Fork Branch Nature Preserve & East Dover Hundred in Kent County, Delaware — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Fork Branch Nature Preserve
A type of brown jasper spear point dating from as long ago as 10,000 years was recovered on the preserve. This type of point was probably used by hunter-gathering people who stopped here looking for white-tailed deer and other game.
Small fragments of tool-making debris suggest that points and other tools were sharpened here, but the tools were made somewhere else, probably closer to the sources of these stones. There are outcrops of jasper on Iron Hill, and jasper cobbles on the beaches of Delaware Bay where they were carried by melting glaciers.
Fragments of tempered pottery found on the preserve tell us that sustained native use of the land dates from about 3,000 years ago to just before the arrival of the first Europeans. The forest yielded a wealth of acorns and other nuts that were a vital food resource for native peoples.
Erected by Delaware State Parks.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology
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Location. 39° 10.907′ N, 75° 34.55′ W. Marker is in Dover, Delaware, in Kent County. It is in Fork Branch Nature Preserve & East Dover Hundred. It can be reached from Kenton Road (County Road 104) north of Baltray Road, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 236 Kenton Rd, Dover DE 19904, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American Mid-Atlantic and on the Delmarva Peninsula. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: A different marker also named Fork Branch Nature Preserve (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Welcome to Fork Branch Nature Preserve (approx. 0.4 miles away); The Anne McClements Woods (approx. 0.4 miles away); Dupont School (approx. 1.7 miles away); Delaware State College High School (approx. 1.7 miles away); Loockerman Hall (approx. 1.7 miles away); a different marker also named Loockerman Hall (approx. 1.7 miles away); Voyage (approx. 1.7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Dover.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 15, 2026. It was originally submitted on May 25, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 109 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 25, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
