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
NC-190: 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 nearly $6,000. Construction took […]
Old Fort UAME Church
NCC-184: In 1813 a group of African-American Methodists led by Peter Spencer formed an independent denomination that came to be known as the African Union Church. It was the first incorporated religious body in the United States controlled entirely by African Americans. Early meetings of the Christiana Bridge congregation were likely held at private residences […]
Delaware City Old Public School
NCC-178: Delaware City was founded in 1826, in anticipation of the opening of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The town was incorporated in 1851. The benefits of proximity to the canal resulted in a sustained period of prosperity and expansion of the community. By the 1880s, the need for new educational facilities to serve a […]
Frank Furness Railroad District
NCC-175: The B&O Water Street Station (1888), the Pennsylvania Railroad Office Building (1905), and the Wilmington Train Station (1907), comprise a unique campus of railroad architecture by renowned Philadelphia architect Frank Furness (1839-1912). Frequently commissioned by the nation’s leading railroads, Furness left his creative mark at stations large and small throughout the Northeast, though few […]
Mount Pleasant School
NCC-170: On February 12, 1829, the Delaware Legislature passed the “Act for the establishment of free schools.” To meet the educational needs of the area’s youth, local residents formed a committee that purchased a parcel of land from Joseph Orr in 1830 for the purpose of “erecting a school house thereon, for the benefit of […]
Hiram Lodge No. 25
NCC-159: By the 1780s, members of the Masonic fraternity were organized and meeting locally. On December 6, 1802, a charter was issued by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for Lodge No. 96 in Newark. This was one of four Lodges whose representatives gathered in Wilmington on June 6 and 7, 1806, to form the Grand […]
Salesianum School
NC-148: Salesianum School, a Catholic high school for young men, stood at 8th and West Streets from its founding in 1903 until its move to this location in 1957. The original “House of Sales” was pioneered by Rev. Charles Fromentin, Rev. James Isenring and Rev. Louis Jacquier, priests in the order of the Oblates of […]
Delaware’s Jewish Community
NC-141: This building, once known as the Morrow Building, symbolizes the founding of an organized Jewish community in Delaware. Jews have been present in Delaware since the 1650s. Until the late 19th Century, the Jewish community was too small to maintain a house of worship. During the 1870s, Jews began to gather on the third […]
Oriental Lodge #112 IOOF
NC-139: 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 they lived. The […]
