Where do Delaware's boundaries come from?

The arc at the top comes from a 1682 deed to William Penn and then the 1750 creation of a curve with a 12-mile radius from the cupola of the courthouse in New Castle.

The southern and western borders were largely drawn by surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon around 1765 to settle disputes between the Calverts of Maryland and the Penns. The line on the bottom of the state is designed to be east-west, but the line on the west is askew from north-south because it was supposed to split the Delmarva Peninsula.

Then things get complicated. Pennsylvania and Delaware argued for decades about ownership of a square mile called "the Wedge," at the western edge of the arc. That dispute wasn't resolved until 1921, and the land was decreed to be Delaware's. At the eastern edge, the arc goes into the Delaware River, giving Delaware control of the river up to the low-tide mark on the Jersey side. That arrangement, affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1935, means a small area created by dumping dredge spoils on the New Jersey side is technically part of Delaware. Delaware is enforcing its jurisdiction in the current dispute over building a delivery pier for a liquefied natural gas terminal in the river opposite Claymont.

South of the arc, the Delaware-Jersey border is in the water, about halfway between the states.

Where do the names of Delaware places come from?

Explorer Samuel Argall named Cape La Warre (probably Cape Henlopen) in his journal in 1610. In 1613 he referred to "De la Warre Bay." Both refer to Thomas West, Lord de la Warre and, as governor of Virginia at the time, Argall's boss. Eventually "De la Warre" became Delaware. Argall, on the other hand, really didn't make it onto the map, and the most prominent Delaware thing you'll find named for him is a hotel meeting room.

English settlers named all three counties and the capital after places in their homeland, although New Castle is usually written as one word across the pond.

Some Delaware places reflect other cultures. Swanendael, Dutch for "valley of the swans," was an early name for Lewes. Appoquinimink is from the Lenape, the American Indians who were here before the European settlers. It probably means "place we have been for a long time"; legendary definitions include "view of settlement" and "limping duck." Glasgow is from the Scottish city. Leipsic was named for Leipzig, Germany.

Many place names reflect people: Dagsboro was named for John Dagsworthy, a Revolutionary War leader. Talleys still live near Talleyville.

Some places names tell ministories: Wilmington, for instance has neighborhoods called Hedgeville (named for its neat hedges) and Forty Acres (named for the amount of land set aside for worker housing by mill owners).

Are there places in Delaware you won't find on the map?

Sure. Here are a few examples.

• Black Cat is what oldtimers call the area around the U.S. 13-40 split. The name derives from a nightclub that burned down in 1946.

• Exit 2 of I-95 was planned to connect with U.S. 301 but was never built.

• The Sandbox, the area on I-95 just south of the I-295 split where highway salt and sand are stockpiled, is a description used in radio traffic reports. Decoding traffic reports might be harder near Philadelphia: The Blue Route is marked only as I-476 on most signs and maps, and the Schuylkill Expressway is usually marked only as I-76.

I'm using the terms "famous" and "Delawarean" loosely. Alphabetically:

• Politician Joe Biden

• Musician David Bromberg

• Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, winner of three Emmys for "The Civil War" and a resident of Newark for eight years.

• University of Delaware football coach Tubby Raymond, who led the Blue Hens to a 300-119-3 record over a 36-year career.

• Boxer Michael Spinks, an Olympic gold medalist in 1976, of Greenville.

• Actor Ryan Phillippe ("Crash"), who grew up near New Castle.

• Actor Sean Patrick Thomas ("Barbershop"), who grew up in Wilmington.

• Rocker George Thorogood, a Wilmington native who called his band the Delaware Destroyers.

• Olympic skater Johnny Weir, who lives in Newark.

• Pro football Hall of Famer Randy White, a McKean High School graduate and defensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys 1975-88.

• Actress Tallulah Bankhead, who partied hard at the Sussex beaches in the 1930s and '40s.

• Clifford Brown, the trumpeter honored in a Wilmington jazz series each year.

• E.I. du Pont, founder of the company.

• Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, who rented a mansion called Ellerslie near Claymont in the late 1920s so he could focus on his writing and avoid the distractions elsewhere.

• Actor Robert Mitchum, who was once expelled from Felton High School.

• Artist Howard Pyle, a big figure in the Brandywine School of illustration.

• John Jakob Raskob, the financier instrumental in building the modern DuPont Co., General Motors Corp. and the Empire State Building.

• Caesar Rodney, the patriot on Delaware's quarter.

• Politician Bill Roth, memorialized through the Roth IRA.

• Muckraker Upton Sinclair, who lived in Arden in 1911.

Our Delaware
Written by George B. Hynson
Composed by M. S. Brown 

Oh the hills of dear New Castle,
and the smiling vales between,
When the corn is all in tassel,
And the meadowlands are green;
Where the cattle crop the clover,
And its breath is in the air,
While the sun is shining over
Our beloved Delaware.

chorus

Where the wheat fields break and billow,
In the peaceful land of Kent,
Where the toiler seeks his pillow,
With the blessings of content;
Where the bloom that tints the peaches,
Cheeks of merry maidens share,
And the woodland chorus preaches
A rejoicing Delaware.

chorus

Dear old Sussex visions linger,
Of the holly and the pine,
Of Henlopens Jeweled finger,
Flashing out across the brine;
Of the gardens and the hedges,
And the welcome waiting there,
For the loyal son that pledges
Faith to good old Delaware.

chorus

From New Castle's rolling meadows,
Through the fair rich fields of Kent,
To the Sussex shores hear echoes,
Of the pledge we now present;
Liberty and Independence,
We will guard with loyal care,
And hold fast to freedom's presence,
In our home state Delaware.

chorus

Oh our Delaware! Our beloved Delaware!
For the sun is shining over our beloved Delaware,
Oh our Delaware! Our beloved Delaware!
Heres the loyal son that pledges,
Faith to good old Delaware.