Felton, DE

Felton is a Kent County town about halfway between Dover and Milford, laid out in 1856 when the Delaware Railroad reached the area. The 2020 census counted 1,316 residents. It was named for Samuel M. Felton, then president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, so the town's first big connection was steel, schedules, and freight. Today, the railroad corridor and Main Street still give Felton a small-town shape inside the Dover area. The Felton Historic District carries much of the visual personality, with late-19th-century homes and commercial buildings gathered around the old railroad town.

ATTRFamartin / CC BY-SA 4.0

Coombe Historic District adds an even older edge, with 18th- and 19th-century buildings and archaeological traces nearby. Lake Forest schools serve local children, while Killens Pond State Park is the easy nearby escape for trails, water, and a change of scenery. Felton's local scoop is a Delaware railroad town where the old whistle-stop layout, two historic districts, and a state park all fit into one Kent County address.