Dover

Dover lies in the flat, low farmland of central Delaware, on the St. Jones River a few miles inland from Delaware Bay. Laid out in 1717 around a central green at the order of William Penn, it became the state capital in 1777 and sits at the heart of the Delmarva Peninsula's agricultural country. The land here is barely above sea level, a gentle plain of fields and tidal creeks.

As capital of the first state to ratify the Constitution, Dover carries outsized historical weight for its modest size. Dover Air Force Base, one of the largest in the country, anchors the local economy alongside state government and surrounding farms. The coastal-plain setting keeps the city low, flat, and close to the bay and the Atlantic beaches beyond.

• Delaware
  The First State, a low coastal sliver on the Atlantic located in