Lower Red Clay Valley: May 2014

Monday, May 12, 2014

The 80 Acres of Public Open Space in Glenville is Now Off Limits…..

I usually post without much text but feel this is something where I might try to say a few words. I also apologize for the amount of photos but, again, I felt a need to include them.

Every now and then I will stop by the old community of Glenville to look out at an area once filled with houses and now natural open space created when those homes were flooded by the Red Clay Creek and demolished. The state did a great job taking a 'ghost town', after the flooding, and return it to a natural state. The area is bordered on one edge by the Red Clay and the other by 1st State Blvd. The 80 acres includes open, wooded and wetland areas, perfect for people who enjoy nature. The site also includes access to Red Clay Creek. This stream runs approximately 15 miles through Delaware and if you look closely you can see there is no real public access anywhere as it meanders through mostly private property, under Kirkwood Highway down to Stanton…..there are a couple short sections at Brandywine Springs and The Wilmington and Western Railroad. Then I thought the Glenville site needed a sign, you know…..like the kind they place at other preservation sites, saying it is owned by the State of Delaware, telling the name of the reserve and saying it is to be enjoyed but used with sensitivity with maybe a map showing a trail of where and where you can not go.

All the above thinking came to a halt when on a recent drive over to Glenville I noticed there have been signs erected stating….State Property….No Trespassing…..$500 Fine for Dumping. I couldn’t believe it! There must be at least 6-8 signs along the

road/curb as you approach the space. Now I am confused. So I came home to check resources and I was correct. The 80 acres is designated as public open space (see photo below) and titled Glenville Park (see this photo below also). Why are signs up and the county web site shows it is public open space?

I cant help but think about the length of the Red Clay Creek from Newport Gap Pike (rt41) south to and including Glenville. At this time there is about 130 acres with ~2 miles of creek frontage available to be used and enjoyed but still there is no access.That's right....If you include the vacant 32 stream frontage acres of the Ametek site, ~22 stream frontage acres available between Kiamensi Road and Maryland Ave(Rt4) and the 80 stream frontage acres of the Glenville site you would have you would have one heck of corridor showing off its natural and historic resources and if I am not mistaking.... Glenville was built on what was part of Bread and Cheese Island, with residents as early as 1665.

Getting back to Glenville, I have included a couple photos below from the website Flickr, taken by Brian Henderson, showing what the Glenville site has to offer but is now, according to signs, off limits.

Glenville


Red-tailed Hawk (Glenville)

Northern Rough-winged Swallows (Glenville)

Warbling Vireo (Glenville)

Welcome

The history of the Lower Red Clay Valley, stretching some 3 miles from Faulkland Road to Stanton, can be traced back to include parts of 5 centuries. From the settling of Bread and Cheese Island in the 1600’s through the 2000’s when the final industrial tract, whose start began as a gristmill, closed. The lower end of the valley has seen a whole host of different mills, names, places and events that play a major part in Delaware’s history. The region is also home to Delaware’s only steam powered train, The Wilmington and Western Railroad, which winds its way along the Red Clay Creek. It is also home to the famous Brandywine Springs and Spa established in the 1800’s that later became an amusement park.

Around 1679, before most of these facilities were in operation, a mill was constructed in proximity of where the Red and White Clay Creeks merge in Stanton, and then flow to the Christiana River. Stanton was to become the first settlement in what we know now as Mill Creek Hundred. The Stanton area also attracted names like the Lea, Tatnall, Byrnes and DuPont. Shipping goods at that time was possible due to the fact that navigation was achievable up the White Clay Creek to Stanton from the Christiana River. Goods would be brought down Limestone Road from Chester and Lancaster Counties to be shipped.

Over the next 100 years or so since that first mill was established, no less then four more mills were erected in the short distance of roughly three miles upstream to Faulkland Road. Delaware’s most famous inventor, Oliver Evans, worked in the family mill at Faulkland. This is where he invented his mill automation system that revolutionized the milling industry. He received the patent for his accomplishment in 1790. In between Faulkland and the Stanton Mill was the Phillips Mill (Greenbank Mill), Hersey Mill (Where the former Ametek site is) and The Reese Mill site (which much later became the Kiamensi Woolen Mills). Remnants from each one of these mills still exist. I believe all five of these mills were in operation in September 1777 when General George Washington assembled his troops along the east side of The Red Clay Creek, spreading south to north along the stream. He ordered mills in the area to be made inoperable and move products so they could not be confiscated by the enemy. This was all in anticipation of a battle with approximately 15,000 British Troops on their march, from the Chesapeake, to take control of the Colonial Capital of Philadelphia. According to writing’s, Gen. Washington believed this would be the final battle of the Revolutionary War. During that week in 1777 a Counsel of War meeting was held at the Hale-Byrnes House in Stanton, attended by Washington and his other officers. As history shows, that battle never took place as General Howe’s troops took a alternate route leading to Chadd’s Ford, PA. and the Battle of The Brandywine.

When a hotel was built at Brandywine Springs in the 1820’s it was the beginning of approximately 100 years of enjoyment for a site that transitioned from resort spa to amusement park that finally closed in the early 1900’s. The friends of Brandywine Springs keep the park alive through archeological digs along with providing and maintaining trails leading to areas where old foundations have been uncovered or old amusement rides once stood. The park had its own rail station where folks would be picked up and drop off by the Wilmington and Western Railroad that came into existence in 1870. The W&W railroad continues to operate today taking passengers on a scenic journey through the Historic Red Clay Valley and along the banks of the Red Clay Creek. Its station is located at Greenbank along Rt41. Its maintenance yard, with its soon to be completed new offices and meeting room, are located in Marshallton.

Not far from The Red Clay Creek remain pieces of the past which would have either supported or benefited from these industries and more. I hope some of the photos in this blog will show you some of those. Some may be gone now but some still remain.

By clicking here a DELDOT pdf document will give a more in depth look at the Brandywine Springs / Red Clay area.