Delaware’s Independence Hall
One of the things I learned while exploring New Castle was that Delaware’s path to independence did not begin in Dover, but here at the Old Court House. This building is often referred to as Delaware’s Independence Hall and why it occupies such an important place in the history of the First State.
Constructed in 1732 as the courthouse for Pennsylvania’s Three Lower Counties, the building served as the center of government for the colony’s Delaware settlements. For decades, representatives gathered here to conduct the business of government under the authority of both the British Crown and William Penn’s proprietorship.
That changed dramatically on June 15, 1776. Meeting within these walls, Delaware’s Assembly voted unanimously to sever its ties not only with Great Britain but also with Pennsylvania. This often-overlooked decision created Delaware as an independent state three weeks before the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4. It was a bold step that allowed Delaware to chart its own course as one of the original thirteen states.
Just a few months later, delegates met here again as members of Delaware’s Constitutional Convention to draft the state’s first constitution. With that document, Delaware established its own government and began the work of governing itself as a free and independent state.
While Philadelphia is rightly remembered as the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence, New Castle was the place where Delaware first declared its own independence and began defining its future. It is one of those remarkable moments that deserves to be remembered alongside the more familiar events of 1776.
My visit to New Castle continually reinforced how much history is concentrated within just a few blocks. William Penn first stepped onto American soil here. Delaware’s independence was proclaimed here. The struggle over slavery unfolded here. One of America’s earliest railroads began here. It is no wonder that New Castle remains one of the country’s most remarkable colonial towns, where every street and every historic marker add another chapter to the story of our nation.
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Beneath the Courthouse
Sometimes the most interesting history is literally beneath our feet. Inside the New Castle Court House, this small glass opening in the floor reveals part of the foundation of the first courthouse built on this site in 1689. The remains were discovered during renovations to the courthouse in the 1950s. Rather than covering them again, […]
Courtroom of the New Castle Court House
Standing inside the courtroom, I was reminded that this building witnessed far more than the birth of a state. Decades after Delaware declared its independence within these walls, the courthouse became the setting for another defining chapter in American history: the struggle over slavery and the Underground Railroad. In 1848, this courtroom was the site […]
Frenchtown Railroad
One of the most fascinating stories I discovered in New Castle was that this small colonial town became the eastern terminus of one of America’s earliest railroads. Completed in 1832, the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad stretched just sixteen miles across the Delmarva Peninsula, linking the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay. Although the railroad […]
