Wilmington, Delaware, USA
1895 - Wilmington

Wilmington, a port of entry, the capital of New Castle co., Del., is situated on the Delaware River, and on Brandy wine and Christiana Creeks, which unite 3 mile from the river. It is 28 miles S.W. of Philadelphia, and 70 miles E.N.E. of Baltimore. Lat. 39° 41' N.; Lon. 75°28' or 30° W. It is on the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad, and is the southern terminus of the Wilmington & Northern Railroad, which connects here with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Wilmington is the chief commercial and manufacturing centre of Delaware. It is built on three slopes of a hill, the summit of which is 240 feet above the level of tide-water and commands an extensive view of the Delaware River and of the city itself. The city is regularly planned, has wide and straight streets, and is generally well built of brick. The streets which are parallel to the Christiana are Water, Front, 2d, 3d, &c., up to 23d street, beyond Brandywine Creek. These are intersected at right angles by Market street, the principal thoroughfare of business, which extends the whole length of the city, and is about 2 miles long, including the bridges over Brandywine and Christiana Creeks. The streets which are parallel with Market street are designated by proper names, as King, Shipley, French, &c. The city contains 46 churches, namely, 9 Methodist, 8 Episcopal, 7 Presbyterian, 5 Baptist, 2 Friends', 6 Catholic, 1 German Lutheran, 1 Swedenborgian, 1 Unitarian, and 6 African. Grace church (Methodist) is a beautiful Gothic edifice of green serpentine. The Old Swedes' church of this place was built in 1698. Among the public buildings are a granite custom-house, a town hall, a large opera-house, a hospital, and the Wilmington Institute, a brick structure which contains a spacious hall, a scientific lecture-room, and an extensive library. The Clayton House is a commodious first-class hotel, built of fine brick and stone. Six daily and 10 weekly newspapers (I German) are published here. Wilmington contains also the Delaware State Normal University, founded in 1866, the Wesleyan Female College, the Rugby Academy (for boys), the Delaware Institute (for both sexes), several boarding-schools, 17 public schools, a home for aged women, many building and loan associations, 2 savings-banks, 4 national banks (the capital of which amounts to $1,013,185), and a state bank, which has a capital of $236,000. The streets, stores, and residences are lighted with gas and electricity, and the city is supplied with water from the Brandywine. It has an efficient fire department. Wilmington is by far the most important and populous town in the state. Its increase in population from 1880 to 1890 was 44.62 per cent. It is remarkable for its manufactures, of which the following are the most important products: iron steamboats, railway-cars, steam engines, machinery, powder, cotton goods, carriages, flour, morocco, leather, farming-implements, iron castings, woollen goods, locomotive- and car-springs, and parlor matches. Here are about 5 iron-foundries, 6 large machine-shops, 6 rolling-mills, 6 cotton-factories, several manufactories of woollen goods, 2 large saw-mills, and flour-mills on the Brandywine which grind 1,000,000 bushels of wheat in a year. According to the census of 1890, the aggregate cap ital employed in the reported industries of Wilmington was $15,652,246, and the total value of products $19,058,116. The powder-works of Dupont & Co., 2 miles from the city, have long been celebrated. Street-cars run from the Philadelphia & Baltimore depot via Market street and Delaware avenue to the N.W. extremity of the city. Steamboats ply daily between this place and Philadelphia. The Brandywine Creek near Wilmington flows through attractive scenery. Pop. in 1870, 30,841; in 1880, 42,478; in 1890, 61,431.

Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott

Visit Wilmington, Delaware, USA
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.