It encompasses 82 contributing buildings in the central business district and surrounding residential areas in the shipping and trading center of Odessa.

It includes a mix of commercial and residential buildings primarily dating to the 18th and 19th century.

Other notable buildings include the Judge Lore House (c. 1830), Brick Hotel (1822), the Davis Store (1824), Cyrus Polk House (1853), Zoar ME Church (1881), Wilson-Warner House (c. 1769), Academy building (1844), Red Men Lodge (1894), and Old St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal parsonage.

Also located in the district and separately listed are the Appoquinimink Friends Meetinghouse, Corbit-Sharp House, and Old St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church.

This article about a property in Delaware on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub.