Quaker Hill

In the 1730s, a number of Quaker merchant families moved from Pennsylvania to create a new settlement in the largely undeveloped area between the Brandywine and Christina Rivers in Delaware. Those Quakers were inspired by Elizabeth Shipley's religious vision and by the practical business sense of her husband, William. By 1738, atop the large hill where Elizabeth experienced her vision, they built the first Friends Meeting House of Willington, later Wilmington. Around the meetinghouse there grew a neighborhood known as Quaker Hill, populated by modest, pious Friends. These Quakers strongly promoted the commercial prosperity of Wilmington and also provided a moral core for the region, supporting a major station of the Underground Railroad. In time, Quaker Hill diversified and added many new and different places of worship. Businesses flourished, dwindled, and changed. For over 270 years, Quaker Hill has seen growth, decline, and, in recent decades, revitalization. It remains a neighborhood devoted to tradition and faith.