Landing of The Swedes
NCC-197: Originally Installed in 2013. In late 1637, the new Sweden Company sent out its first expedition to America to establish a Swedish presence in the New World. Sailing in two ships, the Kalmar Nyckel and the Fogel Grip, the expedition landed near this site in March 1638. Under Peter Minuit’s leadership, Fort Christina was […]
Riverview Cemetery
NC-197: Originally Installed in 2013. Riverview Cemetery was founded in 1872 by a coalition of 18 fraternal lodges of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. This 42-acre site was the first cemetery outside of Wilmington city limits to be open to people of all socio-economic classes and religious faiths. The […]
Lombardy Hall
In 1682, William Penn granted 986 acres of land at this location to Valentine Hollingsworth. A portion of the tract was subsequently conveyed to the Robinson family in 1726. The present stone dwelling was erected here circa 1750. In 1785, Gunning Bedford, Jr., signer of the United States Constitution, agreed to purchase the house and […]
Judge Morris Estate
This estate, now owned and operated by Delaware State Parks, was once known as Chestnut Hill and contains a manor house and approximately 500 acres of land. John Barclay acquired the property after the American Revolution and in 1792 built the main five-bay, two and a half story stone house. In 1808 the land was […]
First African-American Schoolhouse in Hockessin
NC-194: Originally Installed in 2012. Local tradition states that a school was present at this location as early as 1829. However, in 1878 the first documented school for African-Americans in Hockessin was established in this vicinity. The school for funded and built primarily by the local African-American community and church. Additional support for materials, books, […]
Crane Hook Church
NC-193: Originally Installed in 2012. Built in 1667, Crane Hook Church was located one mile east of here on what is now Pigeon Point Road. The Church took its name from the land located between here and the Delaware River. Under Dutch leadership, this area was colonized by the Swedes and Finnish-Swedes in the early […]
Grubb / Worth Mansion
NC-192: Originally Installed in 2012. John Grubb, one of the original English settlers in Delaware, acquired a one-third interest in a 600-acre tract of land at this location in 1680. Several generations passed and the Grubb family greatly increased their land holdings in the area and successfully opened leather tanning and iron manufacturing businesses. […]
Peniel United Methodist Church
NCC-191: Tradition states that a young Irish immigrant moved to the local area in 1786 and sought out a Methodist minister from Wilmington to preach in Newport. By the early nineteenth century, a permanent Methodist Society had been established in the area. In 1809, a small frame meeting house was built on land conveyed by […]
First Flight of the Delaplane
NCC-190: Originally Installed in 2011. Near this site, on October 21, 1910, the first heavier than air aircraft built in Delaware made its first flight. The aircraft, known as the Delaplane, was built by Robie Seidelinger and piloted by Eddie Bloomfield. The construction was funded by the Wilmington Aero Club at an estimated cost of […]
Penn Farm
The 112-acre Penn Farm is the last surviving farm of the 1,068-acre New Castle Common. William Penn, Proprietor and Governor of Pennsylvania, made his warrant in writing under his hand and seal in October 1701, granting the New Castle Common “to lye in Common for the accommodation of the Inhabitants of the Town of New […]
