Burton v Wilmington Parking Authority
In August 1958, Wilmington City Councilman and Civil Rights activist William “Dutch” Burton worked with the NAACP to expose the racially discriminatory practices of the Eagle Coffee Shoppe. The restaurant was located on this site in a complex owned and operated by the Wilmington Parking Authority. When Burton was denied service at the Eagle due […]
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
KC-111: originally installed in 2008. It is believed that parishioners of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church were worshiping in a private residence on North Street by 1859. The church eventually moved to a site on Church Street to accommodate the growing congregation. On March 2, 1895, Bethel AME Church was formally incorporated. In April of […]
Israel United Methodist Church
SC-271: originally installed on 12/11/2018. In 1840, Israel United Methodist Church formed in the Belltown community west of Lewes. Israel established a cemetery in 1854 and formally incorporated in 1877. The congregation rebuilt the church in 1890 and again in 1916. Over time, the 1916 structure has been updated with the additions of a […]
Jack Lewis
SC-268: originally installed on 10/15/2018. John I. “Jack” Lewis (1912-2012) moved to Delaware in 1936 as an artist with the Civilian Conservation Corps tasked with documenting activities at CCC camps in the state. After serving in the Pacific with the U.S. Army during World War II, he returned to Delaware and lived in Bridgeville […]
Rabbit’s Ferry School 201-C
Rabbit’s Ferry School educated Native American and African American students of the Robinsonville area from 1920-1965. Built in 1919 through Pierre S. du Pont’s school rebuilding program, the school served students in grades 1-8 and later, grades 1-6. Rabbit’s Ferry was one of the last active one-room schools in the state when it closed in […]
Children’s Fishing Pier
SC-265: originally installed on 4/26/2018. The Great March Storm of 1962 significantly damaged homes, businesses and roads along the Delaware coast. Following the storm, the Village Improvement Association (VIA) used the wood from nearby damaged buildings and the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk to construct the Children’s Fishing Pier as a memorial. The pier was completed […]
Louis L. Redding Comprehensive High School
The Louis L. Redding Comprehensive High School opened in 1953 and served African American students in grades 1-12 in the Middletown area. It replaced the smaller Middletown School 120-C, a three-room wood structure on East Lake Street. The school was named in honor of Delaware’s first African American lawyer, Louis L. Redding, who was known […]
Forty Acres
NCC-236: originally installed on 11/14/2018. Forty Acres was established in 1864 as an early streetcar suburb of Wilmington. The area was once part of a larger land tract called Hope Farm. Joshua Heald purchased forty acres of the farm and developed the neighborhood and the first horse-drawn trolley line out of the city along Delaware […]
Dover Downs
KC-129: originally installed on 4/24/2019. Dover Downs began as a dual-purpose racing facility that featured a five-eighths’ mile dirt horse racing track built within the larger one mile racetrack of Dover International Speedway. Gov. David P. Buckson, Lt. Gov. John W. Rollins, and Melvin L. Joseph began jointly developing the facility on the former Thomas […]
Dover International Speedway
The Speedway hosted its first NASCAR event, the Mason-Dixon 300, on July 6, 1969. Richard Petty won that race by 6 laps. The highly-banked, one-mile oval track was created, financed, and built by Gov. David P. Buckson, Lt. Gov. John W. Rollins, and Melvin L. Joseph beginning in August 1967. Nicknamed the “Monster Mile” for […]
