Carolyn Roland-Your Delaware and Chester County Historic Homes Specialist

August, 2009 is a time of celebration for Wilmington and the Delaware Historical Society, for 2 reasons. The first is that the Christopher L. Ward Reading Room of the Research Library has reopened with a new heating and cooling system in their converted bank building at 505 Market Street.

The second celebration is for the opening of an exhibit in the Willingtown Square Gallery adjacent to the old bank. It features a Clifford Brown collection donated by Paul Preston Davis, a Wilmington native and devoted collector of materials related to both the city and African American history. Despite his short life and career, Brown is still honored by jazz afficionados and by the city of Wilmington and its annual Clifford Brown Jazz Festival. Below are pictures of the Delaware History Center museum and across the street from it, Willingtown Square, a collection of buildings moved to the site when threatened by demolition.

The West Grove postal area includes many communities, the most populated is probably Jennersville. With activities centered on Old Baltimore Pike and the Route 1 expressway, lots of activity is found centered on the intersection with Route 796. Here can be found a large modern shopping center which is a study in contrasts. Within a few yards of one another, you can see a Starbucks with a drive-in window and hitching posts for the Amish community and their horse carts. A neighbor tells me she has only seen one horse ever tied up there, and we wonder how often the Amish go to get coffee or shop at the Giant Food Store (never?).

Winterthur, an American country estate, is the former home of Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969), an avid antiques collector and horticulturist. In the early 20th century, H. F. du Pont and his father, Henry Algernon du Pont, designed Winterthur in the spirit of 18th- and19th-century European country houses.

A visit there today proved to be most interesting, one of the reasons being I thought I knew the paths through the gardens. Well, they moved them, actually a good idea for a hot afternoon, because I was able to stay in lots of shady areas. They have also added a feature--a small group tour of one floor in the museum is included in general admission now. There you see displayed actual rooms moved from houses in all 13 of the original colonies, along with antiques from a collection of 85,000 objects.

Here's a sneak preview of what you would see on the grounds and in the museum.

I was delighted today to see the Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly in my Wilmington garden. It seemed attracted by the zinnias and the (what else?) butterfly bush. And to find out that it was the Delaware State Butterfly, adopted in 1999 was the icing on the cake. Enjoy the photos with me!

The village of West Grove derived its name from the Friends Meeting House on Harmony Road built in 1787 several miles west of the Friends Meeting House in the village of London Grove.

The March 28, 1885 Daily Local News described West Grove as "one of the most flourishing villages in this county" and stated that "it contains some three flouring mills and the largest nursery for rose culture (see below) in the United States (Dinger & Conrad, Co.), a large casket factory (Paxson Comfort) and a large number of dwellings". In May 1885, the Chester County Democrat reported that thirty new homes were under construction.

Today, the Friends Meeting House (Quaker) overlooks the east end of town from its peaceful setting which includes a bird sanctuary and arboretum. It is located on a site occupied by a simpler original 1786 meeting house which was enlarged and remodeled in 1903 to accommodate the wider Quaker community.

Below is an artist's sketch of the meetinghouse, photos of the exterior and interior, courtesy of the Meetinghouse.