Hooray for Rodney Square!

Rodney Square, the heart of Wilmington's downtown, is being added to the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of places in the United States deemed worthy of preservation. Also included are the Du Pont and Nemours buildings, the Wilmington Public Library, the City and County building, and the former Post Office, now part of the Wilmington Trust Center. Several of the people that I've been working with while creating the walking tour of Market Street have been trying to get Rodney Square recognized in this way for years. Their hard work has finally paid off. Congratulations to all!

Here's a bit of historical background on the development of Rodney Square.

In 1902 the Du Pont Company's president, Eugene du Pont, died. The remaining family members were going to sell the firm, but were challenged by Alfred I. du Pont, who bought the company with his cousins T. Coleman and Pierre S. du Pont. These younger men initiated a period of modernization, reorganization, and consolidation. No longer a family business that could operate out of the small office on the Hagley property, the Du Pont Company needed more office space for its increased numbers of management personnel. Wilmington became the best choice for the site of the new headquarters, satisfying Pierre and Alfred's desire to keep the company close to the Brandywine as well as Coleman's insistence on an urban setting. In 1904 the Company bought land on the high ground at the corner of 10th and Market streets for their new building.

The twelve-story Du Pont Building provided the impetus for creating a monumental heart for the city of Wilmington. The initial structure housed 549 employees, while the 200-room Du Pont Hotel, added in 1912, featured a grand ballroom, theatre, and restaurant. The county courthouse, built in the 1880s, looked small and out-dated when compared to the modern office building across the street. John K. Raskob, Pierre S. du Pont's assistant, led the effort to tear down this building and build a grander city-county building on King Street. He was driven by a desire to bring the City Beautiful Movement to Wilmington, in the hope that a well-designed civic landscape would impress visiting businessmen. In time, the Wilmington Public Library and the Wilmington Post Office buildings would complete the square, creating an anchor for the city's downtown area.


Want to learn more? Read about the nomination on Delaware Online.