With a highly developed infrastructure of canals and waterways, Delaware was also one of the first states to support heavy industry. Today, cities such as Wilmington and Dover still thrive on chemical processing manufacturing.

Delaware was named for the first governor of the Virginia colony, Lord de la Warr. In 1610, a ship sailing out of Virginia for England was blown off course in a storm. The ship's captain was relieved when he found a haven in a peaceful bay. He named bother the bay and the land that bordered it to the west Delaware.