Wilmington, Delaware
The Christina River flows into the Delaware River at a spot where Swedish settlers built Fort Christina in March 1638. Chief Mattahorn of the Lenape band sold this land, known as Maax-waas Unk or Bear Place, to Peter Minuit and his traders from the Swedish South Company. They arrived on ships named the Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel to establish the first permanent European settlement in North America. Dr. Timothy Stidham, born in 1610 in Hammel, Denmark, became the first physician in Delaware after arriving in New Sweden in 1654. Colonel Johan Printz governed the colony under Swedish law from 1643 until 1653. A Dutch fleet commanded by Peter Stuyvesant seized control of the area in 1655, ending Swedish rule. British colonization began in 1664, bringing Quaker influences through Proprietor William Penn. The settlement received a borough charter from King George II in 1739, changing its name from Willingtown to Wilmington. This new name honored Spencer Compton, the Earl of Wilmington, who took his title from a town in East Sussex, England.
Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, a French Huguenot, emigrated to the United States in 1800 with expertise in gunpowder manufacturing. By 1802 he had begun producing explosives at a mill on the Brandywine River just outside the town limits. The village eventually annexed into Wilmington as the company grew into a major supplier for the U.S. military. The hilly west side of the city offered springs and sites for mills along with better air quality compared to the marshy coastal plain. Wawaset Park was constructed by the DuPont Company in 1918 to provide housing for their employees. Baltimore architect Edward L. Palmer Jr. designed this community featuring single family homes and smaller attached units. The neighborhood sat on a plot that previously served as a horse racing track and fairground. Wawaset Park appeared on the Register of Historic Places in 1986 after decades of residential development. The DuPont legacy shaped the physical landscape and economic foundation of the entire region through the twentieth century.
Delaware remained a border state during the Civil War while divided between Confederate and Union sympathies. The conflict created massive demand for ships, railroad cars, gunpowder, shoes, and other war materials supplied by local manufacturers. By 1868 Wilmington produced more iron ships than the rest of the country combined. The city ranked first nationally in gunpowder production and second in carriages and leather goods. City merchants expanded residential boundaries westward creating large homes along tree-lined streets. This growth movement began with the first horsecar line initiated in 1864 along Delaware Avenue. William Poole Bancroft led efforts to establish open parkland including Rockford Park and Brandywine Park. His work was influenced by Frederick Law Olmsted who pioneered comprehensive park systems. The late nineteenth century saw these developments transform the city from a small town into an industrial powerhouse.
The Wilmington riot of 1919 erupted when tensions boiled over among minorities moving north to fill labor shortages during World Wars. Governor Charles L. Terry Jr. deployed the National Guard and Delaware State Police on April 9 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Mayor John Babiarz requested the governor withdraw the troops but they remained until January 1969. This marked the longest occupation of an American city by state forces in national history. Drug related police calls reached 285 in 1989 and jumped to 808 in 1990 within the Westside Hilltop area. These increases coincided with the crack cocaine trade spreading through other cities. The neighborhood became one of the most crime and drug plagued areas based on service call numbers. In 2017 Wilmington recorded 28 homicides creating a rate of 39.5 per 100,000 residents. That figure stood ten times higher than the national average at that time.
Governor Pierre S. du Pont IV enacted the Financial Center Development Act in 1981 to liberalize banking laws within the state. The legislation eliminated usury laws that capped interest rates banks could legally charge customers. Major credit card issuers like Barclays Bank of Delaware moved operations to the city after these changes. The Dutch banking giant ING Groep N.V. headquartered its U.S. internet banking unit as Capital One 360 in Wilmington. Wilmington Trust operates from Rodney Square while Chase and Capital One maintain prominent waterfront locations. A 1988 law required acquirers to capture 85 percent of stock in a single transaction or wait three years. This strengthened Delaware's position as a corporate domicile for over half of publicly traded companies in the United States. More than 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies now incorporate under Delaware law. The Court of Chancery handles legal disputes with judges instead of juries allowing speed and competence in complex cases.
The 2020 census recorded 70,898 people living in Wilmington across 31,754 households. African Americans made up 54.48 percent of the population while non-Hispanic Whites comprised 26.65 percent. Hispanic or Latino residents accounted for 13.29 percent of the total count. The median household income stood at $32,884 according to 2010 estimates. Twenty-seven point six percent of the population lived below the poverty line that year. In early 2019 the city released a report showing crime rates had fallen to their lowest level in recent history. Shooting incidents decreased by 33 percent compared to the fifteen-year average from 2003 through 2017. The Wilmington Police Department deployed unmarked vans starting in 2002 to patrol crime-prone neighborhoods late at night. This program known as jump-outs allowed officers to detain loiterers temporarily using probable cause based on presence alone. Citizens protested these practices as violations of civil rights while police claimed they improved fingerprint databases for future investigations.
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Common questions
When did Swedish settlers build Fort Christina in Wilmington Delaware?
Swedish settlers built Fort Christina in March 1638. Chief Mattahorn of the Lenape band sold this land known as Maax-waas Unk or Bear Place to Peter Minuit and his traders from the Swedish South Company.
Who was the first physician born in Denmark to practice medicine in Wilmington Delaware?
Dr. Timothy Stidham became the first physician in Delaware after arriving in New Sweden in 1654. He was born in 1610 in Hammel, Denmark.
What year did the Wilmington riot occur involving Governor Charles L. Terry Jr. and state police deployment?
Governor Charles L. Terry Jr. deployed the National Guard and Delaware State Police on April 9 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The troops remained until January 1969 marking the longest occupation of an American city by state forces in national history.
Which law enacted in 1981 changed banking regulations for Wilmington Delaware corporations?
Governor Pierre S. du Pont IV enacted the Financial Center Development Act in 1981 to liberalize banking laws within the state. This legislation eliminated usury laws that capped interest rates banks could legally charge customers.
How many people lived in Wilmington Delaware according to the 2020 census count?
The 2020 census recorded 70,898 people living in Wilmington across 31,754 households. African Americans made up 54.48 percent of the population while non-Hispanic Whites comprised 26.65 percent.