Wilmington Audio Walking Tour

Highlights

• 
  Fort Christina

  Here at the site once called Fort Altena, you're looking at the first Swedish settlement in North America, the heart of the New Sweden colony. Built in 1638 and named for Christina, Queen of Sweden, this outpost sat about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of present-day downtown Wilmington where the Brandywine and Christina rivers meet, some 2 miles (3 km) upstream from the Christina’s mouth on the Delaware River.

• 
  Kalmar Nyckel

  Look closely at this faithful replica of Kalmar Nyckel, key of Kalmar. The name means 'Key of Kalmar' in Swedish — nyckel is 'key' — and it honors the Swedish city of Kalmar and the great Kalmar Castle, once a symbol of power during the Swedish Empire when Sweden was a military great power.

• 
  Brandywine Creek

  Picture Brandywine Creek meeting the Christina River here in present-day Wilmington, a confluence layered with history. This creek, a tributary of the Christina River that threads southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware, feeds a Lower Brandywine main stem measured at 20.4 miles and honored as a Pennsylvania Scenic River.

• 
  DuPont Building

  The DuPont Building occupies the entire block bound by 10th, 11th, Orange, and Market streets, right where you're walking. It looks out over Rodney Square and greets the square with the quiet confidence of one of Wilmington's first high-rises.

• 
  Holy Trinity Church

  East 7th and Church Street brings you to Holy Trinity Church, known as Old Swedes, in Wilmington, Delaware. This building was constructed in 1698–99 and consecrated on Trinity Sunday, June 4, 1699, by a predominantly Swedish congregation formerly of the colony of New Sweden.

All 37 stops

• Swedes' Landing (Wilmington waterfront)

  Picture the Minquas Kill sliding past this warehouse road, right where New Sweden's story first began.

• Fort Christina (Wilmington)

  Here at the site once called Fort Altena, you're looking at the first Swedish settlement in North America, the heart of the New Sweden colony.

• Kalmar Nyckel (Wilmington)

  Look closely at this faithful replica of Kalmar Nyckel, key of Kalmar.

• Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park (Wilmington Riverfront)

  The Christina River waterfront holds Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park, where you can trace two Underground Railroad operatives' story.

• Chase Center on the Riverfront (Riverfront)

  Notice this 92,000-square-foot convention center in Wilmington, Delaware, once a World War II shipyard along the riverfront.

• Brandywine Village Historic District (Brandywine Village)

  Granite mill-owner homes still line Brandywine Creek in this historic Wilmington village around you.

• Brandywine Village (Wilmington)

  Here along the Brandywine River, you're at an early center of U.S. industrialization, in what is now Wilmington, Delaware.

• Brandywine Creek (Brandywine Village)

  Picture Brandywine Creek meeting the Christina River here in present-day Wilmington, a confluence layered with history.

• Bancroft Mills (Brandywine)

  Brick shells of Bancroft Mills rise quietly here along Brandywine Creek, marking your path through Wilmington.

• Brandywine Park (Wilmington)

  Brandywine Park runs along the creek here.

• Brandywine Zoo (Brandywine Park)

  Just 4.7 acres of Brandywine Park hold the Brandywine Zoo, on the banks of the Brandywine River in Wilmington, Delaware.

• Howard Pyle Studios (Delaware Avenue Historic District)

  Illustrator Howard Pyle painted in the larger of these two studios and taught his students in the smaller.

• Frank E. Schoonover Studios (Wilmington)

  Studio Number 1 belonged to Frank Schoonover for his entire career, here in Wilmington.

• Delaware Art Museum (Kentmere Parkway)

  Kentmere Parkway carries you to the Delaware Art Museum.

• Holy Trinity Church (Wilmington)

  East 7th and Church Street brings you to Holy Trinity Church, known as Old Swedes, in Wilmington, Delaware.

• Old First Presbyterian Church of Wilmington (Brandywine Park)

  Built in 1740, this brick meetinghouse with its gambrel roof is the Old First Presbyterian Church of Wilmington.

• Friends Meetinghouse (Quaker Hill)

  At 4th and West Streets, you'll find the Quaker meeting house still active in Wilmington's Quaker Hill neighborhood.

• Delaware Historical Society (LoMa Design District)

  Lower Market Street between 5th and 6th holds the Delaware Historical Society's Wilmington campus.

• Old Town Hall (Wilmington)

  An octagonal cupola tops Old Town Hall, the two-story brick landmark built in Wilmington in 1798.

• Grand Opera House (Wilmington)

  Its cast-iron Second Empire facade marks the Grand Opera House, also known as The Grand, waiting for you here.

• Rodney Square (downtown Wilmington)

  Caesar Rodney, the American Revolutionary leader, gave his name to Rodney Square here in downtown Wilmington.

• Equestrian statue of Caesar Rodney (Rodney Square)

  On July 4, 1923 a statue of Caesar Rodney was installed on this spot in Rodney Square.

• African-American Medal of Honor Recipients Memorial (Brandywine Park)

  Two soldiers meet in Charles Parks's sculpture atop this Medal of Honor memorial in Brandywine Park, Wilmington, Delaware.

• DuPont Building (Rodney Square)

  The DuPont Building occupies the entire block bound by 10th, 11th, Orange, and Market streets, right where you're walking.

• Delaware Trust Building (Wilmington)

  Now known as The Residences at Rodney Square, this Classical Revival tower rises above Market Street around you.

• United States Post Office, Courthouse, and Customhouse (Rodney Square)

  Six large stone pillars front the U.S. Post Office, Courthouse, and Customhouse on Rodney Square.

• Old Customshouse (Wilmington)

  Clerks, judges and drafted soldiers all passed through the Old Customshouse at 516 North King Street.

• Wilmington Public Library, Delaware (Rodney Square Historic District)

  Architects Edward L. Tilton and Alfred Morton Githens raised this library at 10 East 10th Street in Wilmington, Delaware.

• Cathedral of Saint Peter (Quaker Hill)

  Wilmington's first Catholic church grew into the Cathedral of Saint Peter, on West 6th Street in Wilmington, Delaware.

• I.M. Pei Building (Wilmington)

  Delaware's only I. M. Pei design rises 282 feet above you here as the Wilmington Tower.

• 1201 North Market Street (Wilmington)

  Rising 360 feet over 23 stories, 1201 North Market Street towers above the block where you now walk.

• Wilmington Club (Wilmington)

  Thomas Dixon designed this Italianate brownstone in 1863, and the Wilmington Club has owned it since 1900.

• Postles House (Wilmington)

  Locals call this 1905 stone home in Wilmington, Delaware, 'The Gargoyle House' — Postles House looming ahead of you.

• Zachariah Ferris House (Old Town Hall Commercial Historic District)

  Dark glazed headers spell out numerals and letters on the Zachariah Ferris House in Wilmington.

• Obidiah Dingee House (Willingtown Square)

  Small and two stories tall, the Obidiah Dingee House, also called the Obadiah Dingee House, dates to about 1771.

• Jacob Dingee House (Willingtown Square)

  A two-story brick home built about 1771, the Jacob Dingee House in Wilmington now sits beside you.

• Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery (Wilmington)

  Sam Wollaston set aside 10 acres of his farm in 1843 to begin Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery.

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