Frankford, DE

Frankford is a Sussex County town on Vines Branch, a tributary of Indian River Bay, with U.S. 113 carrying the main north-south traffic. The 2020 census counted 790 residents. The town began around Long's Store in 1808, passed through names such as Forest Flower, Partnership, and Jacob's Mill Pond, and became Frankford Village when a post office arrived in 1848. Water, rail, and highway routes each took a turn shaping the town. Vines Branch Canal once moved goods toward Indian River Bay, the railroad brought a station on the line between Harrington and Snow Hill, and Coleman DuPont's 1924 highway opened the cross-state route that became part of U.S. 113.

ATTRFamartin / CC BY-SA 4.0

Several sea captains' houses and the Frankford Historic District keep the older center visible, while Indian River School District serves local students. Frankford's local scoop is a small inland Sussex town whose name changed with the map, but whose store, creek, rail line, and highway still point to the same crossroads.