Delaware

Yes, on private land with the landowner’s written permission. That is the clearest legal route in Delaware, and it is the only thing we do.

Federal land is closed. Access to state land is decided by Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation and the rules are not the same at every property. Private ground, with the owner’s written agreement, avoids all of it.

On federal land, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 makes it an offence to disturb or remove archaeological resources over 100 years old without a permit. The National Park Service prohibits metal detecting outright in national parks.

The Division sets the position for Delaware state parks, and it differs by property. Some areas allow limited recreational searching under conditions, others are closed entirely. Confirm the individual park, and the current conditions attached to it, before you travel.

We do not publish a summary of individual park rules, because they change and they differ site by site. The authority above is the one that decides, and they will answer directly.

Public land is complicated. Private land with written permission is not.

Ask the landowner and get it in writing, or book ground where the permission already exists. Knowing where to look is only half of it. The right to be standing there is the half that decides whether the day is detecting or trespass.

1. Identify the ground. Old maps, cellar holes, vanished settlements and terrain will all point you at likely land in Delaware. None of that grants access to it.
2. Find who owns it. County parcel records name the owner. Knocking on the door still works, and still fails most of the time.
3. Get the agreement in writing. Who may search, which fields, on what dates, what happens to anything found, and who carries the liability.
4. Or skip to the end. Every FieldFinders listing in Delaware is land whose owner has already agreed, set their own rate, and approves each request by name. The written search agreement comes with the booking.

Delaware is small and very old. The Swedes landed at what became Wilmington in 1638, the Dutch took it from them, the English took it from the Dutch, and all of it happened along the same short stretch of the Delaware. The colonial road south through Kent and Sussex carried traffic between Philadelphia and the Chesapeake for two centuries. Farms in the lower counties have been worked continuously since the 1700s, and much of the state has escaped the development that has swallowed comparable ground in New Jersey and Maryland.

1. 1638New Sweden at Fort Christina, the first European foothold
2. 1650s to 1660sDutch control, then English
3. 1700sKent and Sussex farms, taverns and the road south
4. 1800sMilling on the Brandywine, shipbuilding on the river

Coastal plain sand and loam almost throughout. Easy digging, gentle on non-ferrous, and shallow enough that a careful sweep clears ground quickly. Salt air near the bays is hard on iron. Ploughed farmland in Kent and Sussex is the most productive ground in the state by a distance.

Colonial coppers, Spanish silver, buttons and buckles around old house sites and tavern stands, and maritime hardware near the river landings.