Editing Georgetown, Delaware (section)

===Second county seat===
[[Lewes, Delaware|Lewes]], sited on the [[Delaware Bay]], was designated as the first county seat. It was the first colony in Delaware, founded by the [[Dutch People|Dutch]] in 1631, and it remained the only significant European settlement in the region for some time. When English colonist [[William Penn]] organized the three southern counties of [[Pennsylvania]], which are now Delaware, Lewes was the natural choice for the location of the Sussex County's [[County seat|Seat of Justice]].

[[Sussex County, Delaware|Sussex County]] was not well defined until after 1760, following resolution of a dispute between [[William Penn]]'s family and [[Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore]] after intervention from the Crown. This dispute over borders had delayed discussion over the location of a county seat. Earlier [[Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore]] had argued that the county ended with Lewes, while Penn's sons stated it continued into [[Fenwick Island, Delaware|Fenwick Island]], which it now does. The [[Mason–Dixon line]] was surveyed as part the agreement between the Penns and Lord Baltimore, and it has since defined the western and southern border of the county. Georgetown, located more centrally in the county, was later designated as its seat for court.