# The great state of Delaware



## Audiomuse (Dec 20, 2005)

Gorgeous buildings


----------



## Melbourneguy (Jun 19, 2004)

Very impressive looking houses. They have their own unique style.


----------



## flar (Mar 7, 2006)

Taller said:


> Well, I've got my dibs in for those if possible! I am determined to visit a few of those places next summer. I am particularly interested in Galt/Cambridge... it seems to be my kind of place.


Galt blew me away, a stone town, but different stone, a lot of granite I think. I had been to Cambridge before, but sadly the main routes direct you away from downtown Galt so I had never actually seen it.


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

*SLAUGHTER BEACH*


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Slaughter Beach is a small Sussex County town on the Delaware Bay, with a population of around 200. Like other bayfront communities, Slaughter Beach is comprised of mostly beach houses, but also like other bayfront communities, Slaughter Beach is overlooked due to the bigger and better beach towns along the ocean to the south. The quiet nature of Slaughter Beach and other bayfront communities is an asset to those that vacation there, and having to drive several minutes from Delaware Route 1 keeps most tourists away from these communites.

The origin of Slaughter Beach's name is unknown, but two possibilities exist. One is that the town was named after William Slaughter, a local postmaster. The other is that the town was named after the massive amount of horseshoe crabs that land on the Delaware Bay beaches and spawn, then die ("the slaughter").


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

Nice little beachtown! But what an unfortunate name.....


----------



## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Really nice...


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Taller said:


> Nice little beachtown! But what an unfortunate name.....


Delaware has quite a few strange names for places. Just a few miles north is the Murderkill River.


----------



## flar (Mar 7, 2006)

The names sound neat but it can't be good for morale to live in a town called "Murderkill River".


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

flar said:


> The names sound neat but it can't be good for morale to live in a town called "Murderkill River".


Murderkill is the river; Slaughter Beach is the town.

We also have the unincorporated communities of Broadkill Beach and Lynch Heights. Yay for grotesque names!


----------



## WolfHound (Jun 28, 2006)

Cool haven't been to Slaughter Beach yet. My favorite place to go to the beach is around Rehooboth I forget the beach that is state owned so you have to pay but all the surfers hang out there.


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

WolfHound said:


> Cool haven't been to Slaughter Beach yet. My favorite place to go to the beach is around Rehooboth I forget the beach that is state owned so you have to pay but all the surfers hang out there.


That might be the Inlet.


----------



## WolfHound (Jun 28, 2006)

Nah I think its keybox hole. But yea post pics of Rehobooth they did a nice job with the design.


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

The Mispillion Lighthouse was once located on the edge of Slaughter Beach. Built in 1873, it marked the mouth of the Mispillion River. After being struck by lightning in 2002 and being partially destroyed, the lighthouse was moved down to Lewes by barge to be turned into a private residence.

What the lighthouse looked like at the turn of the millenium











This picture is from LighthouseFriends.com


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

What the lighthouse looks like now as a house in Lewes











This picture is also from LighthouseFriends.com


----------



## Maikuljay (Jul 13, 2008)

Cool man, I'm on board kay:


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Maikuljay said:


> Cool man, I'm on board kay:


Nice! This thread will be great in showing an area of Delaware all at once, rather than a random picture each day, so you should get a little better feel for Delaware with this thread also.


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

I'm loving these pics. And now I am dead curious to visit Murderkill!! Sounds like there is a zombie problem around there! hehe!


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Taller said:


> I'm loving these pics. And now I am dead curious to visit Murderkill!! Sounds like there is a zombie problem around there! hehe!


Murderkill isn't a settlement or anything, it's just the river's name. Still, it is probably one of the stranger river names in the country. Fortunately, the Murderkill River doesn't end at Slaughter Beach; the Mispillion River does.


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

I wonder if they derived as translations of old Native place names?


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

*Browntown in Wilmington*


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Browntown is Wilmington's historically Polish neighborhood. The Polish initially settled in the East Side, but moved to Browntown when tanneries and morocco factories opened up in the late 1800s along the tracks for the Philadelphia, Wilmington, & Baltimore Railroad. Today, the neighborhood is losing its identity, as the first and second generation of Poles have died off or moved away. The neighborhood is now largely Black, with Hispanics, such as Puerto Ricans, now beginning to push even the Blacks out. Still, there are still many people of Polish descent living in the neighborhood and keeping the old culture alive.

































































The steeples of St. Hedwig's Roman Catholic Church stick out behind these rowhouses.





































St. Hedwig's Roman Catholic Church was, and still is, the cultural center of the neighborhood. The church's steeples are currently undergoing renovation and rehabilitation, to celebrate 100 years of service to the community.










Kosciuszko Park, another fixture in Browntown.


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Taller said:


> I wonder if they derived as translations of old Native place names?


I believe that "kill" means "creek" in Dutch, and since Delaware was part of what the Dutch settled, that word can be found throughout Delaware (and other places, like New York and New Jersey). Where the "murder" came from is lost to history; some believe that it is a permutation of "mother". Indeed, a couple maps show the creek labelled as "Mother Kill". However, other variations of the name have existed and been recorded, so no one really knows.


----------



## HOME in D-ware (Jul 17, 2007)

Hey Matt, I really like the layout of this thread. It combines your town-by-town threads with your Daily Delaware Photo thread.

I don't live in Browntown but I'm not all that far away. I pass through the neighborhood on the way to the Riverfront. The Maryland Avenue Sub Shop on the corner of Beech Street is another great Delaware family owned sandwich shop. 

I always thought that the area you outlined in red was split into two neighborhoods. The area south of Maryland Avenue is Browntown and the area to the north is Hedgeville. Is Hedgeville west of Broom Street or north of Lancaster Avenue?


----------



## drowningman666 (Nov 5, 2007)

it's cool to see that there are still some remains of polish culture out there in america
i'm very glad that you've shown polish neighborhood in Wilmington


----------



## flar (Mar 7, 2006)

Nice that the old Mispillion Lighthouse was saved.


Browntown looks like it would have been a great neighbourhood in its heyday.


----------



## Somnifor (Sep 6, 2005)

This thread rules. Delaware is very underappreciated. Keep up the good work.kay:


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

HOME in D-ware said:


> Hey Matt, I really like the layout of this thread. It combines your town-by-town threads with your Daily Delaware Photo thread.
> 
> I don't live in Browntown but I'm not all that far away. I pass through the neighborhood on the way to the Riverfront. The Maryland Avenue Sub Shop on the corner of Beech Street is another great Delaware family owned sandwich shop.
> 
> I always thought that the area you outlined in red was split into two neighborhoods. The area south of Maryland Avenue is Browntown and the area to the north is Hedgeville. Is Hedgeville west of Broom Street or north of Lancaster Avenue?


I think that top area is a little bit of both. It is Hedgeville, but it is also referred to as "Upper Browntown". I think that Hedgeville is the same as Forty Acres, like Forty Acres, which is losing its identity as young people move in to Trolley Square and label any area near the Square as part of the neighborhood, simply being in a Polish area makes it part of Browntown. Hedgeville is losing its identity as new people move into the area and brand the neighborhood out of convenience or for other reasons.

I am planning on doing a true Hedgeville neighborhood tour later on. In my opinion, it is most of that Upper Browntown area, plus a little bit north/west of Broom Street. I guess once you get to the top of the hill, you're in other neighborhoods (Canby Park and I think Bayard Square? Is this correct?). The Hegdeville map will overlap with the Browntown map, kind of like a map of Trolley Square would overlap with Forty Acres, but I wanted to recognize the Polish presence in the area and the connection between the two sections for this entry.


----------



## Liwwadden (Nov 12, 2005)

Lovely photo's. Keep em coming!


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Time for a little break from Browntown to mention that Delawarean Joe Biden will assume the office of the Vice-President of the United States today. Biden is the first Delawarean to hold such a high office; previously, John M. Clayton held the highest office ever by a Delawarean, being Secretary of State under Zachary Taylor.


Biden's house is located near Greenville. While his house cannot be seen from the road, the guest house at the entrance to the property can be seen from the road.










John M. Clayton's house, Buena Vista, is located near Bear along U.S. Route 13. The house is now a conference center.


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Here are a couple pictures from Kosciuszko Park. St. Hedwig's Chuch can be seen better from here, and Center City (downtown) is in the background.


----------



## l'eau (Jul 7, 2008)

nice neighborhood:cheers:


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Here's another picture of the view from Kosciuszko Park:


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

One last picture from Kosciuszko Park:


----------



## HOME in D-ware (Jul 17, 2007)

^^

I love those pics of the St. Hedwig's looming over the neighborhood with the skyline in background. Do you have any other photos of the rock face you were standing on? The boulder cliff topped with those stone wall lookout pads makes the park unique. It also has a great view of the Riverfront, South Wilmington, New Castle, and the Delaware Memorial Bridge.


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

Are there still a number of Episcopalian churches in that part of the East Coast?


----------



## MDguy (Dec 16, 2006)

Wilmington is candy - its like the east coast's forgotten urban beauty


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Taller said:


> Are there still a number of Episcopalian churches in that part of the East Coast?


There is a good amount of Episcopal churches on the East Coast, including Delaware. I won't talk about Episcopalians in in other states, since I'm not familiar with them like I am my own. Episcopalians have a pretty large presence in Delaware. In Wilmington, one of the most prominent churches in the city is Trinity Episcopal Church. The surrounding Trinity Vicinity neighborhood was named after the church. The Episcopal cathedral is in Wilmington as well, at the corner of Concord Avenue & Market Street. The cathedral serves the Diocese of Delaware, which I assume is the entire state. There is another old Episcopal church out in the suburbs, along Old Capitol Trail, that looks pretty nice and serves people living near Kirkwood Highway. I know that there are other churches in this area, but I don't know too much about them right now.

Delaware is an extremely diverse place, religiously speaking, in my opinion. Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Baptist, and independent Black churches are all found on a relatively equal basis throughout the state. Obviously, denominations are somewhat concentrated in certain areas: Catholic churches are found mainly in the very northern part of the state, especially since a lot of Irish worked at the DuPont gunpowder mills; Black churches are found where many Blacks live, like Black neighborhoods or historically Free Black communities; Episcopal churches are in the very northern part of the state, where the wealthy lived and owned businesses; and so on. Methodism is one denomination that can be found fairly equally in any part of the state. Methodism in the United States and Western Hemisphere actually got its real start in Delaware at Barratt's Chapel (near Frederica), which is called "The Cradle of Methodism in America".

On top of Christianity, other religions do pretty well here. Hinduism is pretty big, since many Asian Indians emigrated here to work at DuPont, Hercules, AstraZeneca, and other pharmaceutical companies. As a result, the first Hindu temple in between New York City and Washington DC was built in Hockessin about 10 years ago. A second Hindu temple was built maybe 3 years ago. There is a Sikh temple in Elsmere. I'm not sure if there's any Islamic mosque or Buddhist temple or anything here, but I know that those religions are represented in the state as well.



MDguy said:


> Wilmington is candy - its like the east coast's forgotten urban beauty


I would agree that Wilmington is somewhat forgotten, especially since it's halfway between Philadelphia and Baltimore, and halfway between New York City and Washington DC.


----------



## WA (Jan 31, 2008)

xzmattzx said:


> Here's another picture of the view from Kosciuszko Park:


Great Pictures!! Is this picture recent? What is the crane on the right side for?


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

WA said:


> Great Pictures!! Is this picture recent? What is the crane on the right side for?


These pictures are a couple years old. That crane is for the Renaissance Center, at 4th & King Streets.


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

*FARMINGTON*


----------



## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

Farmington is a town in western Kent County. The population is around 85, making it Delaware's smallest municipality by population. Like many other towns in the southwestern quadrant of the state, Farmington was established from the coming of the Delaware Railroad. The town was established in 1851, shortly before the railroad's arrival, and the station was originally named "Flatiron". Later on, the DuPont Highway, signed as U.S. Route 13, paralleled the route of the Delaware Railroad in this part of the state, linking Farmington to the rest of the state by highway.


----------



## Chadoh25 (Dec 28, 2007)

cool!


----------



## canadiancreed (Nov 10, 2010)

As a fan of Delaware, albeit more for it's rural charm then urban canope, I am absolutely loving this thread and the other one that you have going. It's the reason why I registered actually. 

Can't wait for more posts of my favourite state.


----------

