Jax Stumpes: First State National Historical Park II (3/24/2021)

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

First State National Historical Park II (3/24/2021)

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

On our way to Maryland, we stopped at a couple more locations of the First State National Historical Park. However, due to the pandemic, most venues were not open to the public.

First Fort Christina, which was built in 1638 at the confluence of the Brandywine River and Christina River in present-day Wilmington, DE.

Fort Christina Park was enclosed by brick
walls and a wrought iron fence with locked gate

In the distance we could see the monument (1938),
a gift from Sweden topped by a sculpture
of the Kalmar Nyckel by Carl Milles

This was the first settlement established by the Swedes, who arrived on the ships Kalmar Nyckel and Fogel Grip. However, by 1655, the Swedish colony was taken over by the Dutch.

Nearby is the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation with a museum, the Copeland Maritime Center, and the Kalmar Nyckel Shipyard with a full-scale replica tall ship, the Kalmar Nyckel.

This is Liten Nyckel/Little Key, a shallop or tender to the
Kalmar Nyckel, of which we could only see the tops of masts

Kalmar Nyckel Foundation

In 2013, for the 375th anniversary of the Swedish landing, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, along with US Vice President Joe Biden, reenacted the first landing of the Kalmar Nyckel at Fort Christina Park on the replica of the original ship.

Delaware Heritage Mural (2011) depicts the history of
the 7th Street Peninsula, ending with the
replica Kalmar Nyckel and its two captains

The mural begins with Peter Minuit speaking with Native
Americans upon arrival on the original Kalmar Nyckel in 1638

Second, Old Swedes Historic Site:

Hendrickson House (c 1690) is one of the oldest Swedish
homes in the country, and was originally located in Chester, PA
and was moved here in 1958 to save it from demolition

The site is interesting with a cobblestone parking lot,
an open-air amphitheater, and a labyrinth (KSS)

Old Swedes' Church (1698-1699) served the Swedes who
remained here during the occupations of the Dutch,
then the English; it is constructed of Swedish bricks
that were used as ships ballast and local blue granite

Third, New Castle, DE:

Technically only the New Castle Court House and the Green are part of the First State National Historical Park, but they are also part of the New Castle Historic District.

Amstel House/Dr Finney's House (1730s in Georgian style)

Masonic Temple and Opera House (1879)

Kensey Johns Van Dyke House (1820 in Federal style)

Delaware Street, with the Municipal Building being
the first full building shown on the right

The Green or Market Plaine was part of
the town plan in 1651 by the
Dutch who founded New Castle

Henry N Burgie Memorial Fountain (1897)
was donated by Annie Burgie in memory
of her son who died at age 19

New Castle Court House (1730 in Georgian style)

At the New Castle Court House in 1776, the Delaware assembly voted to sever ties with both England and Pennsylvania. Later that year the Declaration of Independence was read to the citizens from the second floor balcony, and Delaware drafted and adopted its own constitution, being the first state to do so.

The court house cupola is the center of a 12-mile radius circle that forms part of Delaware's northern border, as surveyed in 1683 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. Originally the 12-mile radius circle was what was deeded to William Penn in 1682, and Penn actually first set foot in the New World in New Castle.