Conflicting claims by the proprietors of Maryland and Pennsylvania led to a lengthy and sometimes violent dispute over the ownership and boundaries of Sussex County. Before the controversy was resolved in 1775, some residents had been Marylanders, and they later found travel to Lewes, the original seat of government, inconvenient. Hundreds of people signed petitions asking that the county seat be moved to a more central location. On January 29, 1791, the Delaware Assembly approved legislation that resulted in the establishment of Georgetown.