WILMINGTON 



6297 



WILMINGTON 



wood is white, soft and light, and is more 

 durable in water than is any other timber. It 

 is therefore a valuable material for steamboat 

 paddles and other objects used in water. It is 

 employed extensively for cabinet work, base- 

 ball and cricket bate, hoe handles and many 

 small articles, and is used in the manufacture 

 of paper pulp and a fine charcoal. The bark 

 contains a large amount of tannin and is a 

 valuable tanning material. It is also the source 

 of a medicinal < \tract known as salicin. A per- 

 fume is distilled from the flowers of the Egyp- 

 tian willow. 



However, the most -important industrial use 

 of tin- willow is in the making of wickenvork 

 and baskets from the young shoots, or osiers. 

 In Western New York, Southeastern Michigan 

 and in several other localities in lesser degree 

 there are sections devoted to osier culture; in 

 England and the low tide-flooded regions of 

 Holland, Belgium and France, it is an extensive 

 industry. E.B.P. 



WIL'MINGTON, DEL., the first city in the 

 state in population, commerce and industry, 

 and the county seat of New Castle County, is 

 situated in the extreme northern part of the 

 state, on the Delaware River at the point 

 where it receives the waters of the Brandywine 

 and Christiana creeks. Philadelphia is twenty- 

 seven miles northeast, and Baltimore is sixty- 

 nine miles southwest. Railroad transportation 

 is provided by the Pennsylvania and the Balti- 

 more & Ohio railroads, and by electric lines 

 which operate in various directions. Steamers 

 communicate regularly with several Delaware 

 Bay and Atlantic ports, and two passenger and 

 freight steamer lines ply between Philadelphia 

 and Wilmington daily. The population in- 

 creased from 87,411 in 1910 to 94,265 (Federal 

 estimate) in 1916. Irish, Italians and Poles 

 predominate in the foreign element. 



Wilmington is built on elevated ground be- 

 tween the Brandywine and Christiana creeks, 

 and extends about four miles back from the 

 Delaware River, to which the city has not yet 

 been completely built. The river has a thirty- 

 five foot channel to the Atlantic Ocean, and at 

 this point is three miles wide. The park reser- 

 vations of the city comprise about 540 acres, 

 Brandywine and Rockford parks being the larg- 

 est and most attractive. 



Buildings and Institutions. Nearly all of the 

 houses are built of brick or stone. A Federal 

 huil. linn, erected in 1897, a city hall, a county 

 n.urthousr. which cost $1,500,000, and th- 

 Pont building are especially noteworthy. Wil- 



mington has a large number of benevolent 

 institutions, among which are a home for 

 friendless children, Saint Peter's Orphanage, 

 Saint Joseph's Home for colored children, 

 homes for aged men and women and three 

 hospitals. The state hospital for the insane 

 and the county almshouse are in the vicinity. 

 The city is prominent in its territory as an 

 educational center, having Goldey College, Ur- 

 suline Academy, Hebbs School, Wilmington 

 Friends' School, Wilmington Military Acad- 

 emy, a business college, the public library and 

 the Public Historical Society and Law Associa- 

 tion libraries. The most noted of several 

 churches is the Old Swedes' Church, erected in 

 1698. 



Industry. The leather industry is the most 

 important factor in the industrial life of Wil- 

 mington; there are fifteen factories engaged in 

 leather tanning. The passenger-car factories 

 and the cotton dyeing, bleaching and finishing 

 plants are classed with the largest of thnr 

 kind in the United States. There are also ship- 

 building yards, foundries and machine shops, 

 tobacco factories, paper mills and more than 

 150 other manufacturing establishments. About 

 20,000 people are employed in the powder plant 

 outside of the city limits; it was established 

 by Pierre Samuel DuPont and his sons in 1801. 

 The first iron sailing boat made in the United 

 States was built at Wilmington in 1854. 



History. The town was founded in 1638 by 

 Swedes under Peter Minuit, on the site of the 

 Indian village called Minquas. They changed 

 the name to Christ inaham. Again the name 

 was changed to Fort Altena by the Dutch, who 

 purchased the place from the Swedes in 1655. 

 It became a possession of the English in 1664, 

 and passed into the control of William IVnn 

 The name was changed to Willingstown in 

 1731, in honor of Thomas Willing, who planned 

 the town, and later it was changed to Wilming- 

 ton. In 1739 the place was incorporated as a 

 borough ; in 1832. chartered as a city. JA.C. 



Consult Powell's Historic Town* of the Middle 

 State*. 



WILMINGTON, N. C., th n.unty seat of 

 New Hanover County and an important sea- 

 port for North and South Carolina, is situated 

 on the left bank of Cape Fear River, about 

 thirty miles from the sea. Ralegh, thr state 

 capital, is 110 miles northwest. Steamers j-l\ 

 weekly between Wilmington, New York and 

 Baltimore, and inland transportation is pro- 

 vided by the Atlantic Coast Line and the 

 board Air Line railroads. In 1910 the popula- 



