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Delaware
City traces its origins to 1801 when the Newbold family from New
Jersey purchased a tract of land that became known as Newbolds Landing.
The Newbolds drew plans for the town in 1826, with the expectation
that it would eventually grow to rival Philadelphia as a Delaware
River port and commercial center. Its location at the eastern terminus
of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in 1829 caused Delaware City
to become both an operating base and a way station for a number
of significant shipping-related activities.
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A peach boom
during the period 1840 -1880 that made Delaware City famous for
popularizing peaches nationwide was started by Major Philip Reybold
and his sons, who had over 110,000 peach trees by 1845. Peaches
shipped from the Major's Wharf in Delaware City reached many ports
from New York to Baltimore
.Fish caught
by Delaware City fishermen were processed and shipped from the town.
Herring, shad and sturgeon were the main catch, with the sturgeon
roe shipped to Germany and Russia to be packaged and marketed as
caviar. Hunting and muskrat trapping in the nearby marshes also
provided a livelihood for the residents.
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Other
small industries included the blacksmith shop, a carriage shop,
a grist mill, a sheet metal factory, a chicken incubator factory
and a mincemeat factory. Some of these were located in the area
of the railroad station of the Delaware and Pennsylvania Railroad,
which opened a line into Delaware City in the early 1870's. Twentieth-century
industry arrived in the 1950's and 1960's with the construction
of the nearby industrial complex.
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walk through Delaware City's streets allows you to view some of the
best examples of the important architectural styles beginning with
the Federal style of the 1820's and Delaware's Italianate "Peach
House" buildings of the 1850's. The styles continue through the
catalog mail order homes of the 1920's. Each of these styles represents
an important period in the town's prosperity. |
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Delaware
City has evolved through many periods of growth and decline and
continues to be a thriving, living community for the people who
work and reside within its bounds. At Battery Park, located along
the Delaware River at the foot of Clinton Street, a visitor is surrounded
by a scenic panorama of the Delaware River, Pea Patch Island and
the New Jersey shoreline. We welcome visitors to our town and the
nearby State Parks and invite you to pay us a visit in the near
future.
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