History of Sussex County

Celia Steele & the Broiler Industry

The two chickens that, in some ways, defined Delaware history are the Blue Hen, the state bird, and the prolific broiler. From 1915 through 1923 the broiler industry in Sussex County developed.

In 1915, chickens and coups were used primarily for the eggs that they could produce. Chicken was considered a delicacy.

In February of 1923, an Oceanview housewife, Celia Steele had the novel idea of raising entire flocks of broilers and selling them while still young enough to ask a premium price. She started with a flock of five hundred birds that sold for sixty-two cents a pound.

Wilmer Steele, Celia's husband, was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard stationed at the Bethany Beach Life Saving Station. He was a local from Baltimore Hundred, and noticed that his wife's success with her experiment was impressive.

In 1924, he spent his off duty time assisting Celia, and they raised over one thousand birds and sold them for fifty-seven cents per pound (the equivalent of close to $15.00 per pound in today's economy). According to one historian, by 1927 the Steele farm had the capacity for over 25,000 broilers. After 1935, the Steele family owned seven farms and could produce over 250,000 broilers.

Thus developed part of the modern economy. As many historians have noted, industry and agriculture are the same thing in Sussex County; in 1941 - 24 million chickens were produced. By 1944 this had increased to over 60 million; by the end of 1998 close to 1.6 billion broilers were being produced in Sussex County.

By the 1940's New York was a major consumer of chickens, and fifty years later the whole country has enjoyed the success of a housewife from Sussex County.