Maps and Photographs of the Dupont Brandywine Works Property 2666

Maps and photographs of the DuPont Brandywine Works property 2666

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on September 14, 2021. Description is written in: English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Manuscripts and Archives PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Maps and photographs of the DuPont Brandywine Works property 2666

Table of Contents

Summary Information ...... 3 Historical Note ...... 3 Scope and Content ...... 4 Arrangement ...... 4 Administrative Information ...... 5 Controlled Access Headings ...... 5 Collection Inventory ...... 5 Maps and plans ...... 5 Photographs ...... 7

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Summary Information

Repository: Manuscripts and Archives Creator - col: Pierce, Mary Jane H. (Mathewson) Creator: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company Title: Maps and photographs of the DuPont Brandywine Works property ID: 2666 Date [inclusive]: 1826-1985 Date [bulk]: bulk 1903-1927 Physical Description: 18 item(s) Language of the English . Material: Abstract: This collection consists of photographs and maps depicting the property of the Brandywine Works of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. The maps and blueprints show how the property of the Brandywine Works was divided among du Pont family members for estates after the works closed. A small series of large-format photographs depict various scenes and events from the Brandywine Works and the city of Wilmington in general.

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Historical Note

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company was established in 1802 by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) and his son Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834). Built along the banks of the Brandywine River north of Wilmington, Delaware, the mill refined its first saltpeter in 1803 and its first gunpowder the same year. Throughout the nineteenth century, the company continued to produce gunpowder before expanding into dynamite and smokeless powder production. In 1902, cousins T. Coleman, Pierre S., and Alfred I du Pont purchased the company and began to transform it from a primarily explosives-based operation to one focused on science and chemicals. Accordingly, the company began buying up smaller powder and chemical companies before anti-trust legislation forced the company to divest much of its interests. Despite the company's intentions of closing the powder yard at the Brandywine Works in the early 1910s, the site remained in operation by request of the Federal Government until the end of World War I. The Brandywine Works closed in 1921.

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Concurrent with the construction of the gunpowder yards in 1802 was the completion of Eleutherian Mills, the first du Pont family home built in America. Built by Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, the home sat on a hill and overlooked Brandywine Creek and the DuPont gunpowder yards. Members of the du Pont family constructed large houses throughout the Brandywine Valley, many of which were located within a three-mile radius, including Winterthur, Rencourt, Nemours, and Pelleport. Following the closure of the powder yards in 1921, the Brandywine Works and much of the surrounding property was divided among du Pont family members for estates. In 1952, members of the du Pont family donated much of the land on which the former powder yards stood, and the DuPont Company created an endowment for the Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation for the purpose of preserving the site and establishing a museum. The site opened as a museum in 1957 and was designated a National historic Landmark in 1966.

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Scope and Content

This collection consists of a series of photographs and maps depicting the property of the Brandywine Works of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. The maps and blueprints show how the property of the Brandywine Works was divided among du Pont family members for estates after the works closed. Some maps are site and landscaping plans for the portion previously gifted to Paulina du Pont, (later Mrs. J. Simpson Dean). She had the house, "Old" Nemours of 1824, extensively remodeled with gardens by New York landscape architect Noel Chamberlain. Other portions of the property shown are now the site of the Hagley Museum and Library.

A small series of large-format photographs depict various scenes and events from the Brandywine Works and the city of Wilmington in general. These include a group photograph of members of the DuPont Gun Club as well as the Clay Target Club celebrating a trapshooting victory with a dinner at the Hotel DuPont. There is a also a panoramic view of the new machine shop office near the Hagley Yard gates, and a group photograph of members of the Wilmington Elks Lodge No. 307 standing in an unidentified street in downtown Wilmington. A group of three aerial photographs taken in 1959, 1984, and 1985 depict the DuPont Co. Experimental Station and the various modifications undertaken at the facility and surrounding properties over a twenty-five year period.

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Arrangement

Arranged in two series: Series I. Maps and plans; Series II. Photographs.

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Administrative Information

Publication Statement Manuscripts and Archives

PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library

Access Restrictions No restrictions on access.

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Controlled Access Headings

• Du Pont family -- Homes and haunts • Real property • Wilmington (Del.) • Maps • Aerial photographs • E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Brandywine Works

Collection Inventory

Maps and plans Scope and Contents

The maps and blueprints show how the property of the Brandywine Works was divided among du Pont family members for estates after the works closed. Some maps are site and landscaping plans for the portion previously gifted to Paulina du Pont, (later Mrs. J. Simpson Dean). She had the house, "Old" Nemours of 1824, extensively

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remodeled with gardens by New York landscape architect Noel Chamberlain. Other portions of the property shown are now the site of the Hagley Museum and Library.

Title/Description Instances Map of tracts of land purchased by Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de drawer folder 1 Nemours at Christiana Hundred, 1826 April 25 MD-59

Lands and premises of the Brandywine Company, 1843 July drawer folder 1 MD-59 Scope and Content

surveyed by Fairlamb and Read

Map of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Brandywine properties, drawer folder 1 1889corrected to 1903 October 31 MD-59 Scope and Content

original by Robt. Frazier

Property map of the Brandywine Works showing division into drawer folder 1 estates with owners, 1922 March 15 MD-59 Scope and Content

1" = 200'

Plan showing property to be sold to Henry A. du Pont by drawer folder 1 Paulina du Pont Dean and location of road to be jointly built and MD-59 maintained, 1924 July 8 Scope and Content

Eleutherian Mills Farm; 1" = 50'

Property of Paulina du Pont, 1922 November 24 drawer folder 1 MD-59 Scope and Content

1" =100'; also a blueprint made from same

Brandywine property - Survey of tracts 47, 46, 45, 77, 37, 44, drawer folder 1 38, 71 & 43 (Newbridge/Rising Sun Lane area) in Christiana MD-59 Hundred, 1923 August 15 Scope and Content

1" = 50'

Planting plan for Mrs. J. Simpson Dean, 1926 March 15 drawer folder 1 MD-59 Scope and Content

Noel Chamberlain, landscape architect; 1" = 10'

Mr. & Mrs. J. Simpson Dean - Planting plan for the Big Lawn, drawer folder 1 1927 November 7 MD-59

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Scope and Content

Noel Chamberlain, landscape architect; 1" = 50'

Map of the Wilmington & Northern Railroad right of way at drawer folder 1 Newbridge/Rising Sun Lane, undated MD-59

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Photographs Scope and Contents

Title/Description Instances Aerial photograph depicting DuPont Co. Experimental Station and drawer folder 2 adjacent properties, 1959 March 20 MD-59 Scope and Content

Aero Service Corporation ; 1" = 200'

Aerial photograph depicting DuPont Co. Experimental Station and drawer folder 2 adjacent property, 1984 April 3 MD-59 Scope and Content

Aerial Data Reduction Associates ; 1" = 9,600'

Aerial photograph depicting DuPont Co. Experimental Station and drawer folder 2 adjacent property, 1985 January 16 MD-59 Scope and Content

Aerial Data Reduction Associates ; 1" = 9,600'

Clay Target Club dinner at Hotel DuPont, circa 1915 drawer folder 2 MD-59

Du Pont Gun Club group photograph, 1911 drawer folder 2 MD-59

Laflin & Rand Powder Co. smokeless powder advertisement, circa drawer folder 2 1910 MD-59

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Scope and Content

includes 17 portraits of gunpowder experts and their testimonials

Panoramic view of new machine shop office near Hagley Yard drawer folder 2 gates, circa 1910 MD-59

Wilmington Elks Lodge No. 307, circa 1915 drawer folder 2 MD-59 Scope and Content

group photograph on an unidentified street in Wilmington

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