Delaware - New Castle

New Castle



The old power building is on the right when entering town on East 4th Street.


Continuing to East 3rd Street, by The Academy (1789, #31 on the corner of Harmony Street), to the Old Library (1892, #38 on the right). Only the front half is an octagon, and it has an embedded plaque commemorating the former 1812-1891 library.


#34-36, #32, #26-28 East Third, all in a row. The first building is the 1825 Samuel Carpenter House, adjacent to the oldest house in New Castle, believed to be the only New Castle building dating to Dutch rule in the 17th century. The second photo is tame by comparison, the 1800 Archibald Alexander House.


Back and side of the 1857 jail, built to the side of the 1732 courthouse.


Here is said New Castle Court House, with the 1826 town hall behind it in the first photo.


Here is said Old Town Hall, which also housed the fire company and the Masonic Lodge for a time. You'll see another Masonic building on this page later, not that most of these buildings weren't built, at least in part, by Masons. Note the open arcade on the first story.


Looking up 2nd Street on the right side of Old Town Hall, these photos stretch from #9 to #19. Here are the six buildings: 1830 Holschumaker House, 1870 (#11 and #13), late 18th century with 19th cenutry facades (#15 and #17), 1830 Miss Darrah House. The 1707 Presbyterian Church tower is in the back of the second photo.


The 1918 Beaux-Arts bank on the south side of the central square is now the mayor's office among other city functions. You can see that it was built over 9-10 years.


Proceeding west along Delaware Street, the 1820 Kensey Johns Van Dyke House is at #300, next to the 1879 New Castle Opera House. That's that other Masonic-built building I mentioned before, as it started life as both opera house and Masonic temple.


Continuing west, the 1730 Amstel House is on the northwest corner of 4th Street and the 1709 Senator Nicholas Van Dyke House is on the southwest corner. New Castle was christened New Amstel while a Dutch settlement in 1656, but received its current name just 8 years later when England took control of the Colonies.


Back to the town square, this time I'll head east. The first photo is #212-216 Delaware Street, the 1730 Booth House (original part in yellow). The Gilpin House, now a bank, was born in the early 18th century and was McCullough Tavern as of 1797, so it has clearly seen a lot of uses in over 300 years. The 1818 Janvier House and Store is the small building behind that, and then the tall brick building in the last photo is the 1860 Terry House. #200 to its immediate right was built in the early 1800s, and #202-204 to the right of that is Old Delaware House from the early 1700s.


Looking west from #116 to #122-124 Delaware, then looking east from #118 to #110. #122-124 was built around 1850, #120 is the early 19th-century Hussey House, #118 is the 1760 Dalby House, and #116-114 also date to the 18th century. Finally, #112 and #110 are the 1870 Star Hotel and the 1704 Rosemont House.


The 1845 Farmer's Bank is on the northwest corner of Delaware Street and The Strand; it lasted a whole 6 years before becoming a residence. It's next to the 1730 Gunning Bedford House.


I can't say I'm saving the most historic for last, but this building is both the farthest on my travels and the only one you can't see when you visit. The 1880 Telegraph Building, later used as a satellite police post among other sundry uses, was in the process of asbestos abatement in preparation for remediation when it suffered a structural failure in January 2017. With an upcoming severe storm forecast, town officials decided it would not survive and it would be better to demolish it than face its wreckage being scattered about town. Fortunately, New Castle remains a wealth of history, but not many places have intact heritage from the telegraph era, so this is a shame.

New Castle Roads
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