Demographics
Sussex County is becoming more like a giant melting pot with each passing day as more and more culturally and racially diverse people move to southern Delaware to live, work and raise a family.
Fueled in recent years by the burgeoning Hispanic population, particularly in the central parts of the county, Sussex is quickly becoming the state’s most diverse county. In addition to the recent influx of Hispanics, there is also a large gay and lesbian community in the county’s coastal areas and a state-recognized Native American tribe whose members have been here since before Europeans settled the region in the 1600s.
Each group helps make Sussex County what it is in the 21st century – a unique, diverse and wonderfully special place to call home.
According to the United States Census Bureau, as of 2005 Sussex County’s population was 78.3 percent white, 13.7 percent African-American, 0.8 percent Asian, and 5.8 percent Hispanic. This classifies the county, according to the bureau, as having a high amount of racial and ethnic diversity, with 20.3 percent minorities.
As is the case around Delaware and the country, Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in Sussex County. New Hispanic run businesses are opening on a regular basis and events – like the Hispanic Festival in Millsboro – are becoming more popular every year.
Adding to the cultural mix and feel of Sussex County life is the concentration of Nanticoke Indians living in the Millsboro, Long Neck and Oak Orchard areas of central Sussex County. Translated to “people of the tidewater,” its unknown how long members of the tribe have resided in present-day Sussex County, but their recorded history dates back to an encounter with English Captain John Smith in 1608.
In 1881, members of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe successfully petitioned the Delaware Legislature to recognize them as a legal entity. Forty years later, they formed the Nanticoke Indian Association, which today boasts more than 1,000 members.
Members of the tribe regularly appear at area festivals to show off their tribal pride; they also hold the popular Nanticoke Indian Powwow every year the weekend after Labor Day. Thousands of people come from the First State and several neighboring states to enjoy two days of music, dancing, fellowship and culture.
The African-American community also has deep roots in Sussex County and today celebrates their history and heritage every year at the Eastern Shore AFRAM Festival in Seaford. Held every August in western Sussex County, the festival gives African-Americans from Sussex County and surrounding counties a chance to show off their cultural pride to the masses.
No matter your ethnicity, your religion, your socio-economic class or your heritage, there is bound to be a peer group for you to connect with in today’s Sussex County. It’s an area that today resembles a big pot of gumbo – everyone is welcome and made to feel at home in southern Delaware.
Why not make it your home?
