Eden Hill Farm

In 1680, a large tract of land called “Brothers Portion” was warranted to John and Richard Walker. In 1694, 200 acres of the parcel were purchased to create the town of Dover. When the town plot was completed in 1718, John Mifflin purchased 69 acres of undeveloped land from the town. The property passed through the hands of several landowners before being purchased by Nicholas Ridgely in 1748. By 1749, Ridgely had erected a house on the farm. Among his public interests, Nicholas Ridgely served as treasurer of Kent County and as a justice of the provincial Supreme Court of the Three Lower Countries upon Delaware. After Ridgely’s death in 1755, his third wife, Mary Middleton Vining, continued to live at the plantation house, which she had named ‘Eden Hill.’ She planted two avenues of trees approaching the house. From the 18th through 21st centuries, successive generations of Ridgelys worked hard to keep Eden Hill a productive farm and family home. Eden Hill was purchased by the State of Delaware in 2004 for preservation and use as judicial chambers of the Supreme Court of Delaware.