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WILMINGTON, DELAWARE
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Center: Statue of Delaware Patriot Caesar
Rodney, Delegate to the Continental Congress, Signer of the Declaration
of Independence, first president of the State of Delaware, Major-General
of the Delaware Militia. The statue was cast in 1922 by James Kelly.
Upper left: Persian Window by Dale Chihuly,
Delaware Art Museum
Upper Right: The tall ship Kalmar Nyckel at the
Wilmington Riverfront
Lower Right: The Chinese Parlor, Winterthur, an
American Country Estate
Lower Left: The Brandywine Valley
Photos: Courtesy Greater Wilmington Convention and
Visitors Bureau |
The Delaware Valley’s earliest permanent Old World
settlement began at what is now Wilmington, Delaware, when the Swedish
warship Kalmar Nyckel sailed into the Christina River and landed at
“The Rocks” in March 1638. Under the command of Peter Minuit, former Dutch
Governor of New Amsterdam, the band of 25 settlers—Swedes, Finns, Dutch,
Germans and a black freedman from the Caribbean—met with local Lenni Lenape
chiefs, signed a treaty, and established the Colony of New Sweden. The
settlers began to build Fort Christina, named in honor of the young Queen of
Sweden. The fort enclosed the New World’s first two log cabins, a form of
architecture used in Finland. When the Kalmar Nyckel returned with
women and children two years later on the second of its four documented
voyages, all 25 of the original settlers were alive and well!
Agriculture and fur trading with Native American trappers were the first
industries. By the end of the 1600s, mills for grinding corn and wheat had
been established upstream along the swift-flowing Brandywine River. With
fertile land, abundant forests, and well-protected access to the Delaware
River and the Atlantic Ocean, the area became a center of milling,
distribution and shipbuilding.
New Sweden passed to Dutch and then English control (1655) and finally
became part of William Penn’s Pennsylvania Colony (1681). Known as the three
“Lower Counties of Pennsylvania,” the small colony established its own
legislature in 1704, with the appointed Governor of Pennsylvania
simultaneously serving as Governor of Delaware.
In 1731, about a mile upstream from the New Sweden/Fort
Christina settlement, Thomas Willing laid out along the Christina River what
he called “Willingtown.” Soon Willing’s influence was challenged by other
settlers and the town was chartered by the Crown in 1739 as Wilmington, in
honor of Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, Lord President of King George
II’s Privy Council.
On June 15, 1776, the Delaware Colony declared independence from England and
on July 4 joined the other 12 colonies in the struggle. After the
Revolutionary War and the failure of the Articles of Confederation as
America’s first attempt at national governance, the new Constitution was
written (1787). Delaware was the first state to ratify it (December 7, 1787)
and, thus, became the First State of the brand new United States of America.
In the 1780s and ’90s paper and cotton mills were added to the area’s
existing flour mills. Fleeing the excesses of the French Revolution,
Eleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours settled here in 1802, purchasing the
Hagley property along the Brandywine and opening his black powder mills.
From 1802 to 1921 these and other local mills produced gunpowder and
blasting powder for America’s hunters, soldiers (the War of 1812, the
Mexican War, the Civil War, Spanish-American War, and WW I), and
construction projects, including the Transcontinental Railroad and the
Panama Canal. From these black powder mills sprang the modern chemical
industry that is still headquartered in Wilmington – the DuPont Company,
Hercules, Inc., and Atlas Chemical Co. (now ICI Americas).
With the advent of railroads in the 1830s the area became a major producer
of fine passenger cars (including those still operating on the narrow gauge
Durango & Silverton in Colorado). That heritage continues today with
Amtrak’s National Operations Center and National Training Center, as well as
extensive passenger car and locomotive maintenance facilities, all located
here.
Early in the 20th century, a business-friendly operating climate began to
attract businesses to incorporate in Delaware. Today, the majority of
Fortune 500 corporations are incorporated in The First State and the
decisions of our state Court of Chancery wield national and international
influence. In the 1980s, credit card banks also began moving here and
Wilmington has become a major electronic banking center for America.
Fur trading, agriculture and milling, gunpowder and chemistry, ship and
railroad car manufacture, modern electronic banking all form the foundation
for our internationally recognized educational institutions and cultural
attractions. Those you will see on the Distinctly Delaware tours that
Delaware Press Association has arranged for you include: Historic New
Castle, the Delaware Art Museum, Longwood Gardens, the Brandywine River
Museum, the Tall Ship Kalmar Nyckel, the Hagley Museum and
Winterthur, an American Country Estate.
Delaware is the second smallest state in the Union with only 783,600
residents, but with our great location, terrific connections and world-class
attractions it’s “small wonder” we’re proud to be The First State.
Information courtesy J. Harry Feldman,
Greater Wilmington
Convention and Visitors Bureau
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