First State National Historical Park
First State National Historical Park | |
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Location | New Castle / Kent / Sussex counties, Delaware and Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States |
Nearest city | Dover, Lewes, New Castle, and Wilmington, Delaware |
Coordinates | 39°39′53″N 75°33′55″W / 39.66472°N 75.56528°W |
Created | March 25, 2013 |
Governing body | National Park Service, State |
Website | First State National Historical Park |
First State National Historical Park is a
Description
The park covers the early colonial history of Delaware and the role Delaware played in the establishment of the nation, leading up to it being the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. It tells the unique story of the early settlement of the Delaware Valley by the Dutch, Swedes, Finns, and English and their relationship with Native Americans. It also seeks to preserve the cultural landscape of the
Russ Smith, the park's first superintendent, described its mission in part as, "I think it's... the recognition that it's not all about Jamestown and Plymouth Rock. There were 13 different traditions established in the 1600s that came together in 1776. The designation helps shine a light on that story. The way this place differs from other places is the diversity of the settlement. You had Dutch, Swedes, Finns, then the English, the Germans. The Netherlands were like the melting pot of Europe. So you had the Germans there, the French, the Belgians, and all these people were here in the Delaware Valley in the 1600s. You had that diversity and you also had a tradition of tolerance. As I tell people, while Virginia was jailing Baptists and New England was burning Quakers, there was freedom of religion on the Delaware River even before William Penn arrived. There is a common misconception that the English were the only ones who had any kind of representative government, and so that's where we got it. Well, the Netherlands were a Republic. The Swedes were not an absolute monarchy, so there was a tradition of self-determination as well."[4]
Sites
The sites contained within the park are:
New Castle Court House, Green, and Sheriff's House
The New Castle Court House, which dates back to 1730, is one of the oldest courthouses in the country and played a role in a number of historic events that shaped the nation. The cupola of the Court House is the center of a
The New Castle Green was first laid out as a town common in the 1650s by the
The Court House and the Green are owned by the state of Delaware, with the National Park Service owning a conservation easement on them. The Sheriff's House is owned by the National Park Service.
Dover Green
The Dover Green was first laid out as a public space in 1717 by William Penn's surveyors, and has been host to several historic events.[5] The Declaration of Independence was read to the citizens of Dover from the Green in 1776, and it was the site of the mustering of a Continental Army regiment during the Revolution. When the proximity of the British navy threatened New Castle, the state changed its capital city to Dover in 1777, and a State House was built just off the Green in 1787. At a tavern which once stood on the Green, a convention ratified the Constitution on December 7, 1787, making Delaware the first state.
The Green is owned by the city of Dover, with the National Park Service owning a conservation easement. It is approximately 40 miles south of the park headquarters in New Castle.
Brandywine Valley
Brandywine Valley (formerly Beaver Valley) consists of land originally purchased in the early 1900s by
Brandywine Valley is owned by the National Park Service. It is approximately 12 miles north of the park headquarters in New Castle. Brandywine Valley is the largest component of First State National Historical Park, comprising 1,100 acres (220 of which extend into southeastern Pennsylvania). It is open for recreational activities such as hiking, horseback riding, biking, and kayaking.
Fort Christina
Located in Wilmington, Fort Christina is an enclosed park that preserves the original landing site, known as "The Rocks," of the colonists who established
The park is a National Historic Landmark and includes a monument by Swedish sculptor Carl Milles that was donated by Sweden for the colony's tricentennial anniversary. The park also includes a reconstructed Swedish log cabin, to recognize one of the more important contributions the colonists made to America.
Old Swedes' Church
Old Swedes' Church is located in Wilmington about a block from Fort Christina, where the New Sweden colony was first established. Built in 1698, it is one of the oldest churches in the United States. It was built on the original burial site for Fort Christina and so its cemetery contains graves dating back to the 1630s. The pulpit was carved in 1698 and is believed to be the oldest in the United States by the NPS. The church itself is built from Swedish bricks that had originally been used as ballast by the ships which brought the colonists to America.
The churchyard includes the Hendrickson House, a Swedish home dating back to 1690 and believed to be one of the oldest Swedish homes remaining in existence in the country. The house serves as a museum dedicated to interpreting early Swedish colonial life.
Old Swedes' Church is a National Historic Landmark, and is not to be confused with another church known as Old Swedes', located in Philadelphia.
John Dickinson Plantation
This plantation house, built in 1740 outside of Dover, was the boyhood home and country estate of
The plantation is a National Historic Landmark.
Park history
Prior to the creation of the First State National Monument, Delaware did not have a unit of the National Park System within its borders, a fact which was troubling to U.S. Senator
The act garnered high-profile support from former Delaware resident Ken Burns, who had recently earned critical acclaim for his documentary The National Parks: America's Best Idea. Burns stated, "We have been able to, as an expansive country, drink in our entire history, good and bad, and embrace it all. We Americans are bound together not only in geography but in time by these places. It is so, so important that this state, where it all began, has sites that reflect our extraordinarily old, among the oldest, histories of settlement on this continent and that we unite with all the other states in celebrating that."[8] Despite this, while the bill was approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, it failed to pass in the full Senate and was not approved in the House committee.
The Mt. Cuba Center donated over $20 million to The Conservation Fund enabling it to purchase the Woodlawn Tract in Beaver Valley with the intention of including it in a future park once the land became available for donation at the end of 2012.[9] In February 2013, the First State National Historical Park Act was proposed again in the new Congress. The revised legislation included the Woodlawn property but dropped Stonum and Lombardy Hall. The bill was approved in Senate committee on March 14, 2013, but the Conservation Fund could not continue to hold onto the Woodlawn property, increasing the urgency. This led to the presidential proclamation on March 25 creating the National Monument. The Conservation Fund donated the 1,100 acres of Woodlawn land to the National Park Service, becoming the Brandywine Valley unit.
Language redesignating the First State National Monument as the First State National Historical Park was included in the
References
- ^ "Wilberforce's Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers to become national monument". Retrieved 21 March 2013.
- ^ "Obama signs Del. monument proclamation". Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ Presidential Proclamation, March 25, 2013
- ^ "First State National Monument Shines a Light on the Nation's Origins". Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ^ Susanne N, Fox and Edward F. Heite (January 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Dover Green Historic District". National Park Service. and Accompanying 50 photos
- ^ "Delaware National Coastal Special Resource Study". Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ "Delaware Congressional Delegation Introduces the First State National Historical Park Act of 2011". Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ "Milford Beacon: Delaware Continues to Set Sights on National Park". Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ "Delaware's First State National Monument". Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ "For Delaware, a national park upgrade". Retrieved 9 December 2014.
External links
- Official NPS website: First State National Historical Park