Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is located in New Castle County in northern Delaware, near the state's borders with Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. The community is part of the Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Combined Statistical Area. To put things very simply, Wilmington is located only 29 miles (47 kilometers) south of Philadelphia, 51 miles (82 kilometers) north of Dover, and 75 miles (121 kilometers) northeast of Baltimore.

First colonized in 1638 by settlers from Scandinavia, Wilmington became a center of the chemical industry in the early 1800s, and is today a center for the credit card industry, insurance, and banking.

If you want to experience some of the area's past in style, you won't be disappointed. Visit Winterthur Museum & Country Estate, formerly the residence of Henry Francis du Pont, and which is located a few miles north of town. The estate includes a 60-acre (24-hectare) garden, as well as the Enchanted Woods for the kids. Or go to Nemours Mansion and Gardens, the 300-acre (121-hectares) estate of Alfred I. du Pont. Or how about Bellevue Hall, once home to William H. du Pont, which now encompasses 328 acres (133 hectares).

To experience the arts, head to Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, with seven galleries and 26 artists' studios, and the Delaware Art Museum. When you want a bit of the Bard, take in a performance of the Delaware Shakespeare Festival, which runs from July to August.

For a fun learning experience, take the kids to the Brandywine Park and Zoo, which covers 13 acres (five hectares) and is home to 150 animals, or to the Delaware Museum of Natural History.

And when you want the outdoors, you don't even have to leave home! Wilmington State Parks include not only the above mentioned Brandywine Park and Zoo, but Rockford Park, H. Fletcher Brown Park, and Alopocas Woods Natural Area. Only a short distance further away, you'll find Brandywine Creek State Park and Fox Point State Park. And only a couple of hours south, you'll find great beach resorts, including Lewes, Bethany, and Rehoboth.

And shoppers take note: There's no reason to hold back! The state has no sales tax on shopping, so shop to your heart's content, and use what you save on tax to treat yourself and your family to dinner.

See our 33 Jobs in Wilmington, Delaware