Fort Delaware is located on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River. The island is sometimes said to have gotten its name from a boat loaded with peas that ran aground on a mud shoal in the 1770s. The spilled peas sprouted, mud caught in the vines, and so the island grew. In 1794, the island appeared on a map from the first time. During the Civil War, Pea Patch Island was only about 75 acres in size, compared with almost 300 acres today. Earth dredged up from the river was dumped onto the island and around it in 1906, giving it the size known today.