In collaboration with Dover’s Fourth of July Celebration, the First State Heritage Park will offer a variety of special programs and activities throughout the day on Sunday, July 4, 2010. Admission to all sites is FREE. With the exception of Segway tours, all programs are free!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

1:00 – 6:00 p.m.

First State Heritage Park Welcome Center and Galleries

Current Exhibition: USS Delaware: An American Battleship

Historic Dover Scavenger Hunt!
Begin your hunt at the First State Heritage Park Welcome Center and find the clues hidden throughout Dover’s historic sites and museums. Small prizes will be given for those who uncover all the secrets of Delaware History!

Guided Tours of Legislative Hall (Photo ID is required for all adults)

Guided Tours of The Old State House

Self-Guided Tours of the Biggs Museum of American Art

Children’s Colonial Games & Activities on The Green

1:00 p.m.

Dover’s Heroes of the Revolution Walking Tour
Meet at Christ Church, at the corner of South State and Water Streets. Tories, Whigs, militia, and insurrection! Dover was a hotbed of revolutionary and loyalist activity during the struggle for American Independence. Revisit the Revolution as you visit the Dover Green and two historic cemeteries. Free.

1:30 p.m.

NEW THIS YEAR! RIDE A SEGWAY INTO THE PAST!
Have an adventure and learn some history in the bargain.
First State Heritage Park has collaborated with SegZoneTours to offer this new experience. Admission charge.
Tours begin at the First State Heritage Park Welcome Center, 121 Duke of York Street
Reservations are strongly recommended. For admission fees and reservations, visit: SegZoneTours.com

2:00 p.m.

Let Freedom Ring

Return to July 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was first read to the people of Dover. Enjoy this dramatic reading by historical interpreters and relive the excitement of that historic year as bells throughout Dover ring to honor the nation’s founders. Free.

2:30 p.m.

Caesar Rodney Rides Again!
Delaware Public Archives
Dick Pack portrays Caesar Rodney in this tribute to Delaware’s hero of the American Revolution. Free.

3:30 p.m.

Tales of Slavery and Freedom Walking Tour
Meet at the Old State House
The Dover Green was a place where free and enslaved men and women lived out their lives, where national decisions regarding slavery were debated, and where a brave group of runaways known as the Dover Eight made a daring escape from the Dover Jail. Learn about Dover’s complicated positions regarding freedom and slavery, and its role as a border state during the Civil War. Free.

4:30 p.m.

Dover’s Heroes of the Revolution Walking Tour
Meet at Christ Church, at the corner of South State and Water Streets.
Tories, Whigs, militia, and insurrection! Dover was a hotbed of revolutionary and loyalist activity during the struggle for American Independence. Revisit the Revolution as you visit the Dover Green and two historic cemeteries. Free.

For more information about the park and its sites, go to www.destateparks.com/heritagepark/