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.

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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.

Bucks County PA Historic Towns and Boroughs

Bristol New Hope Doylestown Yardley Morrisville

Bucks County is one of the three original counties created by William Penn in 1682. Pennsbury Manor stands on the point of land formed by the Delaware River between Morrisville and Bristol. Painstaking research went into restoring the prim-fronted, three-storied, brick manor-house, rebuilt on the original foundations.

Bristol is the oldest town in Bucks County and the third oldest in Pennsylvania. It is the southern terminus of the D&L Trail characterized by coal yards, shipyards, warehouses and textile mills. Its Delaware Riverfront resembles a New England seaport. During World War II, the shipyards were converted for use in the manufacturing of aircraft. Today, Bristol hosts special events near the river and the 50-site Radcliffe Street Historic District. The Spurline Trail presents the town’s improved waterfront and the nearby 235 acre sanctuary Silver Lake Nature Center offers three miles of trails and habitats of more than 160 species of birds, raccoon, muskrats, opossum and deer.

New Hope started out as an industrial town and by the end of the 18^th century it had a variety of mills, ranging from grist and lumber to those that produced flour and processed flax. In the 1820s, cotton spinning and weaving joined the list of businesses on the banks of the Delaware. Veterans from both the American Revolution and War of 1812 called New Hope home, and the streets are lined with houses dating back to that era. Most of the oldest houses are on Ferry Street.

The Canal brought renewed economic activity to New Hope. During the late 1860s an estimated 100 canal boats a day passed through New Hope. During the 1920s and 30s, the village, nearby hamlets and farms became a flourishing art colony. By the mid-century, it became a stopping point for plays bound for Broadway, and home to New York and Philadelphia artists, musicians, writers and the New Hope School of Pennsylvania Impressionists.

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Doylestown is home to historic architecture, sidewalks lined with brick pavers and Victorian-style street lamps, the James A. Michener Art Museum, and the famous Mercer Mile comprising Fonthill Museum, Mercer Museum, and the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works.

The Heritage Conservancy is a community-based organization dedicated to preserving and protecting open spaces, natural resources and historic heritage as well as conservation best practices.

The US Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic States

Yardley dates back to 1682, when William Yardley paid William Penn 10 pounds for 500 acres of land. It wasn’t until 1807 that Yardley began to develop into a village, and by 1880 the population stood at 820 residents. Early industries included a spoke and handle factory, sawmill, plate and plaster mill, and two flour mills. During the Civil War, Yardley was a safe haven on the Underground Railroad. Hiding places included the Continental Tavern, warehouse bins along the Delaware Canal, and the town’s General Store. The Yardley Grist Mill has been a center of commerce since its inception in the late 1600s.

Historic Preservation much of Yardley has retained its historic integrity thanks to the creation of a well-maintained historic district. The majority of the buildings within the district are along South Main Street, with examples of Second Empire, Queen Anne, and Victorian Gothic architecture. Canal Street runs parallel to the Delaware Canal and is dotted with small, predominantly frame structures dating from 1840. Canal bridges and an aqueduct are within the district as well as rows of pre-canal stone homes.

The Town of Morrisville is located at the falls of the Delaware River across from Trenton and is the oldest town in Bucks County and third oldest in Pennsylvania. One-half mile from the falls of the Delaware River, nobleman Thomas Barclay’s 1765 Georgian mansion known as Summerseat once served as Washington’s headquarters. Declaration of Independence and Constitution signers Robert Morris, financier of the revolution and George Clymer were subsequent owners of this National Historic Site.

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