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 Posts & Pages Tagged With: "Historical Markers"

Booker T. Washington School No. 109C

NC-145: Originally Installed in 2005.   Built in 1923 with funding provided by Pierre S. duPont for schools in Delaware, this school replaced New Castle’s first school for “colored” students that was built in 1867 on Williams Street. The Delaware School Auxiliary Association provided $23,405.97 to cover the entire cost of the land and the […]



Sgt. William Lloyd Nelson

NC-144A: Originally Installed in 2005. William Lloyd Nelson was born near Dover, Delaware, on February 22, 1918. He was the son of J. Clarence and Carrie Phillips Nelson. Following his family’s move to a farm near Middletown, he was educated in the public schools of the community. He attended Middletown High School when it was […]



Middletown Academy

NC-144: Originally Installed in 2005. In 1824, area residents petitioned the General Assembly for a lottery to erect a building for education and public worship. Construction of the Academy began in 1826 and was completed the next year. For many years the building served as the center of community activities. Previously a private institution, it […]



Ezion-Mount Carmel United Methodist Church

NC-143: Originally Installed in 2005. In 1805, a group of African-Americans, desiring greater freedom of worship, withdrew from Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church to form a separate congregation. Led by Peter Spencer and William Anderson, they established what was then known as the African M. E. Church at 9th and French Streets. This was Delaware’s first […]



Delaware’s Jewish Community

NC-141: Originally Installed in 2004. This building, once known as the Morrow Building, symbolizes the founding of an organized Jewish community in Delaware. Jews have been present in Delaware in small numbers since the 1650s. During the 1870s, Jews began to gather in rooms on the third floor of this building to conduct religious services. […]



Oriental Lodge #112 IOOF

NC-139: Originally Installed 2004. The origins of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows can be traced to the creation of beneficial trade societies in England. Composed of craftsmen who practiced a variety of different or “odd” occupations, the purpose of these organizations was to support the needs of members and improve the communities in which […]



Hockessin School #107C

NC-137: Originally Installed in 2004.   Also known as the Hockessin Colored School, this building was constructed in 1920 to serve the needs of the community’s African-American students. Funding for construction was provided by the Delaware School Auxiliary Association and its primary supporter, P.S. du Pont. Unlike white students, African-American students in the community were […]



Port Penn Front Range Light

In 1875, Congress approved funding to build several lighthouses along this segment of the Delaware River. This site was purchased in April 1876, and by December the Port Penn Front Range Light was completed. Constructed under the direction of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, it was a two-story frame structure with a lantern […]



Freedom Lost

By the late 1700s the institution of slavery was declining in Delaware and there was a dramatic growth in the state’s free black population. Demand for slave labor in the Deep South continued to grow and large numbers of free blacks were kidnapped and sent south via networks operated by criminal gangs. The Abolition Society […]



DuPont Airfield

NC-127: Originally Installed in 2003. In 1924, a private airfield was established here by Henry B. du Pont. Charles Lindbergh landed here in October 1927. With Richard du Pont’s purchase of controlling interest in All-American Aviation and Henry du Pont’s establishment of Atlantic Aviation in 1938, the airfield was expanded, becoming one of the most […]