court House of this county
long before it became the State
House.
Dates Back TO 1922
The early history of the old strue-
ture dates back to 1922. About the
year 1880, the seat of the courts for
all territory south of Duck Creek
was Lewistown, and residents of
those parts sent a picturesque petit
tion to Governor Andres stating the
difficulties in reaching the courts at
that many persons had to
go a distance of so or 60 miles,
through swamps and marshes, to
reach the building. Just at that time
here was a stirring of political con-
sciousness in the section of land ly- s
ing along the west shore of the Del \
aware Bay. The petition asked that
1 court be appointed to be held at
some convenient point on st. Ia
Tones Greek. e
Governor Andros approved the pc
ition, and that year divided the old t
county into two parts. d
The southern portion retained its n
I'D name for while, later became n
)eale, and then Sussex. The north n
,fn part became st. Jones, then a
<ent. a
st. Jones, the name of which many o
leople think to be the result Of the J
LIBERAL spelling of that day, and N
which was probably intended TO o
lean st. Johns, included the land N
etween Duck Creek on the North d
nd Cedar Creek on the South. When
he first Levy Court was constituted, y
was ruled that the wolves, crows =
nd blackbirds be destroyed. The in u
abitants, even in this restricted -,
reas had been exposed to perils of ~
lany sorts for several years. ~
Townes Point was the first coun- -,
7 seat, near the mouth of st. Jones M
reek. Authority was given in that
ear to build another Court House, ~,
-hich indicates that there must n
ave been one before 1851. Consent m
as given ito burn the Old Court re-
ouse and get the nailess1.as=s That fo
lme year, the provincial judges of
le counties conferred with the cl
agistrates and others of Kent, and la
lthorized the purchase of land in
est of the head of Jones Greek for
Ie county seat. In 1888, William er
enn ordered that a town t0l be call ia
| Dover be laid out and a Court W,
ouse built, but this was noti'finally
me until 1717. The first Court CT
ouse stood where Kent county's 70
d structure stood and the land on 70
hich it stood was sold in 1922 and tn
e county built its Court House on MI
e east side of the Green. La
The building of 1922 was presum- MI
,ly small and meagre, and refer I'll
.nee in old records Indicate that If be
N