Sussex is not the largest county east of the Mississippi River

Let’s get one thing straight. Sussex County – 936 square miles – is not the largest county east of the Mississippi River. It’s not in the top 20, and not even in the top 100 largest counties. According to the 2016 U.S. Census, Sussex County is ranked as the 120th largest county east of the Mississippi.

The myth has been perpetuated for decades – even by public officials, including some Sussex County councilmen.

The latest official to prolong the myth is non other than U.S. Sen. Tom Carper who said the county was the third largest in the United States during a June 12 hearing broadcast on C-SPAN.

Wrong. Sussex County is the 760 largest county of the more than 3,000 in the United States. Carper's staff did not return a request for the source of his comment.

In the East, New York has 23 counties larger and Maine has 11 counties larger than Sussex. Maine has some of the largest counties in the country: 1. Aroostook, 6,829 square miles; 2. Piscataquis, 4,377 square miles; and 3. Somerset, 4,095 square miles.

St. Lawrence, the largest county in New York, has 2,821 square miles. The second largest, Suffolk, has 2,373 square miles and a population of 1.5 million.

All of the mentioned counties are larger than Delaware, the second smallest state with 1,982 square miles by land area.

As a matter of fact, 15 states east of the Mississippi River have at least one county larger than Sussex, which does hold the distinction as the largest county on Delmarva.