Snow Covered Embellishments, Bridge 155 on Old Capitol Trail

Original Embellishments on Bridge 155 that crosses the Red Clay Creek on Old Capitol Trail. Bridge was built in 1932.

1966 Wilmington and Western RR poster

Notice For Peoples Railroad Line

The photo of the notice was in a frame behind glass. I apologize for its quality.
The other two is a photo and postcard. They are from the intersection of Duncan Rd. and Greenbank Rd. in Marshallton. I am assuming the the store where tickets could be purchased, as mentioned in the notice, would be the one on the right in the postcard. Store of David Ecoff. I "think" George Mullin's Barber Shop would be on the left in the photo.The trolley stop would have been across Duncan Road. Notice the milk cans sitting next to trolley.

Brandywine Springs Tour on Septeber 21, 2013

On Saturday September 21^st. Scott Palmer., author of the Mill Creek Hundred History Blog and on the board of The friends of Brandywine Springs gave an approx. two hour tour of the Brandywine Springs to a group of about 10 attendee’s. Beginning where the main entrance would have been he led the group along a route that was once the boardwalk. Along the route, which is now a pathway where the trolley ran, he stopped shared some early photos and explained each attraction. Scott did a great job and the weather co-operated fully. I was glad I could join the tour for as now I have a clearer picture of how the park was laid out and what it must have been like to attend an amusement park, after arriving by trolley, on a summer day around 1900.

ON THE ORIGINS OF THE GREENBANK AND MARSHALLTON MILLS

Over the summer I had received a few emails from a Mill Creek Hundred resident, who I had met previously, by the name of Walt Chiquoine. He had been busy researching the land that contains the Greenbank Mill and the now closed Ametek site. The Ametek site had its beginnings as a grist mill that was believed to have been built by Solomon Hersey in and around 1768. He had been spending countless hours documenting this 294 acre parcel, here in the Lower Red Clay Valley, owned by Thomas Gillet in 1682. Walt also told me he was going to have some interesting data by the end of summer relating to the dates of these two mills. Walt’s specialty is researching, studying and deciphering old land grants, deeds and wills. Anything that may lead him in his search for the answer he follows. From that year (1682) until 1801 the property was divided ….left in wills….and sold at sheriffs’ sales. Walt has documented it all. Through his exploration into these documents new dates have been placed on the erection of the Greenbank and Hersey ( Marshallton ) Mills. I am sure there will be some who dispute his findings but if you read his introduction here and his 21 page report titled “ON THE ORIGINS OF THE GREENBANK AND MARSHALLTON MILLS” you will see his documentation.

Walt also posted a 3 part write-up on his discoveries over on the Mill Creek Hundred History Blog which you can be directed to by clicking on .......part1, part 2, part 3. 

I want to thank Walt for the opportunity to post his paper and for the detailed content he has written.

Some Outbuildings in Marshallton

The Foards Store in Marshallton from "A Geneology of the Frist Family"

The Foards Store was located on the corner of Old Capitol Trail and Washington Avenue in Marshallton.

The text was copied from:

                                         

                         and gives a brief history of the store and its owners. 

                You can find a more in depth write up about Foard's Store over

               on the Mill Creek Hundred History Blog by clicking the link below:

                    http://mchhistory.blogspot.com/2013/07/foards-store.html

a photo of Foards Store

1904 Grange Fair Ribbon from Brandywine Springs

This ribbon was found in an old book and possibly used as a page mark. I am thinking it may have a had a medal attached and was lost over the last 110 years. After doing a short internet search I couldnt find anything except a couple things relating to the event at Brandywine Springs. So our imagination will have to wonder "First Premium" what?
I apologize for the photo quality, as it was in a frame and taken with phone camera.

Update on Delaware State moving to Kirkwood Highway Site

As I posted a while back, Delaware State University will be moving it's Wilmington campus to the old army reserve building next to the Ford dealership on Kirkwood Highway.  Here is some information from their website.
                                                                                                                          

DSU's New Castle Co. Site to Move to Kirkwood Highway July 1



The property on Kirkwood Highway will enable to DSU continue to offer the three master's degree programs it has offered at the Wilmington location, as well as add some undergraduate degree programs.

The DSU degree programs taught in New Castle County will move into its new home on Kirkwood Highway by July 1, a location that will enable the University to expand its offerings in the state's northernmost county.
The DSU Board of Trustees made that a priority during its May 6 special meeting as it authorized the University to spend up to $2 million to be used to renovate the former U.S. Army Reserve Center it has acquired at 3931 Kirkwood Highway (just east of Del. 7).
That decision means that DSU will permanently move out of its current Wilmington site located at 621 Market St., where the institution has been based since circa 1993. DSU first offered classes in New Castle County when it was loaned some space at Howard High School in Wilmington in 1990.
A few years ago, the federal government identified the former U.S. Army facility as a surplus building that could be designated for educational purposes. With the 43,000-square-foot building up for grabs, DSU applied for the property. The U.S. Department of Education awarded the property in June 2011.
Soon thereafter, the University established a Kirkwood Planning Task Force to study the possible academic uses of the building while the U.S. Army transitioned out of its possession of the building.
As a result of the work of the Task Force, the University’s Master of Business Administration (MBA), Social Work and Sport Administration master’s degree programs offered at the Market Street site will be transferred to the Kirkwood property beginning in the 2013-2014 school year. DSU also plans to establish five undergraduate programs at the new location in the 2014-2015 academic year – Hospitality Management and Tourism, Criminal Justice, Integrated Studies, and Math Education, as well as a certified program in Food Preparation/Nutrition.
The U.S. Army turned over the Kirkwood property to the University in early 2013. The University expects to complete a Phase I renovation project – which will create six classrooms, remodel the lobby, upgrade the road entrance and parking lot, install a fire alarm system and code compliant HVAC and electric, as well as create ADA-compliant restrooms and renovate the building’s north wing – in time to be in operation at the new site on July 1.
While Phase I will be designed to accommodate the more than 80 students currently enrolled in New Castle County, a Phase II project will commence later to renovate and modernize the remaining areas of the building.

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Help Needed to Identify the “Annie Oakley’s” of The New Castle County Workhouse

There are larger photos below the text

Recently I received a message from a gentleman who asked if I would be interested in some information relating to the old New Castle County Workhouse that was located along Kirkwood Highway at Greenbank. Since it lies in The Lower Red Clay Valley and something I remember from my youth, I said sure. So we met so he could share the photos and documents he had. He showed me the information he has collected and explained how he was looking for information pertaining to the c1901 prison. I told him I would post his flyer so he could reach out to more people who may have information.That flyer is located in right hand column titled “Oral History Discovery Project”.
His contact information is in the flyer or you can leave a comment under this post.

Bill has also been working with local legislators to have a Sate Historical Marker placed at the site of the Workhouse.
Below is a short description, written by Bill, along with photos, on how he came across something he feels is quite significant relating to the old prison.
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Part of my research of the Workhouse has taken me to the Wilmington Library at which time I discovered a treasure trove of articles that they had saved on the Workhouse. One of the articles I found I am sharing with our community and It has to do with the first 11 woman who worked in the New Castle County Workhouse. Shortly after I started my project I received an email from Harvey Banning Sr. who stated that he worked at the Workhouse in the early 60's as a guard, his grandfather worked there in the 40's and 50's as a guard and that his mom and aunt were guards there in the 40's and that he had pictures of them holding guns. As soon as i received this email I knew that I had uncovered a part of Delaware history that no one was aware of. Harvey had the pictures of his mom (Ruth Peregoy and aunt Grace Kreer) and the other woman who worked there. These are the pictures that the Every Evening Journal took but were not allowed to print per Warden Elwood H. Wilson. When I sat down with Harvey and showed him the articles he was amazed that his mom had made history. He was not aware of the significant role that these woman held in our state and the country.

I only have 5 names of the woman pictured.

Grace Kreer, Ruth Peregoy, Ethel Diamond, Alma Dolan and Harriet Cheeseman

Benjamin W. Duncan's Day Book 1847 - 1870

Below are a couple photos of pages from B. Duncan's Day Book. Duncan lived on the west side of Duncan Road Just above Kirkwood Highway.
Some of the names in the book:

John Morrison

William Phillips

William Ecoff

John and Caleb Marshall

John Pennock

William Bellew

James Cranston

John Phillips

Jacob Yarnell

Robert Justice

Marshallton Consolidated School on School Lane in Marshallton. Built 1930.

1850 Survey Map in Marshallton

The map shows Newport Road, now called Duncan Road, leading down to and intersecting with, what the artist called, Stanton Road (Known as Greenbank Road today), then crosses bridge (Hersey's Bridge) over the Red Clay Creek.

It was created in 1850 by J. Lobb for Jacob Yarnell. Not sure if there was a relation to the Yarnells that owned the tavern which stood at Brandywine Springs. The map also shows land owned by B. W. Duncan, John Marshall and James Cranston

Oliver Evans...National Geographic....April 2013

The paragraph below was taken from an article in the April 2013 National Geographic on Delaware’s National Park. I know it is focused on the Brandywine but it is too bad the paragraph does not mention his family’s mill or any other mill along The Red Clay Creek where he invented and installed his process.

"Yet the du Ponts were, in a sense, late arrivals. It wasn’t a French aristocrat who launched the industrial revolution along the Brandywine, but rather a Delaware shoemaker’s son named Oliver Evans, one of America’s greatest unheralded inventors and the godfather of automated manufacturing. In the 1780s he created a new system of flour milling that, with an ingenious arrangement of water-driven wheels, gears, and shafts, almost removed human labor from the process of turning wheat into flour. Visiting millers were incredulous to see Evans’s mill grinding busily away as if by magic, completely unattended, while the owner himself worked placidly in a nearby field. Soon Evans-style gristmills—for which the inventor received the third U.S. patent ever granted—were lining both banks of the Brandywine, and their basic principles were being adapted to manufacture paper, textiles, and other products. The Brandywine Valley was to automation what Silicon Valley would later be to micro-processing."

Carrie's Autograph Book

I have had this autograph book for a while and have been meaning to scan it. I have finally done just that and now have been able to upload the statements and signatures of the signers. I have called it “Carries Autograph Book” because it addresses that name a couple times inside the book and that is all I know about the possible owner. It was signed in 1886, 1887, and 1888 by, I assume, 24 friends of Carrie from Stanton, Newport and Wilmington.

If familiar with these areas you may recognize some of the names.

I apologize for the number of photos but didn’t want to leave any pages out.