Havre de Grace Maryland

rivers canals an historic district museums local artisans and the underground railroad

Havre de Grace is at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the French port city of Le Havre - the Harbor of Grace. During the Revolutionary War, the small hamlet known as Harmer's Town was visited by General Lafayette who commented that the area reminded him of the French seaport.

George Washington stayed overnight in the town in 1789 on the journey to New York City for his first inauguration. During the First Congress in 1789, Havre de Grace missed by only one vote being named the capital of the fledgling United States.

Early Industry in Havre de Grace included oyster and crab harvesting as well as fruit orchards. Products were shipped to markets along the East Coast and upriver.  Havre de Grace became known for duck hunting, and was a seasonal destination for hunters who hired local guides to escort them hunting on the river and along the bay.

Local Artisans Made High Quality Decoys now on Display in the City’s Decoy Museum

The Southern Terminus of the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal bypassed difficult navigational areas of the lower Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, where it connected to the Pennsylvania Canal. It was built between 1836–1840. The Lock Keeper's house and remnants of the canal exist today as a museum.

The Underground Railroad Havre de Grace was a primary town on the Eastern Route as slaves crossed the Susquehanna to havens in Pennsylvania, on the way to Philadelphia and New York. By the 1860s, a large population of free African Americans had settled in the town, supporting independent artisans, as well as jobs associated with shipping on the river, canal and the railroads.

The Seneca Cannery, currently an antique shop, is a very good example of a late 19^th century brick industrial building with its classical facade and massive stone buttresses on the rear. Many patents followed the opening of the S. J. Seneca Cannery: 1901, The Baling-press; 1905, The Cooker and the Tomato Scalder; 1917, Improved Tomato Scalder and the Can-opener; 1918, Tomato Peeling Machine.

The Central Business District was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Havre de Grace Historic District, which recognizes its architecture and historic fabric. A variety of museums help explain and interpret the city's rich maritime past and present: the Decoy Museum, the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum, Concord Point Lighthouse, the Lockhouse Museum, the Black Eyed Susan paddle steamer. Havre de Grace also claims a renovated seaplane port.

The Environment the town is located on a freshwater wetland, tidal cove, and small forested area teeming with species of flora and fauna; the backdrop for generations of inhabitants, from the earliest Native tribes to the first European colonists in the 1600s, to today's thriving 21^st century community.
The Maritime Museum is a 10,000 square foot, three-story modern building adjacent to Concord Point Heritage Corridor, Havre de Grace's historic district spanning five waterfront acres and a designated attraction on the National Park Service's John Smith and Star Spangled Banner Trails.

Wilmington and New Castle Delaware Culture Trails

family entertainment underground railroad house museum wineries and breweries

Wilmington is strategically positioned to reach other points of interest in the middle Atlantic region of the United States. Located midway between New York City and Washington, D.C., this city is:
30 minutes from Philadelphia
90 minutes to downtown Baltimore, Maryland
60 minutes from Lancaster, South Central Pennsylvania and Amish Country
less than 2 hours away from Delaware's Atlantic Ocean beaches

Founded by the Swedes and Finns in 1638, and later acquired by the Dutch in 1655 and the British in 1739, today Wilmington offers a rich performing arts scene including theater, symphony, opera, ballet, rock, jazz, folk and family entertainment. It is also home to many celebrated ethnic events, music festivals and special performances at local wineries and breweries.

The Christina Riverfront is one of many reasons for making Wilmington your home away from home while exploring the culture trail; cruise in a water taxis or stroll the landscaped Riverwalk. Wilmington was the last stop to freedom on the Underground Railroad; the Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park is named for Railroad Conductor Harriett Tubman and Stationmaster Thomas Garrett. The Riverfront Market offers delicious specialty foods, fresh produce, flowers and much more from a variety of vendors.

shopping, dining and entertainment are tax free here!

The First Stop along the Culture Trail focuses on the History of the First State!

The Delaware History Museum is located in a renovated art-deco Woolworth store in the historic district and features three galleries of changing interactive exhibits on Delaware history, including displays of rare items of everyday life, costumes, children's toys, regional decorative arts, and paintings.

Old Town Hall built in 1798-1800, it functioned as a center of political and social activities in Wilmington's mercantile-milling economy. Today it is owned by the Delaware Historical Society and is used for exhibits and special events. The Delaware Historical Society is celebrating its 150^th Anniversary in 2014.

Visit
 Wilmington, New Castle 
and the Delaware Culture Trails

Knowledge Tourism

travel@arezza.net

Willingtown Square consists of six historic houses relocated into an urban park in 1976.Not far away are the Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park, the First USA Riverfront Arts Center, and the Wilmington train station.

The Research Library is tasked with collecting and preserving Delaware materials for over 135 years, the Society has a rich and varied collection of books, ephemera, newspapers, serials, maps, manuscripts and photographs relating to the history of Delaware and its people. 

Read House is in nearby historic New Castle, one of the oldest towns and a National Historic Landmark District. The 22 room, 14,000 square-foot, mansion features new technologies of the time including elaborate hot-air roasting ovens and steam tables in the kitchen. Carefully restored and furnished in 1986 using extensive documentation, Read House ranks among the best house museums in the country. In addition, a tour may include: costumed interpreters, open-hearth cooking demonstrations, walking tours of New Castle. Read House & Gardens was named an American Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Park Service.

Alton Illinois

Architectural Historic and River Trails

Alton is located 25 Miles north of St. Louis amid the confluence of three navigable rivers, the Mississippi, the Illinois and the Missouri, as a river trading and industrial town whose waterfront features concrete grain silos and railroad tracks for the shipping of grains and produce. Once the site of several brick factories, Alton’s streets are paved in brick along with many commercial buildings located downtown. The Great Rivers Region is accessible from six interstates, an international airport and an Amtrak station.

Historic Trails Alton’s Civil War and Lincoln Legacy Trail features costumed docents at sites throughout the city revealing Alton’s legacy through personal tales along with the Underground Railroad, where runaway slaves were hidden in caves, barns and basements. The Alton Museum of History and Art has special exhibits relating to Alton’s connection to the Civil War era. 

The Legendary Piasa Bird Painted on the Bluffs above the Mississippi River

Industrial Museums learn refinery operations and how products such as gasoline, jet fuel, propane and asphalt are made at the Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery and Museum. The Mississippi Mud Pottery features artists as they demonstrate the molding of their unique pottery. At the National Great Rivers Museum and Melvin Price Locks & Dam feature the importance of the river system to America’s economy.

River Trails where great rivers converge with great moments in history at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Confluence Tower; learn how they planned their journey west.

Hartford is at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and point of departure for Lewis and Clark.
Elsah continuing up the Great River Road and marvel at the numerous buildings that still exist. Most of the houses and building in the village were built in the mid- to late 1800s

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The Entire Village of Elsah is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Grafton’s riverfront was packed with manufacturing companies, mills, quarries, loading docks, and riverboat traffic in the 1800s. Today, it is a tourist destination with its specialty shops and wineries.

Architecture Trails many blocks of housing in Alton were built in the Victorian Queen Anne style during the prosperous period in the river city's history at the top of the hill in the commercial area, several stone churches and city hall.

The Middletown Historic District was the center of wealth in the early days of Alton with homes reflecting the wealth of families and their descendants that led Alton society for more than a century. Brick sidewalks connect a park with a Victorian playhouse and an area called Insuranceville.

Upper Alton Historic District a cultural and educational center, Upper Alton was once a separate town anchored by a former military academy and the oldest continuously used educational buildings in Illinois.