Delaware

Name: Civil War Delaware:
Brand: Michael Morgan
SKU: 9781609494452
Price: 21.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Begin a foray into Delaware history with the hidden heritage of Lewes, the first town in the first state. Or plunge right into the thick of action during the Revolutionary War. Unless, of course, it sounds more appealing to simply sample the charms of Middletown’s Olde-Tyme Peach Festival. With a catalogue of Delaware history books ranging from the fast lane of Interstate 95 to the brooding walls of Fort Delaware, any trip through the state’s past reveals a singularly rewarding story.

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Remembering Sussex County:

$21.99

The DuPont Highway

$24.99

African Americans of Wilmington's East Side

$23.99

Old Swedes Church and Historic Site

$24.99

DuPont Theatre

$24.99

Revolutionary New Castle:

Civil War Delaware:

9781609494452

$21.99

In the years preceding the Civil War, Delaware was essentially divided--as a slave state, it had many ties to the South, but as the first state to ratify the federal Constitution, it was fiercely loyal to the Union. With the outbreak of war, the First State rallied to Lincoln's call and sent proportionally more troops to fight for the Union than any free state. Yet even as the renowned Du Pont mills provided half of the Union gunpowder, Southern sympathizers transported war materiel to the Confederacy via the Nanticoke River. Author Michael Morgan deftly navigates this complex history. From Wilmington abolitionist Thomas Garrett, who helped 2,700 fugitive slaves flee north, to the prison camp at Fort Delaware that held thousands of captured Confederates and political prisoners, Morgan reveals the remarkable stories of the heroes and scoundrels of Civil War Delaware.

Harrington

9781467102933

$24.99

From its earliest days as a stagecoach stop, Harrington has long been nicknamed the "Hub of Delaware."

First established on September 17, 1740, by Thomas Clark, the lands surrounding Clark's dwelling place became known as Clarks Corner. By the 1790s, Thomas Clark's son Benjamin and grandson Matthew Clark had built an inn and stagecoach stop there. The crossroads remained unchanged throughout its early history, save for the addition of a mill and blacksmith's shop. Over half a century later in 1856, the town was made the major junction of the new train lines serving the entire Delmarva Peninsula. After it became a "hub," the town was renamed Harrington in honor of Judge Samuel Maxwell Harrington, the chancellor of the court in Delaware. The town may not have the same impact today as it did before the popularization of automobiles, but it still keeps the small-town charm captured in the images and imaginations of so many.

Remembering Sussex County:

9781596296619

$21.99

Rebels, soldiers and watermen have all toiled and roamed among the fields, bays and beaches of Sussex County. With grit and ingenuity they built strong communities that could face the onslaught of storms and sun seekers. From tales of the Black Camp Rebellion and the infamous Patty Cannon to stories of practical jokesters who brought a swamp monster to life, local author James Diehl brings together a fascinating
and whimsical collection of vignettes that paints a portrait of Delaware's largest county. Between its sunny coast and green fields lie the small towns that the hardworking and hospitable people of Sussex County call home.

The DuPont Highway

9780738568485

$24.99

The original DuPont Highway, found on maps as Route 13 between Dover and Wilmington and as Route 113 between Dover and the southern border with Maryland, was the nation's first divided highway when its expansion between Dover and Wilmington was completed in 1934. It had been officially dedicated 10 years earlier as the Coleman DuPont Road. Thomas Coleman du Pont, a descendant of E. I. du Pont and a two-time U.S. senator, had championed the road and paid nearly $4 million of his own money toward its completion, even after turning the project over to the newly created Delaware State Highway Department. While other philanthropists started schools, libraries, parks, and hospitals, Coleman du Pont said, "I will build a monument a hundred miles high and lay it on the ground." He was close. The DuPont Highway measured 96.7 miles.

African Americans of Wilmington's East Side

9781467107969

$23.99

Wilmington’s East Side is the oldest residential community in the city. The first Swedish colony settled there in the 1600s, and over time, Jewish, Polish, and African American people followed. By the mid-1950s, the East Side emerged as a predominantly Black, achievement-oriented community—a place where working-class families, Black-owned businesses, and Black doctors, lawyers, teachers, musicians, and community leaders lived, worshipped, and worked together amid segregation. Among historic landmarks are Howard High School, People’s Settlement Association, Walnut Street Y, St. Michael’s School and Nursery, Clifford Brown Walk, Louis Redding House, and multidenominational churches. Situated in an urban setting east of downtown, the East Side is walking distance from the central business district, small retail establishments, and employers.

Old Swedes Church and Historic Site

9781467160445

$24.99

Situated on high ground above the Christina River, Holy Trinity Church, known as Old Swedes, is the surviving tangible remnant of the New Sweden Colony, established in 1638. Today, the church, constructed in 1698, and its surrounding burial ground, established in 1638, are part of the Old Swedes Historic Site, which welcomes visitors from across the country and around the world. At the historic site, Delaware schoolchildren learn their state's early history; Iowans and Minnesotans research their Swedish family roots; and worshipers attend services, weddings, and funerals, as they have for 325 years. The church was declared a national historic landmark in 1961 and was included, with the burial ground, as a unit of First State National Historical Park in 2015. Tracing the legacy of the Swedish colonists in what is now Wilmington, the site offers visitors a distinctive view of the history of Delaware and the surrounding area.

DuPont Theatre

9780738592749

$24.99

Long known as "Delaware's Broadway Experience," the DuPont Theatre is the embodiment of the entertainment phrase, "The show must go on!" It has survived dramatic and traumatic historical events, including the 1929 stock market crash, the Great Depression, two world
wars, the rise of motion pictures and television, a name change from the Playhouse to the DuPont Theatre, and a terrorist attack on our country that resonated globally. Despite these events, it continues to thrive as the oldest continuously operating legitimate theater in the United States. Constructed in only 150 days and strategically located adjacent to the elegant Hotel du Pont and DuPont corporate headquarters, the DuPont Theatre is a mainstay in the cultural life of Wilmington. Promoted in the early 1900s as a "dress rehearsal" venue for the largest New York Broadway shows, the stage can accommodate everything from live animals to an automobile accident, making it possible to present nearly every Broadway production in the theater's Broadway series.

Revolutionary New Castle:

9781609495244

$21.99

Though New Castle did not see any battles during the American Revolution, it was the Delaware's Colonial capital, and at it was at the center of the rebellion in the state. Its village green, still present today, served as a venue for early forums where colonists aired their grievances with the British government. Though it was considered more radical and inclined towards rebellion than the rest of Delaware, the city was also home to a sizable Loyalist community. When the city was occupied by the British in 1777, Loyalists from other colonies flocked to the relative safety of the city. However, after their departure, New Castle was still plagued by refugees" who were essentially Loyalist privateers that preyed on the coastal communities of the Delaware Bay. Historian Ted Corbett charts the history of this community in its days leading up to the Revolution, through the conflict and into the early years of the Republic when Delaware struggled to set up its new government."

Delaware Lights:

9781596290211

$21.99

Bob Trapani, executive director for the American Lighthouse Foundation and co-founder of the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation, recounts the stories of twenty-seven beacons from the lost Cape Henlopen Light Station, completed in 1767, to the Marcus Hook Range Rear Light Station, constructed in 1920. He not only discusses their construction and the changes they have undergone over the years, but also tells dramatic tales of their keepers, who braved storms, isolation and poor conditions so that the lights would stay burning for those at sea.