Saturday, August 4, 2012

Dover, Delaware - State Capital and Victrolas

Dover is Delaware's Capital. Delaware seems to be the red headed stepchild of the thirteen customary colonies. For fifty-nine years I knew only three facts about Delaware. 1. It is the first state to ratify the Constitution. 2. It is a haven for incorporating a business. 3. The song: "What Did Delaware Boys?" Today I hoped to growth my paltry body of knowledge. You never know what Alex Trebec will ask.

Our drive took us past Dover Air Force Base, the Morgue of the Armed forces. When one of our assistance personnel die overseas, the first stop back in the Usa is at Dover Air Force Base. The base is finished for touring due to the level of awareness we are experiencing.

We found the Welcome town in Dover and were pointed to the major attractions. First we were given a tour of the customary State House, which served as the legislature, court system (County, State, and Federal), and county offices until the 1900s. When every person was in session the place was like a zoo, people going in and out of the main doors either to appear in court or go upstairs to view the legislative process. The county had a special office called the levitor of the peace a.k.a. In all other places as the justice of the peace, whose job was to keep real estate deeds and file wills, levy taxes, etc. every person else, including the two other counties of Delaware have registrars or justices who do the same job.

The Colony was founded by the Dutch in 1609, located by the Swedes in 1638, and then fell under British rule in 1664. The state has the only known perfect arc for a boundary at the Northern end. This was to keep William Penn's work on in Philadelphia at least twelve miles from the Colonial Capital of New Castle. Therefore the arc appears on the maps. William Penn got his way, however. He did not like traveling the Delaware River through supposedly hostile territories to reach his claim at Philadelphia. He went back to Britain and had the Crown give him the lands that bordered the Delaware River. So the colony of Delaware fell under the thumb of the Penn family. For being a pacifist, he was a cry baby bully. I never knew that side of him. Delaware ultimately got their come-uppence. When the time came for the proclamation of Independence, they wrote, "We say ourselves to be free from the British Crown and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania". No one cared, because the colonies were getting ready for the war.

William Penn laid out plans for the city of Dover featuring a village green in front of the state building. The downtown area is very picturesque. One strange element is the way they diagonally park their cars. The striping forces them to back into the spaces. This legitimately makes sense, since the driver does not have to back out into traffic, but rather pulls out into it.

Another sight not to be missed in Dover is the Victrola Museum. Eldridge Johnson, the inventor, was born in Dover. He was a machinist and had invented the wind up motor. every person knows that Thomas Edison invented the talking machine, legitimately the Dictaphone, which recorded the voice on waxed tubes. Berliner improved this plan by inventing the gramophone, which used flat disks, rather than tubes. His invention had to be hand-cranked like the early movie cameras. A friend of Johnson asked him if he could attach his motor to the gramophone. After some attempts, he was successful. The phonograph as we know it today had been invented and Johnson became a wealthy man. He called the name of his enterprise Victor, because he liked the name. Finally he sold it to Rca.

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