South Wilmington – Cradle of African American Political Leadership
NC-86: William J. Winchester, after serving 16 years on Wilmington City Council, became the first of his race elected to the Delaware House of Representatives. He served from 1948 until his death in 1952. Herman M. Holloway, Sr., became the first African-American elected to the State Senate in 1964. Henrietta Johnson was the first African-American […]
First Presbyterian Church (Wilmington, DE)
This church originally stood at the corner of 10th and Market Streets and was the first Presbyterian church in the city. It was constructed in 1740, just after Wilmington received its charter from King George II. Following the Battle of the Brandywine on September 2, 1777, the British used the building as a hospital. After […]
Wilmington
NC-67: originally installed in 1938. Founded by Swedes at Fort Christina, the First Permanent settlement in Delaware River Valley. Called Altense by Dutch 1655. Known as Willingtown 1730-1739 and as a City 1832. Washington’s headquarters here in 1777. Became County seat of New Castle County in 1881. […]
Gunning Bedford, Jr.
1747-1812. Member of Continental Congress and of Annapolis Convention. A framer of United States Constitution, which Delaware was first to ratify. Appointed first District Judge of Delaware by President Washington. Purchased this property 1793 as country home, naming it “Lombardy”. Buried at Tenth and Market Streets, Wilmington. Reinterred 1921 at Masonic Home. NC-6. Installed in […]
The Tilton Mansion
NC-234: The Tilton Mansion was constructed in 1802 by the nation’s first Army Surgeon General, Dr. James Tilton (1745-1822). Throughout his lifetime Tilton advocated for increased hospital sanitation and was the founder and first President of The Medical Society of Delaware. Tilton served as a delegate in the Continental Congress of 1783 and 1784. This […]
Rodney Square
NCC-226: Rodney Square, named for Caesar Rodney, has been the symbolic center of Wilmington since the early 20th century. The area served as a reservoir from 1827 to 1877, and as the site of the New Castle County Courthouse from 1877 to 1919. Pierre S. du Pont envisioned a landscape adjacent to the DuPont headquarters […]
St. Michaels Day Nursery
Founded in 1890, St. Michael’s Day Nursery is one of the oldest early childhood education programs in Delaware. Originally located on Washington St., the school offered working-class parents childcare at a time when it was typically unavailable to them. In 1899 the General Assembly designated the school a guardian of young children under the jurisdiction […]
St. Josephs on the Brandywine
NCC-222: As early as 1813, Mass was celebrated in private homes throughout the area. St. Joseph Church was built in 1841 by a diverse community of Roman Catholic immigrants to meet the needs of the growing Catholic population. The nearby DuPont powder mills, where many parishioners worked, provided the stonemasons who built the walls of […]
One Love Park
NCC-216: Originally named Tatnall Street Playground in 1907, this park is located across the street from the home at 2311 Tatnall Street that singer-songwriter Bob Marley occupied with his mother in 1966. In order to raise funds to start his own record label in Jamaica, Marley assumed the alias “Donald Marley” and worked as a […]
William “Judy” Johnson Park
NC-212: Regarded as one of the best third baseman to have played in the Negro Leagues, William Julius “Judy” Johnson (1899-1989) grew up nearby on the west side of Delamore Place. During his youth, Johnson played baseball at various sand lots in the city, including one located between 2nd and 3rd Streets and DuPont and […]
