Suburbanization in the Vicinity of
Wilmington, Delaware, 1880-1950+/-:
A Historic Context
by
Susan Mulchahey Chase
David LAmes
Rebecca J" Siders
Center for Historic Architecture and Engineering
College of Urban Affairs and Public Policy
University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware
June 1992
The University of Delaware is committed to assuring equal opportunity to all persons and does not
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accessibility and Title VI should be referred to the Affirmative Action Office, 307 Hullihen Hall, (302) 831-
2835.
The activity that is the subject of this document has been financed in part with federal funds from the
National Parks Service, Department of the Interior. However, the contents and opinions do not
necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Interior, nor does the mention of trade
names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Department of the
Interior.
This program receives federal financial assistance for identification and protection of historic resources.
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the U.S.
Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or handicap in
its federally assisted programs. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity,
or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to:
Office for Equal Opportunity
u.,S. Department of the Interior
Washington, DC 20240
ii
CONTENTS
Ust of Rgures v
Ust of Tables vi
Preface vii
I. The National Register of Historic Places and the Suburbs 1
The Subdivision as an Historic Resource 1
The National Context of Suburbanization 2
Relating Subdivisions to the National Register of Historic Places 3
Elements of the Historic Context 4
II.. Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 16
Perception and Use of Land and Landscape 16
Land and Landscape in Wilmington 19
The Process of Suburbanization 24
Property Types Related to Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 33
Physical Criteria for Evaluation of Subdivisions 35
III. Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 37
Architectural Trends 37
Property Types Related to Architectural Trends 40
Location Patterns for Property Types Related to Architectural Style 60
Criteria for Evaluation of Significance: Dwellings 62
Criteria for Evaluation of Integrity: Dwellings 63
IV. Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change in Suburbanization 65
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change 66
Restrictive Covenants 72
"Home" and Home Ownership 76
Associative Property Types for Suburbanization: Settlement Patterns and Demographic
Change 78
V. Impact of Transportation and Rnance on Suburbanization 81
Transportation and Land Development 81
Rnancing and the Process of Suburbanization 90
Associative Property Types for Suburbanization: Transportation and Rnance 97
iii
VI. Conclusions and Standards for Evaluating Subdivisions 101
Conclusions Based on Subthemes 101
Information Needs 103
Process for Evaluating Subdivisions and Suburban Dwellings 104
VII.. Goals and Priorities for Suburbanization and Related Property Types 110
Priorities and Goals for Identification and Evaluation Activities 110
Priorities and Goals for Registration Activities 113
Priorities and Goals for Treatment Activities 114
Reference Bibliography 120
Appendix A: Alphabetical Index of Subdivisions 124
Appendix B: Index of Subdivisions by Date 129
Appendix C: Index of Subdivisions by Hundred 134
Appendix D: Rnder's Guide for Elements of the Historic Context 139
Appendix E: Special Documentation Requirements 141
iv
LIST OF FIGURES
FiQure
1 New Castle County Map 10
2 Geographic Zones 11
3 Brandywine Park 21
4 Wilmington and BrandywineCemetery 23
5 Incidence of Straight Streets Among All Suburban Hundreds 28
6 Cumulative Incidence, One- or Two-Street Subdivisions By Hundred 29
7 Incidence of Subdivisions with Single Access Road, All Suburban Hundreds 31
8 Incidence of Architectural Variety Among All Suburban Hundreds 32
9 Time Line for the Appearance of ArchitecturalStyles in Wilmington Subdivisions 41
10 Bungalow, Richardson Park 42
11 Four-Square, Roselle Terrace 44
12 Colonial Revival, Wier Avenue 45
13 Dutch Colonial, Gordon Heights 47
14 Side-Gable Cottage, Idela 49
15 Cape Cod Cottage, EdgemoorTerrace 51
16 Front-Gable Cottage, Minquadale 53
17 EnglishfTudor Cottage, Edgewood Hills 54
18 Spanish Revival, Villa Monterey 56
19 Corinne Court, Villa Monterey 58
20 Modernllnternational Style, Delwood 59
21 Urban Population as Percentageof Total United States Population 67
22 Wilmington's Share of Delaware'sUrban Population 69
23 Wilmington's Metropolitan District, 1930 71
24 Percentage Distribution of Foreign-BornWilmington Residents 73
25 Wilmington Transportation Routes 85
v
Table
1
2
3
LIST OF TABLES
Distribution of Subdivisions by Hundred 26
Percentage of New Castle County Population in Wilmington and Suburban Hundreds, 1880-
1950 68
Percentage of New Castle County Population Living Outside Wilmington. 1880-1950 70
vi
PREFACE
New Castle County faces increasing challenges in dealing with early twentieth-century properties,
particularly subdivisions, both because previous survey efforts have largely by-passed twentieth-century
buildings and because no clear guidelines exist to inform future survey activities. The earliest
subdivisions are threatened by modification and buildings within them are at risk from deterioration and
demolition as they age and by renovations that compromise architectural integrity.
This historic context has been prepared in response to requests from several quarters. The New
Castle County Department of Planning had sought guidance in evaluating the extent to which historically
significant properties related to sub urbanization were distributed in the vicinity of Wilmington. In addition,
the State Historic Preservation Office and the Grant Selection Committee of the State Review Board for
Historic Preservation responded to this request by making the development of an historic context on
suburbanization a high priority for funding under the Historic Preservation Fund subgrant program for FY
1991. It was their intention that the context would provide a guide for future survey and treatment
activities. Their support fulfills a priority established in the Delaware Comprehensive Historic Preservation
Plan (Delaware Plan) ..
In FY 1991, the Center for Historic Architecture and Engineering received a matching funds grant
from the Historic Preservation Fund to develop a historic context examining the process of
suburbanization in the vicinity of Wilmington, Delaware, primarily in the early twentieth century. The
project was conducted for the Delaware State Historic Preservation Office, Division of Historical and
Cultural Affairs, and the grant was administered by the National Parks Service, Department of the Interior.
The historic context was developed in accordance with the planning process described in the Delaware
Plan and its companion volume, the Historic Context Master Reference and Summary, as well as the
Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation .. All
activities relating to the development of this context have been carried out in consultation with the staff of
the Delaware State Historic Preservation Office, Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs.
An advisory committee established to assist in the preparation of the historic context consisted of
Valerie Cesna (preservation planner, New Castle County), Eldon Homsey (Wilmington architect), Carol E..
Hoffecker (professor, Department of History, University of Delaware), April Veness (assistant professor,
Department of Geography, University of Delaware), and Steve Del Sordo (state historian) and Alice
Guerrant (state archaeologist), both from the Delaware State Historic Preservation Office .. The committee
met three times between 1 January and 31 March 1992 and provided guidance in regard to several
aspects of the project. In terms of editorial considerations, they made suggestions on the graphics used
to present data on suburban development, on clarifying the distinctions among terms used in the context
(suburb versus subdivision versus development), and on where emphasis could be added beneficially to
vii
existing text. In addition, they identified by their questions areas of confusion, such as the exclusion of
certain types of developments, and the need for clear labels for the associative property types.
viii
I. THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES AND THE SUBURBS
"The suburb is a footnote to urban civilization affecting the near-by country-side." Harlan
Paul Douglas, The Suburban Trend, 19251
The Subdivision as an Historic Resource
The most modern of American landscapes, the suburbs, are becoming old enough to be eligible
for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.. Established in 1966, the National Register is the
federal government's list of the nation's cultural and historic resources that are worthy of preservation. To
be considered historic enough for listing on the Register, an historic resouce must be at least 50 years
old. To most, the term "suburban" conjures up an image of a contemporary landscape with rows of tract
houses sited on a modified grid of curving streets. This image is reenforced by graphic icons such as the
famous aerial photograph of suburban tracts stretching to the horizon across the San Fernando Valley in
California" To say that such suburban development contains significant historic resources may seem like a
contradiction in terms.
In fact, suburbs started to develop around American cities in the late nineteenth century as an
alternative to city life. In fashioning such new residential environments to provide a contrast to the
gridded, high density, and often unhealthy city, Americans invented a new settlement form--the
subdivision--that became the basic building block of the suburban landscape. Living outside the city was
made possible for large numbers of people first by streetcars and later by automobiles that allowed them to
commute to jobs in the city .. Influenced by the design of nineteenth-century parks and gardens, the ideal
residential subdivision was conceived of as a self-contained, residential community built at a lower density
than the city, providing privacy and a parklike living environment for its residents .. Privacy was created by
limiting access to the subdivision and surrounding it with a land buffer. The roads within the subdivision
were needed only to serve the residents; they occupied less land than gridded streets and generated
less traffic and noise. A sense of community was reenforced by designing the road system so that each
resident had access to every other house without having to leaving the subdivision. A parklike setting was
created by placing single-family houses (and occasionally duplexes) on individual lots large enough to
create a lower density than the city. To maintain a sense of openness and uninterrupted lines of sight, the
houses were sited in the middle of their lots through required setback and side yard requirements. Well-
kept lawns, trees, and other vegetation completed the parklike atmosphere .. When possible, a
subdivision was built on an elevated site that provided a vista over the surrounding countryside.
The subdivision and its dwellings can be considered a "designed historic landscape" as defined
by the National Register. The goal of this study is to develop evaluation criteria that can determine the
1Douglas, 1
1
The National Register and the Suburbs 2
potential eligibility of Wilmington's subdivisions for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. This
historic context examines the process of suburbanization as it occurred around the city of Wilmington,
Delaware, between 1880 and 1950. In this study, suburbanization is defined as the creation of residential
communities in the periphery of a core city, distant from the urban center yet linked to it by ties of
employment.. The term "subdivision" designates the individual areas developed by this process of
subdividing land into building lots, providing improvements, and converting land to residential use. It
should be noted that as families moved from the city to outlying areas, churches, schools, stores, and
gasoline stations were built to serve the new subdivisions. This context is restricted to an examination of
the residential aspects of the process of suburbanization, while acknowledging that these other features
of the suburban landscape exist.
The National Context of Suburbanization
Although the majority of American suburban communities were built following World War II, the
forms of suburbanization were established much earlier. Suburbanization in the United States occurred in
three broad stages.2 In the first stage, from the late nineteenth century to about 1940, suburbs were
bedroom communities to central cities. In 1925, Douglas described the suburbs as
a belt of near-by but less-crowded communities which have 'close connections' within the
city, made possible by physical arrangements for the rapid transfer of people and goods
between the two. It is the area within which many people go to the city to work and come
back at night, the area within which numerous shoppers flock to city stores which make
daily delivery of purchases ..3
In this stage, the rate of suburbanization was modest and the central city remained dominant.. It was in this
stage that the subdivision was developed and refined.
The early 1940s marked the prelude of a suburban building boom that would house veterans
returning from World World II and was continued by post-war economic and population growth. This
building in the periphery of American cities produced a far reaching change in American urban settlement
patterns by creating a distinctive, dispersed suburban landscape. "Beginning in the 1940's, suburbs
have accounted for more population growth than central cities, and by 1960, they had almost as much
total population." 4 The growth of suburbia after World War II reflected significant cultural, social, and
economic trends in twentieth-century American society., In trying to define the suburbs of the 1950s,
Robert Wood wrote that "suburbia is a looking glass in which the character, behavior, and culture of
2Frey and Speare, 176,
3Douglas, 5
41990 Census Profile, September, 1991, 2,
The National Register and the Suburbs 3
middle class America is displayed .... Suburbia .. , reflects with fidelity modem man, his way of living, his
institutions and beliefs, his family and his social associations,,"5
The suburban boom after World War II lasted until about the mid 19705. In the late 1960s and
1970s, as suburban communities gained their own major retailing and community facililities, sometimes
referred to as the "mailing" of America, they became less dependent on the central city. In the 19705 and
1980s, many suburban communities became almost automous economically and socially. Joel Garreau, a
journalist, has called these new suburbs "Edge City,": "Today, we have moved our means of creating
wealth, the essence of urbanism--our jobs--out to where most of us have lived and shopped for two
generations. That has lead to the rise of Edge City,,''S Observers of a more academic bent have called this
last phase "post-suburban,,"?
Wilmington's suburban expansion has followed much the same pattern, although with its own
unique aspects. Its suburbs contain economic extremes ranging from the country villas of the du Pont
family and their neighbors in "Chateau Country" north of Wilmington to the modest housing in the working
class suburb of Elsmere first laid out in 1886, After World War II, from 1950 to 1960, suburban New Castle
County grew explosively, more than doubling its population and becoming home to an additional
100,000 people. Although the historical significance of this growth may be obscured by familiarity, the
suburbanization of Wilmington is one of the most significant events in Delaware's history; it transformed
the landscape with a remaking of its population, economy, and society.
Relating Subdivisions to the National Register of Historic Places
Historic resources that can be considered for the National Register include districts, sites,
buildings, structures, and objects that manifest a quality of significance in American history, architecture,
engineering, and culture; that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship,
feeling, and association; and meet one of the four following criteria:
A. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns
of our history;
B..That are associated with the lives of persons significant to our past;
C" That embody distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that
represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction;
sWood, 4
6Garreau, 5
7Kling, Olin, and Poster, 5
The National Register and the Suburbs
D. That have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history"
4
The primary property type of suburbanization is the self-contained planned residential
subdivision that can be considered a "designed historic landscape" under the criteria governing the
National Register and would be nominated to the National Register as an historic district. The dwellings in
the subdivision are considered elements of the landscape. A designed historic landscape is one that has
"significance as a design or work of art; was consciously designed and laid out ... to a design principle, or
an owner or other amateur using a recognized style of tradition; has an historical association with a
significant person, trend or event."8 The first designed historic landscapes recognized by the National
Register were those associated with landscape architecture such as formal gardens and parks .. Since then
the types of historic landscapes recognized by the National Register have been broadened to include
"subdivisions and planned communitieslresorts" and "city planning and civic design." In addition to
subdivisions, many significant aspects of suburbanization can be reflected in individual buildings and can
be nominated to the National Register individually or in a thematic nomination ..
Evaluating and registering historic resources related to suburbanization present important
challenges to the National Register program in Delaware and will be considered in the final
recommendations of this study. Rrst, the number of historic properties related to suburbanization
between 1880 and 1950 exceeds all the remaining resources built in the state in the same period. In
addition, the resources related to suburbanization built between 1950 and 1970 will exceed all the
resources related to the entire history of the state prior to 1945. The State Historic Preservation Office
has been systematically surveying, evaluating, and nominating those resources since 1966. For both
financial and logistical reasons some method needs to be devised for sampling these resources, rather
than surveying them comprehensively, in a way that assures that the most significant resources are
identified. Secondly, one reason suburban development is significant historically is that it represents the
application of mass-production methods to objects--namely houses--that were heretofore individually
produced. Evaluation criteria must be established to help choose which, among hundreds of identical
buildings, ought to be nominated to the National Register ..
Elements of the Historic Context
An historic context is defined as an "organizational format that groups information about related
historic properties, based on theme, geographic limits, and chronological period .."9 The Delaware
Comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan (hereafter "the Delaware Plan") identifies eleven elements that
must be included to complete a fully-developed historic context:
8Keller and Keller, 2
9 Federal Register, 28 September 1983, 44716.
The National Register and the Suburbs
? historic theme
? geographic zone
? chronological period
? known and expected property types
? criteria for evaluating existing or expected resources
? distribution and potential distribution of property types
? goals and priorities for the context and property types
? information needs and recent preservation activity
? reference bibliography
? method for involving the general and professional public
? mechanism for updating the context
Each of these elements is addressed in this historic context on suburbanization. The principal defining
element of the Greater Wilmington Suburbanization Historic Context is its historic theme--
suburbanization. This defining theme is complemented by its associative subthemes--Architecture,
Engineering, and Decorative Arts; Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change; Transportation and
Communication; and Rnance10; its geographic zone--portions of the Piedmont, Upper Peninsula,
Coastal, and Urban Zones;and its chronological period--1880-1950 +/-.
5
Historic Themes
Suburbanization, as the historic theme for this context, refers to the creation of residential
communities around the periphery of the core city of Wilmington, distant from the urban center yet linked
to it by ties of employment. To date, scholars have made only limited efforts to conduct a systematic
examination of the process of suburbanization, especially as if occurred prior to 1940. While considering
portions of the sequence by which large parcels of farm land were transformed into suburban lawns and
home sites, no study has pursued a step-by-step analysis of the process from the acquisition of rural
acreage to its division into blocks, then lots with roads, the provision of utility, water, and sewerage
services, the building of houses, and finally its residential occupancy. To the extent that the entire
sequence has not been fully studied, there is the risk of misinterpreting the process.
The definition of suburbanization used for this historic context excludes worker housing, such as
Overlook Colony and Worthland (now Knollwood), that was built away from the central city. While such
housing was created in locations distant from the city, the residents worked in factories near their homes.
Although the dwellings were suburban geographically, the necessary employment tie to the city did not
exist for residents. The definition also excludes from consideration company-built housing like that
created in Wawaset Park by the du Pont Company for its middle managers, Suburbanization discussed in
this context was a process by which independent entrepreneurs undertook the subdivision and
marketing of land and the sale of housing. Rental housing provided as an employment benefit therefore
falls outside the scope of this study"
10 With the advent of govemment-imposed zoning regulations in the 1950s, the subtheme of
Government becomes a more important element of this historic context
The National Register and the Suburbs 6
Similarly, the row houses known as Woodlawn Rats erected by the Woodlawn Trustees along
Union Street are excluded from consideration" Although separate from what was at the time the core of
the city, the property was intended to be and has remained rental housing rather than owner-occupied ..
Because home ownership was key in propelling the process of suburbanization forward and, additionally,
because single-family homes became the hallmark of suburban development, these houses are not
included in the historic context.
Architecture, Engineering, and Decorative Arts is the primary subtheme in the physical
examination of both subdivisions and dwellings .. Set against the trends that were occurring nationally,
Wilmington's experience is described and evaluated, starting with the eaniest subdivisions and tracing
changes in the pattern of subdivision design. The study also identifies national housing types that rose to
prominence during the period and relate those styles to the style of dwellings built in the vicinity of
Wilmington during the period from 1880 to 1950. This theme is discussed more fully in Chapter II::
Subdivisions, and Chapter III: Dwellings ..
Among the associative subthemes, Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change relates most
fundamentally to the cultural trends underlying the process of suburbanization. During a period when the
population of the entire nation was becoming increasingly urban, Delaware was no exception. By 1920
more than half the state's population was classified as urban, although after that year, Wilmington's share
of the urban population began to decline as the share of the adjacent suburban areas began to increase.
Part of the explanation may lie in the influx of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe that began
around 1910 ..
As developers created suburban communities both to house population leaving the city and in
pursuit of their own economic interests, they included restrictive deed covenants in an attempt to create
agreeable and therefore marketable landscapes and to engineer congenial (Le..relatively homogeneous)
populations for their subdivisions .. These efforts were supported by popularized concepts that had
elevated "home" and home ownership to ideals to be pursued. Settlement Patterns and Demographic
Change, with its related discussion of restrictive covenants and the meaning of home, are discussed more
fully in Chapter IV.
Transportation and Communication is a key associative subtheme in an examination of the
process of suburbanization. Wilmington's trolley system began in 1864 with Wilmington City Railway's
horse trolley line along newly-developed Delaware Avenue .. For two decades, service remained largely
within the city but was extended beyond the city limits shortly after the 1888 conversion to electricity .. In
1899, the Chester and Darby Line inaugurated service from Wilmington to Chester, Pennsylvania. Over
the next two decades, new routes served Newport and Stanton, thus providing access to new
subdivisions being built along the way .. In addition, the closing years of the nineteenth century saw routes
extended to serve amusement parks owned by the rival trolley companies
The National Register and the Suburbs 7
As automobiles replaced trolleys, the location of the subdivisions changed, as did the designs of
the subdivisions and of the dwellings built in them. Residential neighborhoods, away from main
transportation routes, had wider streets to accommodate traffic and parked vehicles. The designs for
houses and lots included driveways and garages. Chapter V discusses more fully the subtheme of
Transportation and Communication ..
The final associative subtheme, Rnance, addresses suburban development as a process that
changed over time. Initially, the developer of the land acquired a tract of land, divided it into building lots,
and provided some level of improvements such as grading roads or installing electric lines. The
developers were generally not the same people as the builders who constructed the houses. Both
developers and builders were distinguished, of course, from the home owners who bought and occupied
the new suburban homes. As the twentieth century progressed, the roles of developer and builder
began to merge until large scale development began to appear in the late 1930s. Much of the explanation
for the various configurations of actors who took part in the process lies in the financial framework within
which the participants worked. When capital was limited for investment in land or in building materials,
large scale development was beyond the financial reach of most developers and builders. More
importantly, with the enactment of Federal Housing Administration legislation in 1934, the federal
government began an active role in assisting the financing of suburban housing .. It was through the
assistance of this program that Edgemoor Terrace was built in 1939 and 1940--the first example of large-
scale development in the state. As substantial blocks of money became more readily accessible, most
obviously as a result of FHA legislation, the dream of larger subdivisions could be realized. Rnance will be
more fully explored in Chapter V below ..
Research Design
Developing an historic context is a research project and must be carried out in a systematic
fashion, under a specific research design, to assure that all of the important aspects of the context have
been identified" This context was developed with a research design that includes identification of
subdivisions, fieldwork, and documentary research ..
Identification of Subdivisions .. During the seventy-year period under consideration, there
was no zoning to control or guide suburban development in New Castle County .. As a result, no single
repository possesses all the plans for all the earliest subdivisions Any developer who submitted plans of
his subdivision to the county did so voluntarily. The maps that were filed with the county are deposited
with one of two county offices, the New Castle County Department of Planning and the New Castle
County Recorder of Deeds. While many maps are available in both offices on microfilm, the more
accessible collection of original rather than filmed maps is held by the Department of Planning.
The initial task was to identify by name all subdivisions that might have been developed between
1880 and 1950. This identification was accomplished by examining three different current road maps and
The National Register and the Suburbs 8
noting every subdivision name shown. This list was then culled of every subdivision that had been
planned after 1950, leaving a list of subdivisions that had been planned within the time period of the
historic context.
From the maps filed with the county, the boundaries of each of the subdivisions were plotted on a
set of field maps. The names of any subdivisions that had been planned but whose names no longer
appear on current maps--either because the names had changed or because the subdivision was planned
but never developed--were added to the original list. A total of 182 subdivisions were identified as having
been planned during the period of the historic context. Major transportation routes, both trolley and
automobile, were also marked on the field maps. This methodology was largely successful, although the
dispersed storage of subdivision maps meant that initially gathering basic data about subdivision
boundaries was more time consuming than had been anticipated.
Field Work. No complete list of subdivisions existed and once it was assembled, extensive
fieldwork was undertaken to identify the full range of the geographic distribution, architectural variety, and
design characteristics of the subdivisions. One of the key goals was to identify the characteristics by
which subdivisions could be described and evaluated over time and the only way to do so was by direct
observation in the field. In addition, because the construction Of dwellings was integral to the process of
suburbanization, it was also important to determine not only the types of houses that were built, but the
period of time over which building took place .. Again, direct observation was the only reliable way to gather
these data.
Of the 182 subdivisions identified as being within the time period, 176 were actually developed
for residential use and all of these subdivisions were visited during the field work phase of the project
Infonnation on the design of each subdivision was recorded, as was information regarding the dwellings in
each subdivision. These data were used to track how the character of the subdivisions changed over time
and to assess differences in trends between hundreds, Delaware's equivalent of the township.
Documentary Research. A number of documentary resources were tapped to create the
historic context narrative. In addition to newspaper advertisements and articles, one of the most useful
sources was the trade paper One-Two-One-Four, published from 1923 to 1932 by Brosius and Smedley,
a local lumber company for people in the Wilmington building trades. The newsletter reported the
activities of architects, contractors, and builders and commented on current trends and concerns among
practitioners. Deed records for property transfers in Gwinhurst and Bellefonte provided useful details and
examples.
The lack of zoning to control suburbanization means that little early documentation exists to
enlarge our understanding. Further documentary reS?arch may reveal previously undiscovered sources
that can cast welcome light on how the process went forward.
A second avenue of research also proved much slower than expected in yielding helpful
information. Using deeds as a source of information was a tedious undertaking and probably too prodigal
The National Register and the Suburbs 9
of precious research time to be used profitably. It might be better applied when an individual subdivision is
being examined or when the activities of a single builder are being studied.
Geographic Zones
This historic context undertakes the identification of certain aspects of the process and the
examination of some of the changes that suburbanization made in the landscape of Brandywine,
Christiana, northern New Castle, and, to a limited degree, Mill Creek hundreds (Rgure 1). Hundreds in
Delaware are political/geographical divisions roughly equivalent to townships in other states. Hundred
boundaries were used as the divisions by which census data were recorded through the early twentieth
century. The geographic area of the historic context includes portions of four of the geographic zones
defined in the Delaware Plan: Piedmont, Upper Peninsula, Coastal, and Urban (Rgure 2).
Most of the subdivisions identified for study are located in the Piedmont Zone, primarily in
Brandywine and Christiana Hundreds with a few in Mill Creek Hundred (north and west of Wilmington) ..
The landscape of the zone ranges from flat to hilly; prior to the onset of suburbanization the land was used
primarily for agriculture. Suburban development in these areas first occurred along major transportation
routes: Philadelphia Pike (Route 13), Concord Pike (Route 202), Newport Pike-Maryland Avenue (Route
4), Lancaster Pike (Route 48), and Kirkwood Highway (Route 2) .. Later suburbs filled the interstices
between the primary routes, developing along important secondary thoroughfares (Shipley, Marsh, and
Naamans roads and Brandywine Boulevard in Brandywine Hundred; du Pont, Faulkland, Boxwood, and
Centre roads in Christiana Hundred; Greenbank Road and Newport Gap Pike in Mill Creek Hundred) ..
Kennett Pike was the one major thoroughfare which did not experience suburban development during
the period of the context ..
New Castle Hundred lies within the Upper Peninsula Zone (south of Wilmington), an area with land
that ranges from flat and marshy to hilly and well-drained .. That portion of New Castle Hundred lying north
and east of Churchman's Road and north of New Castle Frenchtown Pike and the town of New Castle is
included as part of the greater Wilmington area for the purposes of this historic context .. The suburban
development in the zone took place primarily along the two major highways crossing the area, the du Pont
Parkway (Route 13) and New Castle Avenue (Route 9).
The Coastal Zone is part of the area examined only to the extent that both Brandywine and New
Castle hundreds reach to the Delaware River and some of the subdivisions approached the river, although
none extended all the way to the water. The actual edge of the Delaware River is devoted to use by
railroad companies, industrial plants, and state and interstate highways.
None of the subdivisions considered in this context lie within the Urban Zone, that is, within the
City of Wilmington. While all the subdivisions are in the area surrounding the city, the Urban Zone is
considered essential to the development of the context because the city's interaction with the
surrounding hundreds was an intimate part of the process of suburbanization. The city's role in the
The National Register and the Suburbs 10
Rgure 1 : Map of New Castle County Showing Hundred Divisions and Context Study Area
The National Register and the Suburbs
I PIEDMONT
II UPPER PENINSULA
III LOWER PEN INSULA!CYPRESS SWAMP
IV COASTAL
V URBAN
Figure 2: Map of Geographic Zones ..
Source: Delaware Comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan, 33 ..
11
The National Register and the Suburbs
process is examined to complete the explanation of certain causes of suburban movement.
12
Chronological Period
The decades from 1880 to 1940 are identified in the Delaware Comprehensive Historic
Preservation Plan as the period of Urbanization and Early Suburbanization. The development of Elsmere
in ,Christiana Hundred Oust west of Wilmington) in 1886, with its "Beautiful Home Sites" only a five-cent
trolley ride 11 from the intersection of Eighth and Market Streets, marked the beginning of suburbanization
around Wilmington. Although the Delaware Plan identifies 1940 as the end of the period, the day is
rapidly approaching when subdivisions developed shortly after the conclusion of World War II may be
considered for listing on the National Register. This context seeks to provide a means for identifying and
evaluating the potentially eligible sites among the subdivisions built prior to 1950.
Property Types
An historic context is linked with tangible historic resources through property types .. The
Delaware Plan defines a property type as "a group of individual resources which have some shared
physical or associative characteristics that set them apart from other resources. "12 The historic context for
suburbanization identifies two basic groups of property types--subdivisions and suburban dwellings ..
Property types related to the suburbanization historic context have both physical characteristics and
associative characteristics. The basic characteristics of the suburban subdivisions and dwellings are
physical. As the discussions of subdivisions in Chapter II and the dwelling styles in Chapter III will make
clear, physical characteristics are represented by structural forms, architectural styles, building materials,
and site types ..
However, the characteristics of the subdivisions and the dwellings are also associative.
Associative characteristics are related to events, activities, specific individuals, groups, or the kind of
information a resource may yield.13 Every historic resource may be linked to more than one property type,
as is the case with the resources considered in the suburbanization historic context. The primary
associative characteristic of a subdivision might be a clear link with the theme of Settlement Patterns and
Demographic Change through the use of restrictive covenants; a group of suburban dwellings may
express association with idealization of home and home ownership .. Similarly, a subdivision may have an
unambiguous associative connection to the theme of Rnance because of major FHA financing that
enabled the creation of the subdivision.
11 Delaware Plan, 23-4.
12 Heald and Company, Elsmere 1889
13 Delaware Plan, 24
The National Register and the Suburbs 13
Thus, two elements are needed for eligibility under the suburbanization historic context. In order
to be considered for inclusion in a National Register nomination, an historic resource must not only have
the physical attributes indicated in the discussions regarding subdivisions (Chapter II) and dwellings
(Chapter III) but should also possess at least one of the associative characteristics explicated in Chapters
IV and V.
Physical Characteristics. In defining subdivisions as a property type, four characteristics
were developed from the fieldwork:
? the degree to which streets in the subdivision are straight or curving;
? whether the subdivision is made up of only one or two streets or three or more;
? whether access is limited to a single road into the subdivision;
? the degree of architectural variety among subdivision dwellings"
These attributes provide a means of describing and categorizing the subdivisions and for relating changes
among the subdivisions to social, cultural, and economic trends. The subdivision as a property type is fully
discussed in Chapter II, which covers in detail known and expected property types, criteria for
evaluating existing or expected resources, and distribution and potential distribution of
property types.
There is a vast range in styles, sizes, and quality of the dwellings erected in Wilmington
subdivisions between 1880 and 1950. Popular wisdom holds that suburban housing is largely
homogeneous. Although there has been a decrease in variety among suburban dwellings since the turn
of the century, nonetheless one of the most striking aspects of the dwelling property types is the
remarkable number of different styles found. The suburban dwelling as a property type is fully discussed
in Chapter III, which covers in detail known and expected property types, criteria for
evaluating existing or expected resources, and distribution and potential distribution of
property types.
Associative Characteristics. Groups of historic resources that share an association with a
particular event or trend belong to associative property types .. The associative characteristics related to
events, activities, or specific individuals or groups can be identified according to their connection to either
cultural trends or economic trends ..
The primary cultural theme associated with the development of subdivisions is that of Settlement
Patterns and Demographic Change .. An examination of changes in population size and distribution
between 1880 and 1950 provides insight not only into why city dwellers elected to relocate in the new
subdivisions but also into the motivation that promoted the wide-spread imposition of restrictive deed
covenants .. The property types that bear an associative connection with this cultural trend are fully
discussed in Chapter IV, which covers in detail known and expected property types, criteria for
evaluating existing or expected resources, and distribution and potential distribution of
property types.
The National Register and the Suburbs 14
Two key economic themes, Transportation and Communication and Rnance, are identified as
essential to the process of suburbanization in the Wilmington vicinity. Extension of trolley lines and the
replacement of public transportation by the automobile enabled development to proceed. While initial
subdivision locations were largely limited to sites along trolley routes, as transportation technology
changed, greater flexibility opened up large sections of land that were previously inaccessible. An
examination of the shift from reliance upon the trolley to dependence upon the automobile enhances our
understanding of why suburban development followed the paths that it did ..
Similarly, there were profound changes in the means available to finance home ownership during
the first half of the twentieth century. A consideration of mortgage loan provisions before and after the
enactment of Federal Housing Administration legislation adds an important dimension to the discussion of
why the process of suburbanization changed so dramatically during the period. The property types which
bear an associative connection with these economic themes are fully discussed in Chapter V, which
covers in detail known and expected property types, criteria for evaluating existing or
expected resources, and distribution and potential distribution of property types.
Bibliography
The bibliography accompanying this context was compiled by identifying and examining both
secondary and primary sources. The secondary resources were assembled in the course of library
research at Morris Library, University of Delaware, the Wilmington Public Library, and the Historical Society
of Delaware.
The primary resource documents are of four types. Rrst, identification of the location and date of
each subdivision included in the fieldwork and context was based on subdivision maps on file with New
Castle County .. A majority of the maps are held by the county Department of Planning and the balance are
filed with the county Recorder of Deeds. Real estate deeds constitute the second type of document
used in the context. The deeds for building lots reveal how parcels of land that provided the basis for the
subdivisions were acquired .. In addition, the deeds provide examples of the restrictive covenants that
shaped the physical and social landscapes of the subdivisons. The third primary source of information was
Wilmington publications, both newspapers and One- Two-One-Four, the local building trades journal.
Rnally, books of house plans provided first-hand data on housing styles and, to some extent, on attitudes
toward "home."
Additional first-hand information was obtained in personal interviews with Carl Hauger, one of the
initial residents of Edgemoor Terrace and the first treasurer of its civic association, and with Blair Levering,
whose father built extensively in the Richardson Park area from 1915 through the 19305.
The advisory committee established to assist in the preparation of the historic context met three
times and provided guidance in regard to several aspects of the project .. In terms of editorial
considerations, committee members made suggestions on the graphics used to present data on
The National Register and the Suburbs 15
suburban development, on clarifying distinctions among the terms used in the context (suburb versus
subdivision versus development), and on where emphasis could be added beneficially to existing text .. In
addition, they identified by their questions areas of confusion, such as the exclusion of certain types of
developments and the need for clear labels for the associative propety types.
Method for Involving the General and Professional Public
The method for involving the professional public was the creation of an advisory committee of
scholars and preservation professionals. The committee was consulted regarding the research
methodology, the bibliography, and the direction of the research, and the members of the committee
were advised of the progress achieved and the problems encountered.
It is hoped that the general public will become involved in the process through acceptance of the
nominated subdivisions as historic districts.
Method for Updating the Context
The historic context for suburbanization should be updated through the same process used for
updating the Historic Context Master Reference and Summary volume of the Delaware Plan.. The context
should be cross-referenced to the Historic Context Master Reference and Summary in the first year after it
is completed and should be added to the revised volume at the time of the five-year update ..
II. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SUBDIVISIONS
The most basic property type associated with this historic context is that of the subdivision itself.
A subdivision as studied in this historic context is a residential community located near a core city, distant
from the urban center but linked to it by employment ties .. This chapter will explore the national trends that
shaped the physical appearance of the suburbs and the ways in which those trends were reflected in the
subdivisions surrounding Wilmington, Delaware. These trends shaped both the designs of suburban
subdivisions and their use of space; they also affected the types of homes built to house new residents.
The chapter finishes with a set of criteria to be used for the evaluation of the significance and integrity of
subdivisions as physical property types.
Perception and Use of land and landscape
The rapid increase in urbanization that marked the growth of industrialization during the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries proceeded largely unplanned and unchecked. Cities' crowded,
noisy streets, fetid air, lack of trees, and dearth of greenery loomed in striking contrast to the pastoral ideal
of the surrounding rural landscape from which many people had migrated and to which they looked for
standards of morality and virtue .. The creation of urban parks, marked by big expanses of lawn and shady
trees, was undertaken in an effort to bring restorative nature into the city .. Landscape architects believed
that parks "should provide a contrast to the existing city, a refuge from its noise, its oppressive darkness,
from the crowdedness and the inhuman surfaces of the streets."14 The 1881 annual report to the
Commissioners of Boston's Department of Parks stressed how great a contrast the rural character of the
parks was to the surrounding city. "An influence is desirable, however, that, acting through the eye, shall
be more than mitigative, that shall be ... antidotal.. Such an influence is found in what will be called the
enjoyment of pleasing rural scenery .."15
One of the basic values that undergirded this motivation to build havens of nature within the
unnatural atmosphere of the city has been called "moral environmentalism"16 or, alternatively,
"environmental determinism .."17 Regardless of the name, the philosophy maintained that "the visual and
14 Heckscher, 171; see also Boyer, 31 ..
15 Olmsted, 249.
16 Schulz, 156
17 Johnson, 24
16
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 17
sensual properties of the built environment. .. had a profound impact on the morals, life styles, and views
of the world held by city dwellers."18 The contrast was drawn between the city's powerful degrading and
dehumanizing atmosphere and the healing capacity of nature to restore both spiritual and physical vitality ..
Such infusions of nature were to be found in the small slices of countryside reproduced in the city parks.
"Calling for public parks and the rural beautification of cities, the landscape architects evidenced their faith
in the morally uplifting, healing qualities of nature."19 The 1881 report on Boston's parks concluded that
"It is the ... crowded condition of a city that makes the sight of merely uncrowded ground in a park the relief
and refreshment to the mind that it is."2O An 1895 history of the first forty years of Central Park reached a
similar conclusion. "The kind of recreation that these large parks supply ... is that which a man insensibly
obtains when he puts the city behind him and out of his sight and goes where he will be under the
undisturbed influence of pleasing, natural scenery. "21
Even before the widespread creation of city parks, according to Schuyler, rural cemeteries
provided a respite from city pressures.
At first the justification for rural rather than urban cemeteries was concern for
public health and the inadequacy of downtown space for burial, these cemeteries
became rural retreats frequented by city residents in search of contemplative recreation,
(reflecting a belief in) the need for publicly constructed and maintained parks to bring
country into the city.22
The early cemeteries resembled parks in their designs, which included circular drives and undulating
paths and exhibited marked contrasts to the hard lines and straight streets of the city .. The same pattern of
curvilinear thoroughfares was repeated later in such nineteenth-century suburban developments as
Llewellyn Park, New Jersey, and Riverside, Illinois, that were planned and created for wealthy residents.
Parks and rural cemeteries as a source of restorative nature were elevated to an ideal by the end
of the nineteenth century. This ideal constituted an important part of the psychological groundwork for
the subsequent attraction of new suburbs built outside the crowded city. Promising the same fresh air,
sunshine, and shade trees that city dwellers had come to expect from the greenery of urban parks and
nearby cemeteries, the new suburbs proffered the opportunity to enjoy a reunion with nature that
18 Ibid ..
19 Schulz, 156
20 Olmsted, 262.
21 Doell and Fitzgerald, 33.
22 Schuyler, 37
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 18
urbanites had previously been able to sample only occasionally and only away from their crowded
apartment homes.
Wealthy residents were the first urban dwellers able to live in the country and travel into the city for
work. Because of the nature of their jobs, they enjoyed flexible work schedules so that slow
transportation between rural homes and city jobs presented no problem. They set an important example
of style by establishing their rural villas. Although the palatial homes often began as week-end or summer
retreats, they were eventually elevated to full-time residences.23 Uewellyn Park, New Jersey, laid out in
the mid-1850s by landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing, has been characterized as the most
influential early American suburb.24 It clearly anticipated the transition from the nineteenth-century
individual rural villa to the twentieth-century residential community linked to the city by ties of employment.
Designed with curving streets, large wooded tracts, and extensive parkland, the suburb made possible
''the enjoyment of a country gentleman's park in the then-popular romantic style ... for several hundred
families, each of whom was responsible individually for the upkeep of only one acre. "25
Downing's example was followed in the next decade when Olmsted, Vaux and Company created
plans for Riverside, a suburb on the outskirts of Chicago .. Winding streets and paths, generous parks, and
carefully articulated building and landscaping instructions were combined to create "'refined domestic life,
secluded, but not far removed from the life of the community."26
These initial, nineteenth-century suburban communities were "select places" designed and
intended for the wealthy.27 By the turn of the century, however, improved technology had lowered both
transportation and building costs, thus enabling ordinary wage earners to relocate to the suburbs and still
hold city jobs. The less affluent members of society, following the lead of their wealthy bosses, sought
relief from the hurly-burly of the urban environment in their new suburban homes. In their efforts, they
were advised by the popular press. Responding to the query "Where to Build Your Home," one writer
admonished "new country home-makers" to seek out good surroundings .. ''The time may come when you
wish to sell, and in that case a well-shaded home, reached by a well-shaded and well-kept avenue will
double the market price of your property .."28
Although the wealthy suburbs had set an example of curvilinear streets, ample shade, and large
lots, most middle-class families who moved to suburbs during the first two decades of the twentieth
23See Warner, Streetcar Suburbs, Chapter 1; Jackson, Chapter 1, Fishman, Chapter 5; Keating, Chapter
1, Gowans, Chapter 2..
24Schuyler, 156.
25Warner, Urban Wilderness, 209; see also Schuyler, 159.
260lmsted, Vaux & Co, Preliminary Report Upon the Proposed Suburban Village at Riverside, 16-17,
quoted in Schuyler, 163..
27Wright, 98; Warner, Urban Wilderness, 209 ..
28Sunday Morning Star, 20 March 1910, 15.
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 19
century encountered the urban grid repeated on the rural landscape. Warner's examination of the Russell
Sage Foundation suburban experiment in 1911 at Forest Hills, long Island, led him to conclude that
"community planning features of curvilinear streets, cul-de-sacs, playgrounds, parks, and unified
shopping centers would be adopted by subdividers only if local government regulations required them. "29
In an attempt to minimize costs and maximize profit and efficiency, developers divided their land in designs
that yielded the greatest number of building lots and reduced both the volume of land used for streets
and the cost of installing urban utilities.30 An author for a February 1928 issue of Outlook described the
suburbs she encountered as "neat little toy houses on their neat little patches of lawn ... all set in neat
rows, for all the world like children's blocks. "31
Once plans had been drawn up and lots designated, deed restrictions and covenants frequently
insured that the developers' schemes were not frustrated. In the period immediately after World War I, for
example, developers exerted their own "aesthetic and social controls ... The middle-class suburbs of the
1920s had covenants with regulations governing their style of architecture, the size of houses, policy
toward cars, proximity of business and commerce, and restriction of entry to ethnic and religious
minorities. "32 The deeds used to convey building sites in Palos Verdes, California, in the 1920s included
covenants designed to exclude certain racial groups. At the same time, the suburb's restrictions on the
value of the houses that could be constructed there established cost barriers to less prosperous
families.33
land and Landscape in Wilmington
Wilmington experienced substantial population growth during the third quarter of the nineteenth
century. Between 1850 and 1880, the population more than tripled, increasing from 13,979 to 42,478 ..
Like other urban areas, the city began to feel a pressing need for the refreshment offered by city parks ..
Beginning in the 1860s and through the 1870s, various citizens' committees concerned themselves with
the establishment of a park for the city but no action was taken. Rnally, in 1883 William P. Bancroft, whose
family had founded textile mills on Brandywine Creek, provided the most powerful impetus for the creation
of a park when he offered 50 acres of land along the river. His gift came with two conditions, however: that
29Warner, Urban Wilderness, 210
3OWamer, Streetcar Suburbs, 138-9; Schuyler, 154; Wright, 104.
31Christine Frederick, "Is Suburban Living a Delusion?" Outlook, 148 (22 February 1928) 290, quoted inWright, 196.
32Wright, 157; also Howe et ai, 1
33Marsh, 170
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 20
the city purchase approximately 35 adjacent acres and that the road leading to Bancroft Mills "which would
be within the park, would not be closed without consent of the (factory) owners."34 (Rgure 3)
By the time of his death in 1928, Bancroft had given some 200 acres to the city and had served on
various park commissions for over 40 years. In addition, he had been instrumental in engaging Frederick
Law Olmsted and his firm of landscape architects to lend their expertise to the design of what became
Brandywine and Rockford parks and Kentmere Parkway which links the parks. Olmsted, who with his
partner, Calvert Vaux, had designed New York City's Central Park, was a leading proponent of the
restorative powers of parks. His 1883 report to the Wilmington Park Commissioners reiterated his
conviction that parks were vital to the city's health and that the committee had a key responsibility to
safeguard the lives of Wilmington's citizens ..35
By 1895 the city had dedicated over 250 acres to municipal parks.36 The turn of the new century
witnessed the establishment of two amusement parks outside the city as well. The Wilmington City
Railway Company and the Peoples Railway Company peppered the pages of Wilmington's newspapers
through the summer months with advertisements inviting city dwellers to visit Shellpot Park along
Philadelphia Pike and Brandywine Springs Park in rural Christiana Hundred. The trolley companies
appealed to working people without long summer vacations who had to squeeze their relaxation into the
Saturday afternoon and Sunday that was their respite from labor. The companies presented their
respective parks as summer "resorts" and the five-cent trolley ride as a country excursion ..
Shellpot Park stressed the "cool breezes" to be enjoyed, published a booklet describing the
beauties of the park, referred to itself as a "popular resort," and emphasized the park's appeal to the entire
family.37 Brandywine Springs Park did the same. Its opening full-page advertisement in May 1900
mentioned such resort features as a boardwalk, launch rides on the lake, and band concerts,,38 In the
months and years that followed, the owners repeated the "resort" label and encouraged the "resort"
image for the park. Both parks published weekly listings of the programs offered to Wilmingtonians who
ventured into the country by trolley..
An examination of the two types of parks created between 1880 and 1910--the municipal parks of
the parks movement and the amusement parks owned and promoted by the trolley companies--provides
important insight into aspects of early suburbanization. On the one hand, city parks sought to nurture in
city dwellers an appreciation of the benefits of shady trees, rolling hillsides and green meadows, flowing
34Thompson, 82.
351bid, 84 ..
36Hoffecker, Wilmington, Delaware. Portrait of an Industrial City, 1830-1910,62.
37Sunday Morning Star, 1 July 1900, 2; 20 April 1902, 6; 24 June 1906, 11; 29 July 1906, 3; 28 July
1907,12;3 May 1908, 6.
38Ibid., 27 May 1900, 6.
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 21
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~.~;:" ~. ~.~:.PROPQSE:tJ~~fA:RK"1R0l..;LEYtL1NE.
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Rgure 3 ::Map of Brandywine Park
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 22
water, and fresh air. The theme of healthfulness and the beauty of nature recurs in the advertising for
early suburbs. Penn-Rose, located on Philadelphia Pike between the city line and Shellpot Park, allowed
one to move "from the over-crowded district into the pure air and sunshine of the suburbs and stop those
doctor bills. "39 Montrose, farther north on Philadelphia Pike, was ''that beautiful tract of land, over-looking
the Delaware river;"40 Gordon Heights (Brandywine Hundred) was a "superb scenic tract ... sloping
towards the Delaware River;''41 and Ashley, along Maryland Avenue, boasted of the "most picturesque
building sites around Wilmington. "42
Suburban development companies also adopted an advertising technique of the trolley-owned
amusement parks, employing the image of an excursion to the country to persuade potential buyers to
visit the new subdivisions. Banner headlines proclaiming development names were followed by such
inducements as "How are you going to spend Sunday? Why not take your wife out to Penn-Rose at our
expense?"43 or "Free Excursion Cars Sunday. "44 The Ashley Syndicate, at its subdivision adjacent to
Elsmere and Richardson Park, followed the park example to the extent that it provided a free band concert
at the site on 4 July 1909, stressing that since it was Sunday, the concert would be of sacred music.45
Although Wilmington's experience with rural cemeteries was limited, the Wilmington and
Brandywine Cemetery provided a degree of relief from the city. Adjoining what became Brandywine Park,
the cemetery offered a picturesque view of the river, shady trees, and pleasant curving paths with names
like Magnolia Circle and Oak, Spruce, Unden, and Holly Avenues, a setting hospitable to an afternoon
stroll (Rgure 4).
Similarly, the city had little opportunity to observe the establishment of rural villas as they occurred
in other urban areas. While the du Pont family had maintained homes in the country, it was more a matter
of the family and their employees living near the powder mills that were their livelihood .. However, during
the 1920s, there began some movement by members of the du Pont family and their company executives
to establish country homes in Christiana Hundred--palatial residences with aristocratic names. By the time
this had occurred, substantial suburban development was already underway. On the other hand, the
varied and substantial architecture built and the geographic location of "chateau country" were examples
that were followed on a smaller scale when Westover Hills (on Kennett Pike) was established at the end of
the 1920s.
39lbid., 12 July 1903, 8.
4olbid., 6 April 1902, 8
41Ibid .., 23 May 1909, 6
421bid , 30 May 1909, 6
43lbid, 12 July 1903, 8
441bid, 30 May 1909, 6; 20 June 1909, 6.
45Ibid .., 4 July 1909, 6
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 23
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Rgure 4: Map of Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery.
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions
The Process of Suburbanization
24
Suburban development is the creation of a residential community around the periphery of a core
city but distant from the urban center yet linked to it by ties of employment. During the period from 1880
to 1950, such subdivisions were the product of a series of steps beginning with the acquisition of land for
conversion to residential use from some other occupation, frequently agriculture. The land parcel,
whether several acres or a narrow strip along a private lane, was then divided into building lots intended for
detached or semi-detached homes.
The provision of urban amenities (water, electricity, gas, sewer services) varied both with time and
with the socioeconomic status of the clientele which the developer saw as the most likely market for the
new subdivision. In the early years of the century, development companies took particular care to call
attention to a new subdivision's improvements that rendered the land "developed." As early as 1902, the
Suburban Land Company advised potential customers that Hillcrest (Brandywine Hundred) was provided
with "crushed granite sidewalks,"46 Montrose Terrace (Brandywine Hundred) had "streets, avenues, and
sidewalks (were) laid out according to the plan of Engineer Francis A.. Price;''47 and the Ashley Syndicate
had laid down "winding and graded streets (and) granolithic sidewalks"48 on its property.
Nonetheless, some improvements were undertaken by residents. The Women's Civic Club of
Richardson Park (Christiana Hundred), for example, was responsible for the installation of a street light at
the foot of Race Street in 1917 and, the following year, paid for 65 loads of cinders (at $1 per load) to be
spread on Eureka Street. 49 In later years, buyers came to expect such services as water, gas, electricity,
sewers, and graded streets, but as late as the 194Os, residents often had to organize into civic
associations and tax themselves to upgrade the quality of what had become standard improvements. The
first home owners in Edgemoor Terrace, for example, undertook the tasks of paving the subdivision's
graded but unpaved streets and then negotiated to have the county assume responsibility for future
maintenance. 50
In the opening decades of the century, once the land had been divided into lots, prospective
residents purchased land on which to build and fully paid for the land before proceeding to arrange with a
contractor for the construction of their houses. At the same time, some contractors themselves, who were
46lbid, 9 November 1902, 8
47lbid, 3 June 1906, 12
481bid, 23 May 1909, 12..
49MS history of Women's Civic Club of Richardson Park
50Interview with Carl Hauger, first treasurer of the Edgemoor Terrace Civic Association, 24 July 1991
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 25
ordinarily a different group from the land developers, acquired land on which to erect houses not for their
own occupancy but for sale. This enterprise was frequently on a small scale, ranging from as few as one or
two dwellings to as many as six or eight, but rarely exceeding eight. During the 1920s, Frank A. Levering,
calling himself a builder, operated as a contractor in the Richardson Park-Ashley area, buying lots in pairs
and erecting two houses at a time. He employed the same crew on each job and built two basic styles in
the new Christiana Hundred subdivisions,51 William Potter, working on a slightly larger scale, built six
bungalows on Laurel Street in Gwinhurst (Brandywine Hundred), advertising them for sale in 1925,,52
During later decades, the roles of land developer and building contractor began to merge, so that
land and house came to be offered to buyers as a single package. The principals of the Wilmington
Construction Company identified themselves as "owners & builders" in their 1939 advertisement offering
houses for sale in Edgemoor Terrace" Instead of selling lots as earlier developers had, the company
offered dwellings "of solid stone and brick construction" on lots that were "graded, sodded, seeded and
shrubbed,,"53 This process, however it changed over time, was always focused on the production of
private housing in settings apart from the urban center to which residents traveled for work.
A total of 182 subdivisions that can be considered suburban to Wilmington were identified in
Brandywine, Christiana, Mill Creek, and New Castle hundreds for the period from 1880 to 1950. Prior to
1900, only one subdivision, Elsmere, was planned, having been laid out in 1886 by Joshua T. Heald, a
Wilmington banker and real estate developer. A company map of the subdivision in 1889 bore a legend
declaring "Elsmere. Wilmington's New Suburb. Beautiful Home Sites" Terms Easy."54 Of the 182
subdivisions, only one--Chincilla Farm in Brandywine Hundred--could not be located and examined
because the plan map was prohibitively vague" Another five55 were planned but never developed for
residential use ..
In each decade between 1900 and 1940, a single hundred accounted for at least half of all the
subdivisions planned" From 1900 to 1920, Christiana Hundred had more than half of the proposed
subdivisions, all within three to four miles of the city center; from 1921 to 1940, Brandywine Hundred was
the focus of development, still within a range of four miles .. In the final ten-year period. Brandywine,
Christiana, and New Castle hundreds shared in suburban growth"
51Interview with Blair Levering, Frank A. Levering's son, 10 February 1992
52Sunday Moming Star, -- October 1925, --
53Jouma/-Every Evening, 6 May 1939, 17
54E/smere,
558randywine Hundred: Cliffs Heights, Rutter Tract, Silver Croft; Christiana Hundred: Elliott Property,
Homestead
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions
TABLE 1: Distribution of Subdivisions By Hundred, 1900-1950
Hundred 1900-10 1911-20 1921-30 1931-40 1941-50
# %by # %by # %by # %by # %by
hundred hundred hundred hundred hundred
Brandywine 5 5 16 17 18 19 31 33 23 25
Christiana 10 16 19 31 9 15 12 16 11 18
Mill Creek 2 40 0 0 1 20 1 20 1 20
New Castle 2 9 5 22 2 9 2 9 12 52
Total Number 19 40 30 46 47
% of Total 10 22 16 25 26
Total
93
61
5
23
182
100
26
Within the subdivisions, lots ranged in size from long, narrow plots measuring 20' by 125' to
substantial 160' by 250' parcels. There was a tendency for lot size to increase with time, but lot size alone
can be deceptive. Frequently, lots had to be purchased in multiples to meet dwelling size limits imposed
by deed restrictions. Thus, although the standard lot size in Gwinhurst was 20' by 100', to meet the
seller's demand that no house could be built on a lot less than 40 feet across the front, buyers had to
purchase at least two lots to accommodate a house.
Because there was no zoning to govern the way the early suburban land was developed, firms
who sought to attract buyers recognized that certain land use restrictions were essential to insure that the
communities to be built would be pleasant and hospitable. Developers achieved the necessary control by
including restrictions in the deeds by which the land was conveyed. In addition to designating minimum
widths for the fronts of houses, covenants also established building lines at least 25 feet from the street
and, in some cases, set a minimum value for dwellings constructed on the lots; in the earliest years,
$1,000 was the most common minimum and it increased with time to $4,500 in the 194Os. One deed
added a detailed list of other prohibitions: no blacksmith shop, currier or machine shop, piggery, slaughter
house, public stable or livery, soap, glue, or starch factory or any trade or business ..56
Four characteristics can be used to distinguish and describe the subdivisions created around
Wilmington:
1. the degree to which streets in the subdivision are straight or curving;
2..whether the subdivision is made up of only one or two streets or of three or more;
560eed Record 1-33-35, 15 September 1924, transfer of land in Bellefonte, Brandywine Hundred, from
Hugh and Mary Eastburn to Claude Banta
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions
27
3. whether access limited to a single road into the subdivision;
4..the degree of architectural variety among subdivision dwellings.
The characteristics occur in a variety of combinations. Roselle, for example, has several straight
streets laid out in a grid with several streets providing access to Kirkwood Highway .. Because the
subdivision was planned in 1901 and construction took place over several decades, there is substantial
variety in the architecture of the houses built there. On the other hand, Swanwyck Gardens (Christiana
Hundred), planned in 1948, is made up of a single straight dead-end street on which one basic style of
house was erected, No single combination of characteristics predominates among the subdivisions
studied. On the other hand, certain trends can be discerned in each of the characteristics.
From the turn of the century until the 1920s, virtually all the subdivisions laid out in the Wilmington
vicinity were made up of straight streets, following what was the national preference for the grid. From
1900 to 1910,16 of the 18 subdivisions platted followed a grid; between 1911 and 1920, all but one of
the 38 subdivisions were gridded, Ashley, established in 1909, was an exception but the curvilinear
design is explained at least in part by the topography of the land on which it was built. Created to use a
hilly site just off Maryland Avenue, the subdivision's streets wind around the contours of the land. Nine
years later, the developers of Claymont Heights combined straight and winding streets in their plan, the
curving streets being designed to follow the courses of two small streams on the property. In the hilly
portion of the land nearest Philadelphia Pike, a straight grid was laid down and streets run up the face of
the hill rather than encircling it. During the 1930s only slightly more than half (21 of 40) of the subdivisions
were made up of straight streets; in the following decade, only two-fifths of the subdivisions (19 of 26)
used straight streets (Rgure 5)"
The increased use of curving rather than straight streets may be at least partially explained as a
method of providing a more scenic appearance for a subdivision and of insuring that motor traffic moved
through residential areas at a suitably slow pace. In addition, one must also recognize that this was also a
period of change in highway design., During the 1920s, parkways, with their curving routes, limited
access, and parklike landscaping, became popular. These thoroughfares provided a clear alternative for
developers planning subdivision streets .. In Delaware, this influence was exerted by the du Pont Parkway,
started in 1911 and completed in 1924,
There was a slight increase in the incidence of one- or two-street subdivisions over the 50 years
under consideration, although the tendency was not as pronounced as that toward curvilinear streets.
Examined in terms of absolute numbers, the cumulative incidence of such subdivisions nearly tripled
between 1910 and 1920. This was followed by slower growth that was nonetheless steady (Rgure 6)"
As was the case with the incidence of one- or two-street subdivisions, Brandywine Hundred data
on the incidence of subdivisions with limited access follow a steady upward trend, This tendency is
mediated, however, by the addition of data from Christiana Hundred, where the no clear pattern is
established. Over all, the incidence of subdivisions with a single access road increases from 17 percent in
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions
FIGURE 5
Incidence of Straight Streets
Among All Suburban Hundreds
28
100
90
III 80of
70~
.Il:I~ 60
III-
50~...
40~G,Ie
30G,I
c.. 20
10
0
1900-10 1911-20 1921-30 1931-40 1941-50
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions
FIGURE 6
Cumulative Incidence, One- or Two-Street Subdivisions
By Hundred
80
Ea New Castle,.
Mill Creek
60 II Christiana?
Brandywine
40
20
o
29
1900-10 1911-20 1921-30 1931-40 1941-50
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 30
the first decade of the century to 34 percent by 1950" Figure 7 illustrates that, while the growth never
falters. neither does it surge. On the other hand, it clearly demonstrates that by the end of the period fully
one-third of the subdivisions were limiting access. In some cases, there was a single road which gave onto
an internal complex of roads, as in Pembrey (off Foulk Road) or Delaire (off Philadelphia Pike); in other
cases, the subdivision was created on a straight dead-end road like Clearview Manor (New Castle
Hundred) or Gumwood (Brandywine Hundred), testimony in at least some of the cases to the shrinking
volume of land available for development. As the automobile became more common toward the end of
the context period, there was an increasing tendency of the subdivisions to have only a single access
road connecting the interior street network of the subdivision to the nearest highway. There are a number
of reasons to relate the increase in limited access to the increase in reliance on the automobile.
The developers of the streetcar subdivisions provided multiple access streets from the primary
transportation route into the subdivision because residents walked from the trolley stop to their houses
and needed as direct a pedestrian route as the subdivision's grid pattern would allow. With the automobile
replacing the trolley and commuters driving directly to their houses. developers offered an alternative
subdivision design. By providing a single road into and out of a subdivision, the plan limited the volume of
vehicular traffic on subdivision streets by negating their effectiveness as pathways across the suburban
landscape" A single means of access also encouraged a sense of community by suggesting to residents
that only people who belonged there would venture into the subdivision; strangers were not expected to
wander through.
There has been a general decline in the variety of architecture found in all the hundreds over the
half century examined. Due to the limited availability of financing for construction, dwellings in the earliest
subdivisions were constructed over a long period of time, in many cases over several decades. This
resulted in a high degree of variety, since houses from different periods tended to follow changing
fashion .. For example. a subdivision like Ashley, which was planned in 1909, has residential building from
at least four decades: circa 1910 frame four-square houses clad with shingles, circa 1920 bungalows in
stone, brick, and clapboard, circa 1930 frame hip-roofed dwellings, and circa 1950 brick colonial revivals.
Subdivisions that were laid out later followed a different development process in which the land was
subdivided and all the houses were built in a short period of time. Edgemoor Terrace, established on
Governor Printz Boulevard in 1939, is a premier example of a subdivision where this was the process.
There are two or three basic styles of houses, each varied by being rotated by 90' to provide visual
interest. This pattern of development and the resulting decline in architectural variety became the
hallmark of suburban plans of the 19508 and after. Rgure 8 illustrates this downward trend.
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions
FIGURE 7
Incidence of Subdivisions with Single Access Road
All Suburban Hundreds
31
40
30
20
10
o
1900-10 1911-20 1921-30 1931-40 1941-50
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions
FIGURE 8
Incidence of Architectural Variety
Among All Suburban Hundreds
100
a
1900-10 1911-20 1921-30 1931-40 1941-50
Decade
32
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions
Property Types Related to Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions
33
The physical traits used to describe the subdivisions provide a means of discerning identifiable
property types. The four characteristics relating to the nature of the streets, their number, the degree of
access to the interior of the subdivision, and the level of architectural variety can be combined into 24
possible permutations, such as single straight streets! limited access! high degree of
architectural variety. Of the various combinations that might be formed, four account for over half of
the 182 subdivisions examined.
Multiple straight streets! multiple access roads! high architectural variety was the
most common of the property types found among the subdivisions. Each of these subdivisions is laid out
in a basic grid, with several streets that connect it to the nearest adjacent highway. These subdivisions are
Wilmington's oldest, having been laid out between 1901 and 1929 along the city's trolley lines .. They
followed the urban pattern of linear, square street arrangement. Because of their establishment early in
the century, construction of dwellings took place over several decades, accounting for the marked variety
in residential architecture.
Multiple straight streets! multiple access roads! moderate architectural variety
was the second most common subdivision property type. These subdivisions also follow a basic grid
pattern with many streets allowing access. Because these subdivisions were established later than those
identified as having a high degree of architectural variety, the period over which dwellings were built is
shorter and the variation among the dwellings is more limited ..
Multiple curving streets! multiple access! moderate architectural variety is one of
several property types which may be found among subdivisions planned in the 1930s and 1940s. By the
time these subdivisions were established, reliance on trolley service had declined substantially and
subdivision residents depended upon their automobiles for transportation. While continuing the earlier
practice of allowing multiple means of access to the subdivision, the developers began to plan streets that
were more winding. As noted earlier, this may have reflected an interest in more effective traffic control as
well as an interest in a more picturesque landscape ..
Single straight street! limited access! high architectural variety describes the
subdivision property type which is a straight dead-end street. Many were laid out in the 1920s and 1930s
so the extended period during which dwellings were built accounts for the variety among the houses.
While some were adjacent to trolley lines, most were located in areas where the automobile was the
primary means of family transportation. The same configuration of single straight street/limited
access is found in the 1930s and 194Os, but rather than high architectural variety, there is only limited
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 34
architectural variation among the dwellings. This combination (single straight street! limited
access! limited architectural variety) constitutes another subdivision property type.
During the period from 1920 through 1939,the use of multiple means of access characterized
several subdivision property types that appearto bridge the period of transition from reliance on trolley
transportation to dependence on the automobile. They differ from one another most in the degree of
architectural variety found among the dwellingsconstructed within the subdivisions. The property types
which have in common multipleroads for accessare:
single straight street! multiple access! limited architectural variety
single straight street! multiple access! moderate to high architectural variety
multiple straight streets! multiple access! limited architectural variety
multiple curving streets! multiple access! limited architectural variety
multiple curving streets! limited access! moderate to high architectural variety
From 1930 through 1949, the increasinguse of limited access characterized several additional
subdivision property types that appear to be closely linked to the advent of the automobile.. They too
differ from one another most noticeably in the degree of architectural variety found among the dwellings
constructed within the subdivisions.. The propertytypes that have limited access in common are:
multiple straight streets! limited access! moderate to high architectural variety
single curving street! limited access! limited architectural variety
single curving street! limited access! moderate to high architectural variety
multiple curving streets! limited access! limited architectural variety
multiple curving streets! limited access! moderate to high architectural variety
The declining popularity of trolley transportation and the corresponding increase in the use of the
automobile may account for the tendency of developers later in the period to limited access to the
subdivisions that they created. By limiting access,they limitedthe volumeof traffic that traveled along the
residential streets. In addition, they could enhance a sense of community among the property owners by
protecting residents from the encroachment of strangers who used subdivision streets as a means of
crossing from one part of the county to another..
Because of the differing ages of the subdivisions,the level of architectural variety will frequently
vary according to the length of the time period during which dwellings could be constructed. The older
subdivisions can be expected to have a larger number of styles simply because houses could be and
were built over several decades. Newer subdivisionshave fewer decades of existence during which
construction could take place and therefore have fewer styles amongtheir dwellings..
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions
Physical Criteria for Evaluation of Subdivisions
35
The initial basic criterion for identification of a subdivision to be included in the suburbanization
historic context is that it conform to the definition of subdivision on which the context is based. A
subdivision must be a residential community established during the specified time period, distant from the
center of Wilmington, but tied to it by employment. This bars from consideration working housing built for
employees of firms whose manufacturing sites also had a suburban location. Ukewise, it excludes
isolated dwellings that were built in a geographic location that was distant from the city but which were not
part of a specifically planned set of streets and building lots.. Although the scheme may be as simple as
half a dozen lots along a dead-end lane, if there is evidence that the developer planned to put his
subdivision of land to residential use, it might be considered eligible for inclusion. Although filing plans for
proposed subdivisions was voluntary in New Castle County, many developers supplied the county with
copies of proposed residential subdivisions and these maps constitute documentary testimony of the
developers' intentions.
The physical criteria for suburban subdivisions should adhere to the following standards; potential
historic resources must also meet criteria of integrity" As noted in Chapter I, to be considered eligible for
consideration for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under the context established for
suburbanization in the vicinity of Wilmington, a historic resource should have not only the physical
attributes discussed here, but also at least one associative characteristic as identified in Chapters IV and V..
The physical characteristics specific to the consideration of a subdivision in the historic context for
suburbanization relate to the four traits discussed above:
1. the degree to which streets in the subdivision are straight or curving;
2. whether the subdivision is made up of only one or two streets or of three or more;
3. whether access is limited to a single road into the subdivision;
4. the degree of architectural variety among subdivision dwellings.
These characteristics identify the features that define a subdivision. In order to be considered
eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places under the historic context for
suburbanization, a subdivision must possess three of these four characteristics in a form appropriate to
the time period in which it was created" For example, an ideal subdivision from the 1910s would be
expected to have multiple straight streets with several access roads and a high degree of architectural
variety.
Once a property satisfies this definition of a subdivision, it must be evaluated for integrity and
significance under the criteria established by the Secretary of the Interior.. The Secretary's Standards
specify seven areas to be considered when integrity is evaluated: location, design, setting, materials,
workmanship, feeling, and association.
Physical Characteristics of Subdivisions 36
Integrity in terms of design, setting, and feeling addresses the questions of how the landscape
that is the subdivision has survived with the original planner's hopes and expectations largely unimpaired.
The original physical layout of the plan must still be there. No portions of the subdivision can have been
destroyed by the invasion of a major highway or industrial plant. Most dwellings built early in the
subdivision's existence must still be standing and, if construction of houses took place over several
decades, representative examples of each period should be extant. If many older dwellings have been
lost or if much of the construction has been recent in-fill, the integrity of the entire subdivision will have
been compromised and the subdivision cannot be considered eligible.
Although the property type is a landscape rather than a building, the integrity of materials and
workmanship may still be considered in an examination of the landscaping and the subdivision
infrastructure. Many developers promised to plant trees or shrubs or to install sidewalks and curbs when
they first marketed their new subdivisions. To the degree that such promises were actually kept, the
survival of stands of trees or of hedges should be ascertained and the condition of concrete walks must
be assessed to determine whether sufficient integrity exists to allow considering the subdivision eligible ..
If all remnants of a developer's efforts to add infrastructure to his subdivision have vanished, workmanship
and materials may be judged to be fatally compromised.
III. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DWELLINGS
This chapter will continue the discussion of physical property types as they apply to individual
dwellings .. As was the pattern with subdivisions, there were a number of national architectural trends that
affected the residential housing constructed in the Wilmington vicinity between 1880 and 1950 ..
Dwellings playa dual role in any consideration of the process of suburbanization. They are part of the
subdivision and the architectural variety among a subdivision's houses is an important aspect of assigning
a property type designation to the subdivision. In addition, dwellings themselves represent significant
cultural trends such as the ideal of "home". This chapter discusses each of the architectural styles that
appeared in the suburbs of Wilmington between 1880 and 1950 as well as criteria for the evaluation of
significance and integrity of resources that are potentially eligible for inclusion in the property types
established for suburban dwellings.
Architectural Trends
In the early twentieth century, writers reflecting on the demand for housing repeatedly remarked
on the popularity of small homes for the growing class of buyers of limited means. Comments
accompanying a floor plan for "A Suburban Home, Costing $5,000," noted in 1911 that "A 'home in the
suburbs,' away from the noise and dust of the city, with plenty of room and fresh air, this does not
necessarily call for a large expensive house. Many people of small means are seeking homes out of the
city.''57 Bungalow plans were published by Jud Yoho in 1913 because of what he recognized as "the
certain popular demand now being felt for smaller and more convenient houses .."58
Paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams saw a market among people with modest incomes when the
company published CoNage-Bungalowin 1910. The decorating advice offered was "by no means
intended only for expensive homes"59 and emphasized ideas for creating attractive rooms inexpensively ..
A decade later, Shrewesbury's House Plans introduced a wide variety of house styles--Colonial and Dutch
Colonial houses, English Cottages, and "Square-Type Houses,? as well as an extensive range of
bungalows--with a testimonial from a satisfied customer "We studied a book of home designs such as
this; designs for houses suitable for average families such as we are, families of moderate means, who
want attractive, substantial, comfortable homes that do not cost a large amount of money."60
57Sunday Morning Star, 31 December 1911, 23.
58Yoho, introduction n.p.
59Cottage-Bungalow, 2.
6OShrewesbury's House Plans, 4.
37
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 38
It has been suggested that "In post-Civil War America, the variety of styles, forms, colors, and
building materials demonstrated America's vitality, inventiveness, restlessness, and eclectic nature. As
the twentieth century began, many Americans longed for the quieter, less hectic eras of the past and
preferr~d versions of the colonial and cottage styles. "61 Certainly American homeowners turned away
from the large, ornate dwellings of the nineteenth century, but, as has been suggested, they may well
have turned toward the smaller, more restrained houses of the twentieth century for economic reasons as
much as for reasons of taste.
This national trend was replicated in Wilmington's subdivisions. There was a steady refrain
endorsing small houses for buyers of modest means. In 1905, the local paper reported ''there is a general
demand for small houses at present but the real estate men have been unable to meet the demands,
accordingly more suburban residences will be built"62 Two years later, the real estate column of the
Sunday paper reported that "all the suburban companies have been very successful within the past two
years, and many people of moderate means are preferring to build their homes along the trolley lines. "63
During the following decade, developer Earnest B. MacNair sought to encourage the
construction of bungalows in his developments by offering to sell an Aladdin bungalow for $100. "We
Have at Hillcrest and Gordon Heights 30 Plots of Land on which we want Bungalows built," his
advertisement declared .. ''To encourage building we are going to sell this Up-to-Date Alladin (sic)
Bungalow for $100. Rve rooms and bath .."64 The preference for small dwellings continued into the
1920s. Dne- Two-One-Four, a lumber company newsletter for Wilmington's building trades, reported
in1923 that ''There is quite a bit of bungalow and small house construction in the suburbs."6S The same
publication reiterated the theme in 1930, declaring "Small Houses are Popular" and the writer explained
the trend by asserting that ''the vogue for small houses, (was) in keeping with small families and higher
cost of building. "66
Dwelling styles were conveyed to the public by a number of methods .. Plan books, such as Jud
Yoho's The Bungalow Craftsman or Shrewesbury's House Plans, provided lumber yards, developers,
contractors, and prospective homeowners with a sense of the range of choices easily available and with an
idea of the cost of building each of the dwellings displayed. While the Shrewesbury book opens with the
caveat "It is impossible for anyone to estimate the cost of a building and have the figures hold good in all
61Howe et al., 81-2 ..
62Sunday Morning Star, 23 July 1905, 7
63lbid, 1 September 1907, 6.
64lbid, 14 September 1913, 12.
650ne- Two-One-Four, July, 1923, 2 The publication took its name from the company telephone
number. When the telephone number was changed to 4121 in July, 1929, the newsletter was renamed FourcOne-
Two-One
66Four-One- Two-One, June, 1930, 7..
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 39
sections of the country," the publisher nevertheless predicts for each model the total cost "based on the
most favorable conditions .... and includes everything but the plumbing and heating. "67
Popular literature also provided ready access to information on architectural styles. The Ladies
Home Jour17alinitiated a house-plan service in 1919 through which readers could purchase for one dollar
the working drawings, details, and elevations necessary to create a complete set of blueprints.68 The
magazine published various housing styles, including several plans by Frank Lloyd Wright.. As early as
1908, House Beautiful carried advertisements for booklets of bungalow plans that could be ordered by
mail, again for one dollar.69
House plans and building materials were also available from companies selling mail-order houses ..
Chicago's Sears, Roebuck and Company was perhaps the best known among the catalogue companies,
but Sears shared a market with at least five other competitors from the Midwest: the Aladdin Company,
Gordon-VanTine Company, Montgomery Ward and Company, Lewis Manufacturing Company, and
Sterling Homes.70 The catalogues of these manufacturers displayed a broad range of styles, including
substantial houses as well as modest dwellings. The mass media, newspapers and popular magazines,
plus the mass marketing of ready-made houses combined to make the public aware of the choices
available in housing.
Real estate advertisements for Wilmington subdivisions reflected the same wide selection ..
Developers occasionally included sketches of dwellings which they imagined suitable for their
developments and attractive to potential buyers .. A 1909 ad for Ashley (Christiana Hundred) offered to
"furnish free of charge complete plans and specifications for over sixty different plans of Modern Houses .
... ranging in price from $1,500 to $5,000."71 The accompanying drawings show four versions of four-
square style houses, a gambrel-roofed Dutch colonial, a front-gable dwelling with a substantial cross-gable
wing, and a plain one-and-a-half story front-gable house. Two years later, the Ashley developers added
bungalows to their list of suitable housing styles when they declared that "Bungalow hill ..... is an ideal
place to build. "72 An interest in residential construction was at least partially sustained by a series of
dwelling floor plans published in Wilmington's Sunday Morning Star beginning in 1910 .. The plans
covered the full range of styles from the simplest of frame bungalows through several interpretations of
the "cement block cottage," a substantial "square house," and a "seven-room gambril (sic) roof cottage."
67Shrewesbury's House Plans, 3.
68Gowans, 67..
69Lancaster, 148.
70Schweitzer and Davis, 63.
71Sunday Morning Star, 10 October 1909, 6
72lbid, 21 May 1911, 15
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 40
Each successive decade after the turn of the century yielded new architectural styles. There was
no sharp break between one style and its successor. Rather, the styles overlapped and one gave way
gradually to the next. The dissemination of what was current fashion in housing at any particular moment
was facilitated by both the ready availability of plans and the modest cost of construction associated with
several of the styles.
Property Types Related to Architectural Trends
At least eleven styles that were popular nationally can be easily identified as "suburban" for the
period from 1880 to 1950. Each had its own distinct characteristics and presented its own unique image.
Ten of the eleven, plus a suburban version of the rowhouse, can be found in Wilmington's subdivisions.
The time line in Rgure 9 illustrates the manner in which architectural style in Wilmington reflected the
national trends. The time line is followed by a brief description of each of the architectural style property
types and their distribution patterns in the vicinity of Wilmington. Each of the styles is also accompanied
by illustrations from local subdivisions that show exterior appearance.
The Bungalow
The bungalow is easily identified based on its distinctive characteristics (Rgure 10). A one- or one-
and-a-half story house with ground-hugging outline, it may be constructed of any material--frame, brick,
stone, concrete block -- and may be clad in wood siding, brick, or stone, or any combination of these
materials. The low-pitched roof may be a side-gable with the line of the roof oriented parallel to the street,
a front-gable roof with the line of the roof perpendicular to the street, or a hipped roof. Regardless of the
roof style, it will have deep, over-hanging eaves usually supported by simple, substantial brackets. The
bungalow characteristically is graced by a broad porch across the front facade and anchored by corner
pillars. The porch roof may be shed, cross-gable, or hipped. Most bungalows are three-bay buildings and,
while fenestration and door placement vary among structures, central placement of the entry door is most
common. In addition, bay windows are often used to add light and interest to the design.
Characterized as "by far the most popular home style of the 1910s extending into the 1920s and
even the 1930s, '73 the bungalow was built primarily in newly developing suburbs, although examples may
also be found in small towns and in rural settings. The proliferation of the style is partly due to its wide
marketing by companies selling plans and pre-fabricated versions of the houses .. The low cost of
bungalow construction and the style's great versatility added to its popularity.
Bungalows are found in virtually every Wilmington subdivision laid out prior to 1930, a favorite
house style for the early suburban dwellers. The Wilmington versions of the bungalow include a large
number of variations in material, roof shape, and details .. Gwinhurst (Brandywine Hundred in 1919),
73Schweitzer and Davis, 24.
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 41
ocry
O'l
o
C\J
O'l
oo
O'l
Rgure 9: Time Line for the Appearance of Architectural Styles in Wilmington Subdivisions
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 42
Rgure 10' B. ungalow R' h, Ie ardson Park
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 43
noteworthy for its bungalows, has a number of streets on which several copies of the same style stand
side-by-side .. In Richardson Park (Christiana Hundred, 1904), builder Frank A. Levering erected between
50 and 75 identical bungalows using two plans repeatedly. Although the houses were not built to fill an
entire block, there are several streets on which two or three of Levering's houses stand next to one
another.
The Four-Square
The style that is now commonly known as the four-square enjoyed its greatest popularity between
1900 and 1920 and at the time it was called simply a square two-story house74 or a square type house
(Rgure 11).75 As was the case with the bungalow, the four-square was widely marketed both via plan
books and by catalogue sales and is found not only in suburban areas but in urban and rural districts as
well ..
The two or two-and-a-half story house may be three or five bays wide and is a simple square or
nearly-square box, described variously as "good, plain, substantial''76 and "simple, strong, substantiaL"77
The style's solid mass may be of any material or combinations of materials. The hipped or pyramidal roof
often, though not always, is pierced with dormers admitting light to the attic and often has deep, over-
hanging eaves. The front of the dwelling usually has a porch across the entire front of the first floor and
most commonly the porch roof repeats the hipped style of the dwelling roof.. Piers or columns supporting
the porch roof will be heavy in proportion with the rest of the structure. The fenestration and placement of
the entry door may be symmetrical or asymmetrical ..
Several Wilmington subdivisions from the earliest decades of the century have versions of the
four-square style. Three nearly identical frame four-square dwellings stand on one side of Woodward
Avenue in the area developed as Fredericks Property (Christiana Hundred, 1911) .. Roselle Terrace on the
Kirkwood Highway (1911) also has several examples of the style which vary from one another and
demonstrate the creativity that was applied to the basic box plan.
Colonial Revival
Referred to at the time of its greatest popularity as simply the "colonial" house,78 the style now
called colonial revival presents a balanced, proportioned, and restrained impression (Rgure 12). A 1924
74Sunday Morning Star, 25 July 1915, 16
75Shrewesbury's House Plans, 92
76Sunday Morning Star, 25 July 1915, 16.
77Schweitzer and Davis, Plate 3
78Shrewesbury's House Plans, 98; see also Stevenson and Jandl, 178-188
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 44
Rgure 11:: Four-Square, Roselle Terrace.
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 45
Rgure 12 Colonial Revival, Wier Avenue.
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 46
plan book characterized the style, which Virginia McAlester and Lee McAlester suggest originated around
1880, as "simple, hospitable."79 It was marketed by catalogue companies as early as 191880 and as late as
1941.81 According to Gwendolyn Wright, the style was encouraged by the advent of government
financing during the New Deal. "Traditional design, particularly colonial styles, prevailed," she asserts, "as
FHA officials were quite conservative when considering potential resale values,,"82
The side-gable, five-bay dwelling frequently has a one-story wing or porch on one or both gable
ends and may also have dormers which admit light to the top floor. Two or two-and-a-half stories in height,
the style can be constructed of any material--frame, brick, stucco, or stone or of a combination of materials.
Similarly, the exterior may be of any matrial or combination of materials. The fenestration is nearly always
symmetrical, with the front door clearly emphasized by a decorative pediment and pilasters, usually of
classical design, or by an entry-door porch whose flat or gabled roof is supported by classical pillars .. The
door may be further ornamented by a fan light and/or side lights. Traditionally, the clapboard versions of
the style were painted white and were accented by dark green shutters"
If the bungalow was the favorite dwelling style for the opening decades of the twentieth century,
the colonial revival style was the favorite during the late 1920s and the 1930s. Several of Wilmington's
subdivisions planned and occupied during that period have good collections of the style in a remarkable
variety of materials and interpretations" Among the most popular of the building materials for the colonial
revival was local stone, used either alone for the entire structure or in combination with some other
material, frequently brick or clapboard. Often stone dressed the front facade of a dwelling that was
constructed of another material.. North Hills (1930) and Wier Avenue (1931), both in Brandywine
Hundred, provide excellent examples of the style. Built by James and Robert Conly between 1931 and
1936, the houses on Wier Avenue in particular demonstrate how the same basic plan can be modified by
varying materials and finishing details like door pediments and pilasters .. The colonial revival style is found
in other subdivisions as well where it was more often built in multiples rather than as an isolated dwelling.
Dutch Colonial
The Dutch colonial style, a picture of "simplicity and dignity''83 according to an early plan book,
presents the impression of a solid, safe home (Rgure 13).. The two-story, gambrel-roofed dwelling may be
roughly dated by the orientation of the roof line in relation to the street. McAlester and McAlester assert
that during the early period of the style's popularity, 1895 to 1915, houses were constructed as front-
79Shrewesbury's House Plans, 98
8oStevenson and Jandl, "The Preston," 174
81Schweitzer and Davis, Aladdin's "Edgewood," 24
82Wright, 242.
83Shrewesbury's House Plans, 110
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 47
Figure 13 Dutch Colonial, Gordon Heights.
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings
gable structures and, that during the 1920s and 1930s, the houses were built with the gables to the
sides"
48
In the side-gable version of the style, the long gambrel roof, which gives the building an
impression of lowness, occasionally sweeps down and is supported by columns to form a porch across the
entire front facade. There is frequently a continuous shed dormer across the entire width of the dwelling.
The fenestration of the three- or five-bay house is usually symmetrical with the centrally-placed entry door
sheltered by a hood roof over the stoop" The porch roof may also extend out from the front, to rest on
supporting columns. Although the Dutch colonial may be of any material, in dassic versions, it is frame,
clad in white-painted clapboard, and decorated with dark green shutters and window boxes ..
While the colonial revival style most frequently is found in multiples, the Dutch colonial houses are
usually found as isolated examples. Individual houses of the style can be found in many of Wilmington's
subdivisions, including Cragmere (1917) and Holly Oak (1918) in Brandywine Hundred and Boxwood
(1910) in Christiana Hundred, All the examples are oriented so that the dwelling's roof line lies parallel to
the street These subdivisions, from a span of nearly 20 years, demonstrate a high degree of architectural
variety and it is not uncommon for houses built during different decades to be found standing next to one
another. This is the usual setting in which the Dutch colonial is found. However, Gordon Heights
(Brandywine Hundred, 1905) is an exception to this pattern. There two groups of three Dutch colonial
houses are found. One trio is on Hillcrest Avenue and, according to the building trade journal, Four-One-
Two-One, the dwellings were built by Jacob Wagner for James Conly in 1931.84 The second group of
three is nearby on Brandywine Boulevard"
Side-Gable Cottage
The inexpensive and simply-designed side-gable cottage provided the basis for later adaptation
as the Cape Cod (Figure 14).. So plain that the style lacks a distinctive name, it was nonetheless marketed
by catalogue for approximately ten years, between 1915 and 1925, Sears, Roebuck and Company sold
plans for one interpretation of the style from 1917 to 1922. Called "The Almo," the four-room house (no
bath) was described as appealing ''to the practical man of limited means."85 It was priced between $463
and $1,052. The simplicity and modest expense associated with the style insured that its popularity would
be rekindled and the style re-emerged as a frequently-built type in the 1940s, The publishers of Your
Home Planned for Today and Tomorrow prefaced their 1947 book of plans for side-gable houses by
proclaiming the dwellings' "modest cost, yet delightful livability. "86
84Four-One-Two-One, April, 1931,5,
85Stevenson and Jandl, 89
86Your Home Planned for Today and Tomorrow, introduction np,
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 49
Rgure 14 Side-gable Cottage, Idela.
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 50
Built most often with three-bays, the one-story dwelling is generally of frame with clapboard siding.
The roof has an average pitch, lacks any exaggerated over-hanging eaves, and is unadorned by dormers.
Fenestration may be either symmetrical or asymmetrical and the ornamentation of the entry door varies. In
some versions, there is no porch or roof protecting the door. In other cases, a shed- or flat-roofed porch
with columns or a cross-gable hood shelters the front stoop. The style also was produced in a two-story
adaptation around the same time. Like the more common one-story version, it is notable for simplicity of
style and lack of decoration. It follows the same pattern of design, with three bays, plain roof, and frame
construction.
The side-gable cottage is found in many of Wilmington's subdivisions, but its appearance in Idela
along Maryland Avenue (1924) warrants notice" There three frame versions of the style were built side-by-
side. The houses are remarkably similar in their size and massing, but each is quite individual in detail.
One is a plain, three-bay version of the style with shutters at the windows and a centrally-placed cross-
gable extension in which the entry door is located, The second is a four-bay interpretation, asymmetrical
in design, with minimal decoration" The third is the same size as its fellows but has been divided into five
bays with a central entry door flanked by pairs of evenly-spaced windows, that are decorated with shutters
and window boxes. The same style appears in Swanwyck (Christiana Hundred, 1938) in two versions, one
in brick and the other frame with brick facing on the lower part of the front facade .. Identical copies of each
version are constructed along entire streets.
Cape Cod Cottage
The Cape Cod Cottage, often called Cape Cod Colonial87 during its greatest popularity in the
193Os, is a transformation of the side-gable cottage (Rgure 15)" The one-and-a-half story dwelling is most
often three-bays wide and is made distinctive by two, sometimes three, gable dormers that pierce the fairly
steeply-pitched roof.. Usually the Cape Cod is of frame construction with clapboard exterior, although brick
or stucco are also used. The dwelling is generally symmetrical, with the central entry flanked by a pair of
windows on either side. The entry door itself is ornamented with pediment and pilasters and occasionally
with a transom light above and side lights. Traditionally, the style is painted white with shutters of a
contrasting color.
Individual examples of the Cape Cod constructed of a variety of materials are found in many
Wilmington subdivisions .. Introduced in the 193Os, it remained popular into the 1940s and several
versions from that decade survive. In Bellemoor (Christiana Hundred, 1911), there are six identical Cape
Cod style houses on Reemer Road. According to the Sanborn maps of the period, the dwellings were
built between 1937 and 1942 .. They are of frame construction and one of the three bays of the lower story
is used as a built-in garage rather than for living space. Elmhurst (1918) and Lyndalia (1920), both in
87Schweitzer and Davis, Plate 9; Stevenson and Jandl, 'The Gordon: 149.,
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 51
Figure 15: Cape Cod Cottage, Edgemoor Terrace
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 52
Christiana Hundred along Maryland Avenue, have multiple copies of the same brick Cape Cod house built
probably in the 194Os.
However, the most intense use of the style was in Brandywine Hundred's Edgemoor Terrace
(1939) where a brick version of the Cape Cod was used for a large number of dwellings. Designed with
the traditional three bays and two gable donners in the roof, the house also had an attached single-car
garage. To vary the appearance along a block of houses, the developer rotated some of the buildings by
90? so that the dwelling design was transfonned from a side-gable to a front-gable plan and the dormers,
rather than looking out over the front of the house, were oriented toward the neighboring house to the
side.
Front-Gable Cottage
The front-gable cottage was another plain, inexpensive dwelling style popular in the early years of
the twentieth century (Rgure 16). Marketed by Sears between 1908 and 1916,88 the one-and-a-half-
story dwelling has two or three bays. The roof, which has an average pitch, is occasionally broken by a
modest cross-gable dormer. Most commonly of frame construction with a clapboard exterior, the house
also may be of concrete masonry with stucco or brick exterior. The entry door is often sheltered by a porch
that may extend across part or all of the front facade.
The earliest versions of the style are noteworthy for their lack of decoration. In the 1920s, Sears
marketed a larger version of the style. The later adaptation is two stories in height, has over-hanging
eaves supported by brackets, and is more highly decorated, using ornamental shingles on the exterior
and classical columns as porch supports. These later interpretations of the style also occasionally have
substantial cross-gables which intersect the main block of the dwelling creating an "X" configuration.
Many Wilmington subdivisions have interpretations of the front-gable cottage, but almost all are
the more modest one-and-a-half-story version .. Richardson Park (1904) and Ashley (1909), on opposite
sides of Maryland Avenue, have a number of the dwellings in their simplest form .. On Elsmere Street in
Richardson Park, for example, there are five identical versions of the style, each with a double window in
the gable end of the upper story and a shed-roofed porch across the front.. Minquadale (New Castle
Hundred, 1917) also has a rich collection of the front-gable houses.
English CottageITudor Cottage
Popular from the mid-1920s through the 19305, the versatile English cottage or Tudor cottage
style has been described as "suggesting substantial, comfortable living,,"89 The irregularly massed
houses appear in one-story, one-and-a-half-story, and two-story versions but all present the same basic
image (Rgure 17). The front of the side-gable dwelling displays a substantial cross-gable with a steeply-
88Stevenson and Jandl, 56-59
89Shrewesbury's House Plans, 120.
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 53
Figure 16: Front-Gable Cottage, Minquadale
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 54
Rgure 17: EnglishfTudor Cottage, Edgewood Hills.
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 55
pitched, asymmetric roof that extends toward the center line of the building" The entry door is located
within the cross-gable under the shelter of the sweeping roof. There is rarely a porch or hood over the
entry door, although occasionally the door may be recessed so that it nestles in a protective niche.
Frequently, the exterior chimney for the house's fireplace is also placed at the front of the dwelling
adjacent to the cross-gable.
The high, steep roof of the dwelling itself matches the pitch of the cross-gable. Dormers of a
variety of styles--gable, hipped, shed--are frequently provide light to the upper floor. Various materials are
used in the construction and exterior of the EnglishfTudor cottage and the exterior materials themselves
often serve as important decoration. Frame versions of the style may be clad in ornamental shingle, brick
versions may have stucco and half-timbering to highlight the second floor, and brick and stucco have
been used to achieve other interpretations.
As appears to be the case with the Cape Cod style, the EnglishfTudor cottage continued to be
popular long after it was first introduced in the 19208" Fredericks Property (Christiana Hundred, 1911),
Fern Hook (New Castle Hundred, 1920), and Glen Berne Estates (Christiana Hundred, 1946) all have
small, single editions of the dwelling. Blue Rock Manor (1940) on Concord Pike presents a unique
interpretation of the design. The sideways sweep of the cross-gable roof is truncated by the roof of the
dwelling which pushes forward and down toward the front of the building" The chimney is on the front
facade of the dwelling but in the middle of the cross gable, rather than next to it. The interesting building
lines give the street a lively appearance as the design is repeated in approximately a dozen houses"
Spanish Revival
Found in a variety of forms, this style is known by a variety of names: Pueblo style,90 Mission
style,91 Spanish Revival,92 Mission Revival,93 and Spanish Eclectic ..94 Its popularity comes from substantial
favorable attention in the 1920s, not the least of which was supplied when the Santa Fe Railroad adopted
the style as the company's official architecture. 95
One or one-and-a-half stories in height, the Spanish revival dwelling is irregularly massed and has
a red tile roof that is either flat or has only a shallow pitch (Rgure 18). Of concrete masonry construction
and clad in stucco, the house may be either a side-gable or front-gable structure and often has arched
rather than squared doorways, irregularly placed windows, and visible, heavy beams. Frequently the
9OHoward, 142.
911bid
92Schweitzer and Davis, 218
93lbid, 219.
94McAIester and McAlester, 417
95Schweitzer and Davis, 219
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings
Rgure 18: Spanish Revival, Villa Monterey.
56
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 57
sheer massing and shape of the house serves as its decoration, although decorative wrought iron is also
frequently applied for ornamentation.
While an isolated example of the Spanish revival style can be found in Eastlawn (Brandywine
Hundred, 1917), it is found in the greatest concentration in Villa Monterey. Claude Banta laid out the
subdivision in 1923 with the hope of building 350 houses in the style. Only twelve of the dwellings were
ever built. Arranged around a grassy court, they were constructed of concrete block, finished with stucco,
and painted different pastel colors (Rgure 19).. While the editors of One-Two-One-Fouradmitted that
Banta had a good location on Philadelphia Pike and that his work was well done, they also warned that "it
takes courage to do anything different in Delaware."96 After the initial dwellings were in place, the balance
of the subdivision was given over to architecture more traditional to Wilmington subdivisions, primarily
bungalows and colonial revival houses.
Modern/International
Dating from the 19205, the modernlinternational style gives the visual impression of a solid,
starkly plain, irregularly massed box studded with generous amount of glass (Rgure 20) .. The dwelling may
be one or two stories in height, although two stories is more common. Constructed of concrete masonry
clad in stucco, the house has a flat roof and asymmetrical design. It is unusual for the modemlinternational
style house to have a porch, but shelter over the entry door is often provided by the upper story
projecting over the lower story .. Casement windows, flush with the outside wall, are frequently installed at
the corners of the building to form a corner of glass.
The construction of the modernlintemational style in Wilmington subdivisions is similar to the
construction of Spanish revival architecture. There are a few isolated examples but only one
concentration of the style .. Delwood (1941) in Brandywine Hundred is a subdivision built along a single,
dead-end street. Of the 20 dwellings on the street, 19 are identical renditions of a diminutive international
style house. Built of coursed stone, one-story in height, and with a flat roof, each dwelling has a single-car
attached garage and casement windows, both in the front facade and forming one of the front corners of
the structure. While some of the buildings have had casement windows replaced by other styles, the
overall appearance of the street is one of uniform, low-lying houses.
Ranch Style
The ranch style originated in California in the 1930s and became increasingly popular during the
1940s, particularly in the western United States. The one-story dwelling has strong horizontal lines and is
laid out most often like an "L", with two-thirds of the structure made up of a long block parallel to the street
and the balance consisting of an extension which is the short arm of the "L", reaching toward the street at
one end. The asymmetrically massed dwelling may include one or more picture windows and often also
96 One- Two-One-Four, November, 1925, 1
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 58
Figure 19: Corinne Court, Villa Monterey.
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 59
Rgure 20 Modern/International, Oelwood.
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings
has a porch or patio area at the rear of the house, a carry-over from the style's western/Spanish origins.
The low-pitched roof, which may be hipped or gable, generally has noticeably overhanging eaves. The
dweling usually provides for automobile storage in a built-in garage or a carport
Although the ranch style enjoyed great popularity in westem areas of the country prior to mid-
century, it was not widely built in Delaware until after 1950. The earliest examples found in Wilmington
subdivisions date from the late 1950s and early 1960s.
60
Wilmington's "Special" Styles
An examination of the literature on suburban housing styles does not encompass all the housing
found in Wilmington's subdivisions. Aside from the anticipated dwellings that are so unique that they defy
classification, there are styles which occur in sufficient numbers to require comment.
Building on Wilmington's long experience with and tradition of rowhouses, some early developers
carried the urban style to the suburbs. Penn-Rose (Brandywine Hundred, 1903), for example, has two
blocks that are occupied by rows of contiguous dwellings. The urban duplex, made up of paired narrow,
deep structures suitable for a narrow city building lot, is found in Brandywine Hundred's Montrose (1902,
now Bellefonte) and Ashley (Christiana Hundred, 1909). Later versions of the double house were built in
Lancaster Village (1938) and Pleasant Hills (1940), both in Christiana Hundred, While the majority of
suburban housing adheres to the expected pattern of the single-family, detached dwelling, there are
examples of suburban houses that are semi-detached dwellings.
Location Patterns for Property Types Related to Architectural Style
Several property types are widely distributed in substantial numbers throughout the Wilmington
subdivisions. The early twentieth century subdivisions all have versions of the bungalow and most have
adaptations of the four-square style house. In both cases, the plans or materials for the houses were
easily accessible" With the case of the bungalow, the modest price of the dwelling added to its attraction
as did the flexibility of its design. It is reasonable to expect that in any subdivision planned from 1880
through 1930, that some interpretations of the bungalow style would be found"
While the four-'square was more expensive than the bungalow, its efficient use of space and
solid, safe appearance made it attractive to larger families. The ready availability of plans for the houses
coupled with the availability of milled lumber to add decorative details to the plain facade insured that the
style would appeal to certain suburban home buyers. As with the bungalow, one can expect to find four-
square dwellings widely distributed in the Wilmington subdivisions from 1880 to 1920. although not in as
great numbers as the bungalows"
Some houses in the colonial revival style will be found in these same early subdivisions,
because the construction of housing in the developments from the first years of the century took place
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 61
over several decades. In the older subdivisions, the design may be expected to occur in individual
dwellings, but in subdivisions from the 1920s and 1930s one can expect to find multiple versions of the
colonial revival house. As the style replaced the bungalow and four-square as the most popular design, it
was built in large numbers. Thus a subdivision like North Hills, laid out in 1930, became the site of several
variations of the style ..
Much the same may be said of the Cape Cod design" Although the simple, inexpensive style
will be found in older areas, it is more likely to be found in later subdivisions which were being built during
the 1920s and 1930s. The traditional style represented by the colonial revival and the Cape Cod enjoyed
the favor of the FHA officials responsible for assisting in financing house building in the 1930s.97 The
agreeable appearance of the two styles linked to the availability of funding made it likely that they would
flourish,
The side-gable and front-gable cottages were built in many suburban areas around
Wilmington, but they are most likely to be found in subdivisions at the lower end of the socioeconomic
scale. Different versions of both styles have been constructed during every decade from the turn of the
century, sometimes in frame and sometimes in brick. The simple, unadorned dwelling has continued to
be a mainstay of the building market because of the ease and relative cheapness of construction.
Minquadale is one of the subdivisions where the front-gable cottage is found in large numbers. The
subdivision has very diverse architecture, partly due to the fact that it was opened for development in
1917. An examination of the types of dwellings constructed over each of the decades is likely to show
that in each time period, the dwellings built were the styles that were least expensive to erect.
The Dutch colonial style and the EnglishfTudor cottage are not as prevalent as the others
already discussed. In part, this is due to the impact of traditional taste in what homeowners were willing to
buy. The case of Dutch colonial in Gordon Heights also suggests that one builder's decision to construct
one or two houses of a style may have had an important influence" While most subdivisions have isolated
examples of Dutch Colonial houses, within approximately six square blocks in Gordon Heights there are
one set of three Dutch colonial houses on Hillcrest Avenue, a second set of three on Brandywine
Boulevard, a pair of houses on Hillcrest Avenue, and a single house in the style on Lore Avenue" It is
possible that a single builder provided the example necessary to prompt other contractors into using the
style as well. While fieldwork has revealed only isolated individual examples of the EnglishfTudor cottage,
but it is possible that a similar pattern will be found for the construction of multiples of that style as well,
based on the initial impulse of a single builder
The examples of Spanish revival and international style architecture remain few in number
partly because the styles themselves were too radical for conservative Delaware tastes, as the editors of
One- Two-One-Four suggested" In addition, the impracticality of a flat roof in Wilmington's climate certainly
97Wright, 242,
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 62
had to have militated against the style as well. Although additional interpretations of both styles may be
found, it is likely that they will be isolated and rare.
Criteria for Evaluation of Significance: Dwellings
The primary criterion for determining a dwelling's eligibility for inclusion in the historic context for
suburbanization is that the building was constructed in an area that meets the definition of subdivision as
established by the context .. To satisfy the definition, a subdivision must be a residential community
established during the specified time period, distant from the center of Wilmington, but tied to it by
employment. This bars from consideration worker housing built for employees of firms whose
manufacturing sites also had a suburban location. Ukewise, it excludes isolated dwellings that were built
in a geographic location that was distant from the city but which were not part of a specifically planned set
of streets and building lots. A dwelling may be eligible for inclusion as part of an historic district or as one
building in a multiple property nomination, but in either case it must be located in a subdivision.
The physical characteristics for each suburban dwelling style have been itemized above. To be
eligible for consideration, a house must have most of the basic features of the style:
? A bungalow must be a one- or one-and-a-half story house with a low pitched roof, deep, over-
hanging eaves, and a broad porch dressing the front facade. The consideration of such a dwelling is
further strengthened if the eaves are supported by brackets and if there are bay windows included in the
design.
? A four-square house must be a two- or two-and-a-half story, hipped-roof house of a simple
square or nearly-square both in plan and elevation. It should be a plain, substantial building with a porch
across the front. Its eligibility is strengthened if it has dormers as an additional feature.
? To be considered eligible, a colonial revival house should present a balanced impression. It
should be a two- or two-and-a-half story, five-bay side-gable dwelling, usually with symmetrical
fenestration. While the materials may vary, a colonial revival dwelling's eligibility will be strengthened if it
follows traditional decorating conventions with classically-designed ornamentation around the entry door
and window shutters ..
? The Dutch colonial must be a three- or five-bay, gambrel-roofed dwelling of two stories. While
the house may be either side- or front-gabled in design, the style should display the typical shed dormer
across the width of the building .. The Dutch colonial should have a solid, substantial profile ..
? The side-gable cottage must be a simple, modest dwelling of one- or one-and-a-half stories
and generally three bays., The building should be oriented, as the name suggests, so the roof line runs
parallel to the street and the gables are on the sides .. The roof must be of average pitch and the
projections of the eaves shallow. If there are dormers into the upper floor, they must be of the simplest
style as must any porch used to ornament the front of the dwelling
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 63
o The Cape Cod cottage is a more complex version of the side-gable cottage. The simplicity of
the side-gable cottage must show increased ornamentation with the Cape Cod, most notably supplied by
two or three gable dormers in the steeply-pitched roof. The eligibility of a house of this style is
strengthened if the dwelling is symmetrical in design, has traditional classical decoration around the door,
and has shutters at the windows.
01'0 be considered eligible, the front-gable cottage must adhere to standards of simplicity
similar to the side-gable cottage. It must be one- or one-and-a-half stories in height and constructed with
two or three bays. It should be oriented so that the roof line is perpendicular to the street and the gable
forms the front facade of the building. The roof must have an average pitch and may be broken with a
modest cross-gable dormer. The entry door should be sheltered by a front porch.
0The EnglishlTudor cottage allows for substantial variety in design, but to be eligible for
consideration must meet certain basic criteria. The dwelling should be irregularly massed and may be one-
, one-and-a-half-, or two-story in elevation .. Side-gable in orientation, the style has a substantial cross-
gable with a steeply-pitched roof which extends from the central block of the building .. The entry door
should be located in the cross-gable; the exterior chimney for the dwelling's fireplace is frequently placed
next to the cross-gable. The house itself should have a steep roof, often pierced by dormers.
o The Spanish revival house must be an irregularly-massed dwelling of concrete masonry
construction clad in stucco. It may be one or one-and-a-half stories with a flat or shallow roof of red tile.
The building may have either a side-gable or front-gable orientation, but its eligibility is strengthened if it
has irregularly placed windows, arched rather than square doorways, and visible, heavy beams.
o To be eligible as an example of the modernlinternational style, a house must present a
visual impression of a solid, plain box with ribbons of windows in bands around the structure. The
concrete masonry building may be one or two stories in height and must have a flat roof and asymmetrical
design .. The casement windows must be flush with the outside wall; the dwelling's eligibility is
strengthened if windows are joined in such a way as to give the building corners of glass ..
Once a house is determined eligible under the physical criteria, it must also be evaluated for
integrity and significance under the criteria established by the Secretary of the Interior .. As noted in
Chapter I, to be considered eligible for consideration for listing on the National Register, an historic
resource must have not only the physical attributes discussed in Chapters II and III, but should also have at
least one associative characteristic as identified in Chapters IV and V.
Criteria for Evaluation of Integrity: Dwellings
The Secretary's Standards specify seven areas to be considered when integrity is evaluated:
location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association .. To be eligible for the National
Physical Characteristics of Dwellings 64
Register under this context, a suburban dwelling must possess integrity in at least three of the seven
categories:
1. InteQritv of location means that the dwelling being considered is within a subdivision as defined
by the context and that the dwelling sits where it was originally built. If it has been moved to its current site
from elsewhere, it lacks integrity of location.
2. Intearitv of desian means that the dwelling adheres to the design standards identified with that
particular dwelling style. It must follow the expected pattern in terms of size, number of stories,
construction materials, massing of the building, shape and orientation of roof, and general appearance.
3. Intearitv of settina means that the dwelling plays a significant role in illustrating the character of
the subdivision at the time the dwelling was built..
4. Intearitv of materials means that the original condition of a dwelling has remained largely
unchanged. If massive alteration of the structure has occurred, such as replacing all the original windows
with a markedly different style, the fabric of the dwelling may have been so changed that little integrity
remains. Any apparent loss of integrity must be assessed in light of whether changes can be reversed. If
original clapboard siding has been covered with vinyl siding, for example, and the original siding could be
uncovered, the dwelling's integrity may not be irrevocably compromised.
5. Intearity of workmanshio means that the building provides physical evidence of the crafts or
techniques current at the time of its construction. In the case of suburban residential construction, this
category may involve an examination of stone or brick work, of the application of pre-fabricated mill work, or
of use of rough-cast concrete block in residential construction.
6. Intearitv of feelina means that the dwelling is evocative of the period of which it was a part. A
colonial revival house, for example, will have integrity of feeling if it calls to mind, by its balanced design
and traditional appearance, the time during which it was built.
7. Intearitv of association means that a direct and tangible link exists between the dwelling and
some event or trend of events. A side-gable cottage, for instance, will have integrity of association if its
construction and character can be linked to an important demographic trend such as the exodus of lower
income workers from the city to a particular suburban development.
IV. SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE
IN SUBURBANIZATION
This chapter will discuss the associative property types related to suburbanization through the
historic theme of Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change. Associative property types are related
to events, activities, individuals or groups, or the kind of information a resouce may yield. The link
between suburbanization and demography is expressed most directly through the restrictive covenants
that appeared in the deeds which conveyed building lots in the new subdivisions, In addition, the chapter
will explore the associative link that connects suburbanization with the popular idea of home that was
prevalent during the early years of the century.
The suburbanization process was clearly more than the acquisition of large tracts of land, the
planning and grading of roads, the sale of building lots, and the construction of bungalows and colonial
revival houses. It was also an expression of the cultural trends at work in the society at large and in
Wilmington. It is clear from an examination of the phenomena that relate to the social institutions for the
period from 1880 to 1950 that powerful forces for change were at work. Of greatest importance to a
consideration of suburban growth and development are changes in the size and distribution of population
in the country, in Delaware, and in Wilmington. These changes created a situation in which many of the
city's residents saw the potential for serious problems. Essential aspects of the suburbanization process
were direct reactions to these apparent threats" As a theme of the Delaware Plan, Settlement Patterns
and Demographic Change addresses "the processes of the modification and transformation of historic
resources." A consideration of these paired phenomena allows one to trace changes in the physical
environment that occur because of "cultural, social, and economic change. "98
This chapter explores the demographic transformations that took place over the seven decades
of the historic context. In addition, it will examine reactions provoked by population changes" Among
these responses, restrictive deed covenants spoke most directly against the changing complexion of the
city's population and at the same time had a profound impact on the physical landscape that was created in
the subdivisions surrounding Wilmington.
The period from 1880 to 1950 was a time when "home" and home ownership were elevated to
the status of ideals. Developers made extensive use of these popular ideas to encourage people to
move out of the city. Development companies promised an ideal country home with all its benefits of
health and beauty while also preying on the apprehensions of city dwellers about the changes they saw
around them in the city. As a result, Wilmington families joined the movement out of the city and into the
suburbs.
98 Delaware Plan, 28.
65
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change
66
During the period between 1880 and 1950, the nation witnessed population movement first from
rural to urban residences and then to suburban locations, with the over-all result that Americans became
increasingly urban as opposed to rural creatures .. While an increasing percentage of the population lived
in urban places, that is, those with a population of 2,500 or more according to the Census Bureau
definition, the opening decades of the twentieth century witnessed the first examples of middle-class and
working-class city dwellers seeking residences on the periphery of cities .. While wealthy urbanites had
long been able to live outside the city and commute to work, improvements in transportation, providing a
means of traveling to work, and in income, allowing for the purchase of desirable housing, encouraged the
outward movement of less affluent members of the population.
In 1880, 30 percent of the American population was considered urban, that is, living in places with
a population of 2500 or more; by 1950, that figure had increased to 64 percent. Over the seventy-year
period, the total population grew at an average rate of 17 percent in each decade; the urban rate of growth
was 31 percent, far exceeding the average rural rate (7 percent). Although the rates declined over time,
as Rgure 21 illustrates, the period saw an unwavering increase in the percentage of the American
population that was classified as urban ..
As early as the 1890 enumeration, the Census Bureau acknowledged that counting as urban only
individuals who lived within a city's limits misrepresented actual circumstances, ignoring the "populous
suburbs, which are to all intents and purposes parts of the city, whose inhabitants transact business within
the city, who may be served by the same post office, but who, living without the charter limits, are not
included in the city's population."99 The 1910 census report included a chapter entitled "Cities and
Suburbs" which identified transportation, employment, and business as links connecting the elements of
an urban region. The same census inaugurated two new urban categories based primarily on city size ..
"Cities and adjacent territory" designated cities with populations of 100,000 or more and included the
"population in civic divisions within 1?miles of the city boundary." "Metropolitan district" was to be applied
to cities of 200,000 or more and any adjacent territory with a density of 150 people or more per square
mile.100
The census of 1920 reiterated the importance of the suburbs of great cities by noting comparative
growth rates of central cities and their adjacent territories. Focusing on cities of 200,000 or more, Census
analysts pointed out that since 1910, "the rate of increase in population of the suburban areas (32 ..7
percent) was considerably greater than the corresponding rate for the central cities (25 ..1 percent)."101
Delaware followed the national pattern .. In 1880, 33 percent of the state's population was urban;
by 1950 the urban population represented 63 percent of the total population .. While the total population
99 "Compendium of the Eleventh Census 1890," Ixxvi
100 "Cities and Suburbs," Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910, 73.
101 Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, 63 ..
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change 67
FIGURE 21
Urban Population as Percentage of
Total United States Population
194019201900
o
1880
70
40
50
30
60
-o
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change 68
of the state grew at an average rate of 12 percent per decade over the period, the urban population
expanded by an average of 23 percent each decade. Growth in Wilmington's population accounted for
much of the early increase. In 1880, the city's 42,478 residents made up 29 percent of the state
population; by 1920, they numbered 110,168, 49 percent of all Delawareans. After that, Wilmington's
portion of the total state population declined steadily to 35 percent in 1950. At the same time, the city's
share of the state's urban population remained around 86 percent until 1950, when it dropped to 55
percent (Rgure 22).
Wilmington's share of New Castle County's population increased during the first half of the period
and then declined. In 1880, the city population was 42,478, which accounted for 55 percent of the
county's 77,716 residents. The city's portion of total county population continued to grow until it peaked
at 74 percent in 1920. Over the same 40 years, the suburban hundreds adjacent to the city were home to
only a small portion of the total county population (Table 2).
TABLE 2
Percentage of New Castle County Population
in Wilmington and Suburban Hundreds
1880-1950
Brandywine Christiana Mill Creek New Castle
Year WilminQton Hundred Hundred Hundred Hundred
1880 55 5 8 4 7
1890 63 4 6 4 6
1900 70 4 4 3 5
1910 71 4 5 3 4
1920 74 4 4 3 4
1930 66 7 9 3 5
1940 63 8 10 3 6
1950 50 11 15 4 10
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Population Schedule, 1880-1950.
In 1930, the city's share of the county population began to decline; simultaneously suburban
hundreds began to increase their shares .. In the decade from 1920 to 1930, Wilmington's population
"grew" at a rate of -3 percent; in the same period, Brandywine Hundred's population grew at a rate of 69
percent and Christiana Hundred's at a rate of 127 percent. The percentage of the county population living
in hundreds adjacent to Wilmington, but outside the city's boundaries, grew steadily over the period ..
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change
FIGURE 22
Wilmington's Share of Delaware's
Urban Population
69
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
o
1880 1900 1920 1940
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change 70
Brandywine and Christiana hundreds, which had the largest number of new suburbs, saw substantial
growth in their shares of the county population.. Brandywine Hundred doubled its percentage of the
county's residents and Christiana Hundred tripled its share of the population. New Castle Hundred
maintained a consistent percentage of population share over the period, while Mill Creek Hundred, which
had the fewest suburban subdivisions, experienced a slight diminution of its portion of county residents
(Table 3).
TABLE 3
Percentage of New Castle County Population
Living Outside Wilmington, 1880-1950
Brandywine Christiana Mill Creek New Castle
Year Hundred Hundred Hundred Hundred
1880 10 17 10 15
1890 11 17 11 17
1900 12 14 11 16
1910 12 17 11 15
1920 17 17 11 17
1930 20 26 8 15
1940 22 28 8 15
1950 22 30 7 20
Source: u.,S. Bureau of the Census, Population Schedule, 1880-1950.
The same pattern of population distribution emerges from an examination of Wilmington's
Metropolitan District, which, by the Census Bureau's definition, included not only the hundreds
surrounding the city but segments of Pennsylvania and New Jersey as well (Rgure 23). From 1910 when
it was initially designated, to 1950, the total population of the district increased by 39 percent. While the
Central City (Wilmington) portion of the district was growing at a rate of 26 percent, it was outstripped by
population growth in the Adjacent Territories which averaged 62 percent. Although Wilmington contained
more than half the total population in the district for each of the decades, the city's share declined from 65
percent in 1910 to 59 percent by 1950.
Part of the explanation may lie in changes in Wilmington's ethnic mix" For the entire 70 years of
the context, the percentage of the city's population that was foreign-born varied between 9 percent and
16 percent, However, those decades saw important changes in the character of the immigrant
community, In 1880, western Europe provided 97 percent of Wilmington's foreign-born residents;
eastern and southern Europe accounted for less than one percent By the end of the period, western
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change
W(LMIN(~TON l\IETROPOLITAN DISTRICT
Limib ul' Distrid ~
Figure 23: Wilmington Metropolitan District, 1930.
Source: U. S. Bureau of Census.
71
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change 72
European immigrants numbered less than one-third of the foreign population while eastern and southern
Europeans were more than two-thirds of the group (Rgure 24).
It is important to note that between 1880 and 1910, only around 13 percent of Wilmington's
residents were African-Americans .. Their share of the city's total population dropped to 10 percent in 1910
and 1920 and then gradually rose to 16 percent in 1950. For each of the census enumerations between
1880 and 1950, the number of foreign-born residents exceeded the number of African-Americans.
At least some of the individuals who moved to the newly-planned subdivisions may have left the
city to get away from neighbors whose languages and habits were unfamiliar and, to the ethnocentric
mind, obnoxious. Although the number of European immigrants and African-Americans never exceeded
27 percent of the city's population, developers saw as significant this apparent apprehension about
neighbors who were "different" The advertising used by several development companies stressed that
subdivision property would not be sold to objectionable parties.
Many subdivisions survive as artifacts of changes in local and state settlement patterns and
demography. Wilmington's population increased each decade from 1880 through 1920 when it peaked
at 110,168 which amounted to 49 percent of the total state population. In the 70 years between 1880
and 1950, a total of 182 subdivisions were planned for the area surrounding the city and 177 were platted ..
The ten years leading up to the peak city population in 1920 and the ten years following (1910-1930)
account for the establishment of fully 41 percent of all the subdivisions planned during the entire 1880-
1950 period. These 20 years were the same period which saw the already-declining number of northern
European immigrants fall below the steadily-increasing number of immigrants from southern and eastern
Europe. While neither the crush of population nor the proximity of foreign-born and African-American
residents can be held solely responsible for the development of subdivisions, the impact of both
population factors cannot be ignored ..
Restrictive Covenants
Developers utilized restrictive deed covenants to address both population "problems." There
were, on the one hand, restrictions that sought to create a landscape that was a marked contrast to the
urban landscape from which the new suburban residents were escaping. The steps of city rowhouses
opened directly onto the pavement so developers insisted that new suburban dwellings be set back 20 to
25 feet from the curb, allowing space for a front lawn. City rowhouses were connected with one another
putting neighbors in close proximity, so developers insisted that new suburban dwellings be single-family
dwellings built 10 feet from the side property lines, insuring space between the houses. City rowhouses
were narrow, deep buildings measuring approximately 15 by 40 feet, so developers insisted that the
minimum dimensions of any building lot in the new subdivision be 40 by 100 feet City rowhouses had a
distinctive red brick facade, tall, straight and severe; so developers insisted on the right to approve all
plans for new subdivision dwellings before construction could begin. In effect, developers insisted
through their deed covenants that the suburban landscape be different from the city landscape and that
~ Western Europe
? EasternlSouthern Europe
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change
FIGURE 24
Percentage Distribution of
Foreign-Born Wilmington Residents
100
'; 80-
0--
600
'"f-
40c:
'"e
'" 20.:::&.
0
1880 1900 1920 1940
73
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change 74
Wilmingtonians moving from the crowded city of crowded narrow streets lined by narrow rowhouses would
see immediately that suburban subdivisions offered relief from the crush of people that the city had come
to mean.
The deed restrictions often set minimum values for dwellings that could be constructed on
subdivision building lots .. Early in the century, the minimum value was most frequently $1,000 and the
amount increased by 1940 to approximately $4,500 This designated value, particularly when coupled
with an insistence that the seller have final approval on house designs, effectively excluded families with
incomes insufficient to meet the minimums. Other deed covenants specifically restricted the sale of
property within developments to Caucasians. This explicit prohibition combined with the cost restrictions
imposed by minimum values were apparently perceived as sufficient to keep out "undesirable" individuals.
The said Grantee by the acceptance of this deed for his heirs and assings, hereby
covenants with the said Grantors, their heirs, grantees and assings, that he will not erect,
build or maintain, or cause or permit to be erected, built or maintained upon the said
premises or any part thereof, any blacksmith, currier or machine shop, piggery, slaughter-
house, public stable or livery, soap, glue or starch manufactory, or any trade or business
or factory of any kind or nature whatever, and that all of said property and every part
thereof shall be strictly used for residential purposes only; [except along Philadelphia
Pike] provided said business houses are used for the carrying on of a trade or business
not dangerous, noxious or offensive to neighboring inhabitants or property, that said
trade or business is not likely to depreciate property values in the immediate vicinity and
that they are in keeping with the general character of he neighborhood. This covenant is
to be construed as running with the land ..... [The Grantee] shall not keep on said
premises any live stock or poultry, except household pets, that she shall not or will not
cause to be erected any private garage on said premises, except such one-story garages
as are constructed of brick or stucco finish, and that the same be placed on or near the
rear property line; that no fences shall be built in front or in the rear of the houses on said
lot, except iron fences or hedge fences, which shall not exceed four feet in height; that
said premises or any part thereof shall not be sold, leased or conveyed to any person or
persons not of the Caucasian Race ..
Source: Deed Record 1-33-35, 15 September 1924.
There seemed to be little disagreement between subdivision developers and buyers about the
desirability of placing restrictions on the land being developed and sold. The development firms, seeking
to attract buyers, recognized that land use restrictions were essential to guarantee that the communities
eventually built were pleasant and hospitable and, therefore, marketable. Margaret Marsh's examination of
real estate brochures from 1900 to 1930 indicates that "exclusionary covenants were the rule rather than
the exception.. "102
In the Wilmington subdivisions, deed provisions took the place of publicly-enacted zoning
controls and allowed developers to pursue two ends .. Rrst, they could control the landscape, insuring
that it would be unlike the city with which the subdivision was being contrasted. Second, they could
engage in social engineering, creating what they perceived to be desirable communities in which buyers
could be sure of good (Le. compatible) neighbors .. In 1905, Hillcrest (Brandywine Hundred) was
102 Marsh, 201
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change 75
advertised as "A Nice Neighborhood"103 and three years later the developers of Montrose Terrace
Addition (along Philadelphia Pike) promised "We give the residents of our property a beautiful park-like
homesection as a pleasure ground for all time to come."104 Throughout the opening decades of the
century, local subdivisions were identified in advertisements as having "desirable restrictions."
The restrictive covenants created a landscape that was a marked contrast to the neighborhoods of
row houses from which Wilmingtonians were moving. The residential character of the new subdivisions
was protected by bans on specified activities. The developers of Eden Park Gardens in New Castle
Hundred, for example, in 1917, announced that "Stores, Amusements Houses, etc, are confined to two
business streets; (and) the residential districts (are) being carefully protected from undesirable
invasions .."105 As a result, the new residential neighborhoods provided a sharp contrast to the crowded,
mixed-use city streets from which the new suburbanites were being lured ..
At the same time, the developers attempted to control what sorts of people built homes in the
subdivisions. As early as 1902, an advertisement for Montrose declared "We do not sell to objectionable
parties .."106 In subsequent years, the same promise was reiterated with varying degrees of specificity. In
Gordon Heights in 1909, one could depend on "Good Neighbors"107 and Eden Park Gardens (1917) was
"sensibly restricted (which) means that your children will be brought up in an environment that will be
highly beneficial, having playmates of the right kind.."108 The restrictive inclinations of the developers were
given effect overtly in deed covenants that limited purchases to Caucasians or, in some cases, to
Caucasians from northern European countries .. Ironically, Spanish-style Villa Monterey (Brandywine
Hundred) was described as having "rigid restrictions assuring desirable citizens as neighbors, "109which
probably meant that Spanish people would not be welcome to buy there. In addition, the lot sizes and the
building standards of style and value effectively foreclosed other potential buyers because of the cost of
meeting deed requirements ..
Buyers perceived deed restrictions as a means of insuring that property values would not be
eroded and, they hoped, would increase if standards of appearance and use were maintained .. A 1909
advertisement declared that "Restrictions Make Value" and detailed what could happen without controls ..
"You build a nice home and take good care of your own property, while the man next door puts up a shack,
takes no care of his lot, lets it grow up in weeds, and destroys not only the value of his own property, but
103 Sunday Morning Star, 28 May 1905, 7
104 Ibid, 7 June 1908, 7..
105 Ibid, 23 September 1917, 24
106 Ibid, 6 April 1902, 8.
107 Ibid, 30 May 1909, 7.
108 Ibid, 23 September 1917, 24.
109 Ibid, 22 November 1925, 28
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change
yours also." The writer concludes by confirming that restrictions "protect the future interests of
purchasers. "110
"Home" and Home Ownership
76
The emphasis of the developer placed on restrictive covenants as a means of protecting property
values was not misplaced. Early twentieth-century home owners placed a high value on their dwellings,
both as shelter and security and as the embodiment of an ideal.. Suburban developers and the buyers to
whom they addressed their messages shared a common understanding of "home" and of its importance.
Just as the seeds for suburban movement were sown in the nineteenth century, so did the early
twentieth century meaning of home find its roots in the prior century. By 1900, the home had been
transformed in popular thinking from shelter to a bastion intended to protect the American family against
the assaults of the world. Within the home, women were expected to provide respite for weary husbands
and nurture for growing children. Margaret Marsh describes how "middle-class women ... created a
domestic ideal that exalted the spiritual influence of the home, eventually turning the home into a power
base from which women would, it was hoped, transform the moral character of the nation .."111 When a
model of "America's Ideal Home" was constructed in Washington in 1923, a short newspaper account of
the project concluded its praise for the undertaking by declaring "After all, the influence of home moulds
the future of the nation."112
Without detailing precisely what was intended by the term "home," the developers of
Wilmington's subdivisions placed great store in the word to evoke enthusiasm for their subdivisions .. An
advertisement for Penn-Rose on Philadelphia Pike in 1903 declared "'Be it ever so humble, there's no
place like home'" and went on to characterize home as "the dearest thing on earth,,"113 Two years later,
the Suburban Land Company offered Hillcrest as the proper setting for a home .. "Have you a home?" the
developers asked. "Not a 'house,' mind you--a mere heap of bricks and mortar--but a home (with) plenty of
pure air and room to breathe it. Green fields too and a blue sky overhead. With the purest of spring
water."114 In Gordon Heights in 1906, "You can start a home for $2"115 according to the realty company
which, three years later, urged buyers to think of the subdivision as "The Best Place for a Real Suburban
Home (with) Good Neighbors and the Best Surroundings."116 Development companies repeatedly linked
110 Ibid, 31 October 1909, 15
111 Marsh, 41
112 One- Two-One-Four, August, 1923, 2.
113 Sunday Morning Star, 12 July 1903, 8
114 Ibid , 15 October 1905, 7
115 Ibid, 27 May 1906, 7
116 Ibid, 30 May 1909, 7.
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change 77
"home" and "suburb," advertising sites "For Homes Only"117 and declaring "Your rent buys a Home in
Brack-Ex."118
Home ownership was also elevated to something of an ideal. In order to create the best possible
home in which to shape the fate of the nation, families should, it was suggested, own the dwellings in
which they lived. Within the city of Wilmington, at the turn of the century, only a quarter of the residents
owned their own houses.119 It was to the nearly 11,000 families that rented that the developers of
Bellefonte (Brandywine Hundred) spoke when they offered "A Home, Friend, we now place within your
reach--the dearest thing on earth--a Home,,"120 When Montrose Terrace was opened in 1906, potential
buyers were told that "Rent is a debt that is never paid" ... A rented house is not a home (because) you can
pay rent all your life, and when old age comes, if you cannot pay, your landlord will turn you into the
street. "121 Montrose Terrace Addition offered purchasers terms of $10 down and $1 per week so that
they could become their own bankers. "Real estate," the development company declared, "is a bank that
never closes its doors .. Real estate is the foundation of all wealth. The best investment on earth is a piece
of the earth itself.."122
The local newspaper underscored the idea that every family needed a home when it declared "A
home must have a measure of permanency. It must be above the contingency that rent money may not
be forthcoming on the first of the month." The writer equated home ownership with good citizenship ..123
The emotion attached to homeownership was summarized in a bit of doggerel published on the real
estate pages of Wilmington's Sunday paper.
The family that rents is only camping out. Own a Home.
The man who rents is a ship without an anchor. Own a Home.
Better a cottage owner than a castle tenant Own a Home.
The rain makes the sweetest music on a man's own roof. Own a home.
Your children won't understand the Declaration of Independence in a rented house .. Own a Home ..124
117 Ibid, 12 September 1915, 19..
118 Ibid, 20 September 1914, 10.
119 Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900.
120 Sunday Morning Star~ 6 April 1902, 8
121 Ibid, 3 June 1906,12,
122 Ibid, 7 June 1908, 12
123 Ibid, 23 July 1911,15
124 Ibid, 1 September 1912, 11
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change
Associative Property Types for Suburbanization:
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change
78
Property types related to the suburbanization historic context have both physical characteristics
and associative characteristics, As the discussions of subdivisions in Chapter II and of the dwelling styles
in Chapter III made clear, physical characteristics are represented by structural forms, architectural styles,
building materials, and site types.
The characteristics of the subdivisions and the dwellings are also associative. Associative
characteristics are related to events, activities, specific individuals, groups, or the kind of information a
resource may yield,,125 Every historic resource may be linked to more than one property type. The primary
associative characteristic linking suburbanization to cultural trends is the clear connection between the
subdivisions and Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change. This tie is also closely related to the use
of restrictive covenants; suburban dwellings express association with the idealization of home and home
ownership,
Property Types Related to Subdivisions and Demography
The necessary associative link between a subdivision and Settlement Patterns and Demographic
Change should be established by an examination of the deeds by which subdivision lots were conveyed
to the initial buyers. One must determine initially whether there were restrictive covenants that sought to
control the suburban landscape and to exclude certain potential buyers" If such covenants were included
in the original deeds, the extent to which there was compliance with the restrictions should be
ascertained, Unless the restrictions were in place and were given effect, no associative connection can
be established.
The restrictions ran with the land for a specified period, usually 15 to 25 years, That meant that
when a parcel of land was sold, the restrictions continued to define what any new owner who bought
within the period of restriction could do with the property .. It also provided a means for enforcement of the
restrictive covenants. Deeds commonly specified, as a 1928 conveyance for land in Gwinhurst
(Brandywine Hundred) stated, that "Any breach or threatened breach of (any covenant) may be enjoined
by Gwinhurst Development Company, its successors and assigns, or by any person or persons who shall
derive title from Gwinhurst Development Company,,"126 Thus each buyer agreed that the developer could
enforce the restrictions; further anyone deriving title from the development company also secured the
developer's right to require compliance with the restrictions which encumbered the land. Because
residents had the right to sue for enforcement when they took title to their land, neighbors could sue one
another to enforce restrictions Further strength is given to the connection between suburban
subdivisions and the theme of demography if it can be shown that after the restrictive covenants expired,
125 Delaware Plan, 24
126 Deed Record C-35-378, 26 March 28
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change 79
residents continued to comply with their provisions even in the absence of legislated zoning which had
the same design goals ..
By establishing both that there were restrictive covenants in the deeds that conveyed building
lots in a subdivision and that the covenants were given effect, one can forge an associative link between
the subdivision and the theme of Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change .. There are three
property types which may occur .. Subdivisions related to the property type of restrictive covenants!
physical landscape are characterized by restrictive covenants that addressed only the physical
aspects of the land use on the subdivision's individual building lots, such as building set-backs, house
size, or fence height. The deeds applicable to these lots make no reference to social or ethnic groups
which are excluded from purchasing in the subdivision A second property type associated with
demography is that of restrictive covenants! social landscape. The deeds related to this property
type mention limitations on the sorts of people who may be excluded from purchasing but make no
designations regarding the physical aspects of an owner's use of the land. Restrictive convenants!
physcial and social landscapes is the most common of the property types tied to demography. The
deeds that establish a subdivision as an example of this property type refer both to the limits on the
physical use of the property and to the limits on who was eligible to purchase lots in the subdivision.
Property Types Related to Dwellings, Home, and Home Ownership
Subdivisions. In order to establish an associative connection between suburban dwellings and
the theme of home and home ownership, one must begin with an examination of the advertisements for
the subdivision in which the dwellings were built. Early suburban developers described their subdivisions
as offering "Home Sites" and reserved "For Homes Only." An initial, important link can be fixed between
suburban dwellings of the appropriate styles and the idea of home by finding that individuals who built the
houses were building in areas that promised a good setting and atmosphere for what they understood to
be a home. Such proclamations by development companies set the stage for the construction of houses
to live out this domestic ideal. The declarations that a subdivision provided good home sites became rarer
with time, because the description of a subdivision as "suburban" was sufficient to imply that the setting
was a good one for one's home and family. The connection between a dwelling constructed in a
subdivision and the theme of home is strengthened if the house conforms to one of the styles identified
as articulating the idea of home .. This link is particularly strong if the dwelling is one of several similar
structures that were built in close proximity during the same period and which collectively convey a sense
of welcome and comfort ..
The extent to which the houses were built and occupied by their owners must be determined to
reinforce the association between the dwellings and the idea of home. That most of the new houses in a
subdivision were initially owner-occupied rather than rented adds power to the argument that individuals
sought the suburbs in order to enjoy the security and independence that home ownership afforded .. The
ideal of home ownership is fulfilled..
Dwellings. Most of the dwelling styles identified with the suburban movement provide the
proper "look" and "feel" of home. The bungalow, with its deep, sheltering roof, solid porch, and cozy
Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change 80
aspect, expressed welcome and promised warmth and safety. The solid, no-nonsense four-square was a
bulwark of a house, a place of safety in which a family could flourish. The colonial revival, Dutch colonial,
and Cape Cod were all expressions of traditional values associated with a good home, values such as
honesty, simplicity, and loyalty. The same sense of substantial comfort was conveyed by the
Englishrrudor cottage"
Both the side-gable cottage and the front-gable cottage represent a connection with the ideal of
home and home ownership through their accessibility rather than their unique architectural features ..
Simple in design and small in price, the two styles were an important articulation of "home" because they
satisfied the desire for a house that was owned rather than rented .. Families of limited means could afford
to build these modest houses in the newly-developed subdivisions ..
v. IMPACT OF TRANSPORTATION AND FINANCE
ON SUBURBANIZA TION
In the Sunday Morning Starof 27 January 1901, Moses Folsom boldly predicted that "100 years
hence ... on account of the fast and cheap travel cities will become groups of suburbs, and the poor will
have air, sunshine and light."127 The society to which he referred was poised on the edge of
transformation, Like Folsom, many early writers considering the movement of population outward from the
city seized upon transportation's central role in the demographic shift. Emory R. Johnson, writing in 1909,
noted "The rapid transit which the electric lines gave to the cities enabled the cities to grow rapidly and
spread widely."128
This chapter will discuss associative property types related to the economic themes of
Transportation and Rnance. Uke the previous chapters, it will examine the local and national trends
related to these themes, describe the property types, and provide criteria for evaluation of potential
resources.
The economic activities that motivated the intense development of the land at Wilmington's
periphery complemented the cultural trends considered in Chapter IV" As city dwellers began to look
toward the newly-planned subdivisions, the extension of trolley service allowed them to pursue their
impulses to move away from the crowded city and toward the promise of rural health and beauty" At the
same time, cobbled-together first and second mortgages provided the financial means for at least some
families to make the transition to a new home in the suburbs.
The increased popularity of the automobile spelled the demise of the trolley system, but meant an
even greater degree of accessibility and flexibility for city dwellers who wanted suburban residences. The
advent of easier and more readily available funding because of New Deal mortgage legislation further
facilitated and promoted the outward migration. Both transportation and the various mortgage lending
arrangements were economic factors which allowed the forces of change at work in society to have a
material impact The economic trends enabled city dwellers to become suburbanites, to be part of the
major alterations in settlement patterns and to live out their hopes for ideal homes of their own.
Transportation and Land Development
Scholarship on suburbanization leaves little doubt regarding the importance of transportation to
the process that changed both the distribution of the American population on the land and the way that
large numbers of people lived, Of all the enabling technologies that facilitated the decentralization of
127Sunday Morning Star, 27 January 1901,7
128Johnson, 163
81
Transportation and Finance 82
cities, changes in and improvements to transportation were pivotal. They allowed large numbers of city
dwellers greater access to land that had previously been too isolated for use. The increased use of public
transportation has been characterized as the "single most important factor shaping the spatial evolution of
the American industrial city from 1870 to 1920.."129
The period of suburbanization may be subdivided into two phases of transportation technology,
the first dominated by electric trolleys and the second by the automobile. The "golden age of America's
electric railways"130 was introduced by the transition from horse-drawn streetcars to trolleys powered by
electric current In 1888, Frank S..Sprague moved public transportation out of the age of animal power
when he inaugurated America's first successful electric trolley service, operating in Richmond, Virginia.131
As a result of the transition to electric power, trolley traffic could move at much higher speeds, 15 to 18
miles per hour, twice the speed of horses,132 and could therefore cover longer distances, extending the
commuting range to 10 miles or more from the city center.133 Prior to these changes, many wage earners
had been obliged to live near their work in the central cities. Because of their necessary reliance on slow
public transportation, they had no choice of residence. If they were to arrive at work on time, they had to
live close to their places of employment With the increased speed made possible by electric trolley
service, such workers could now live farther from the jobs, away from the city's core, and still commute to
work in reasonable time ..134
Trolley systems also enabled city dwellers to separate themselves from unpleasant urban
conditions. K. H. Schaeffer and Elliott Sclar characterize the outward movement as an escape "from the
irritating crowdedness of the walking city" that nonetheless allowed commuters to remain "involved in the
city's economic activities. "135 Mark S. Foster also finds the image of flight appropriate for the migration
from the city. "For the working-class suburbanite, physical mobility meant escaping from poverty and
perhaps from other ethnic groups. "136 Not only could they give in to the lures of fresh air and sunshine
offered by the suburbs, but they could also free themselves of the dirt and noise of the city.
Because the trolley routes were tied to permanent tracks, subdivisions that developed with the
growth of the trolley systems were arrayed in linear succession, stretched out along the tracks .. In many
1290ttensmann, 14
130Foster, 14..
131Johnson, 165; Schaeffer and Sclar, 23-24; Miller, 99
132Muller, 5-6
133Ibid ..; Miller, 101-102
134()ttensmann, 15
135Schaeffer and Sclar, 18
136Foster, 16
Transportation and Finance 83
cases, the trolley operators had more than a passing interest in these new subdivisions .. Frequently, the
trolley companies and development firms were made up either of the same individuals or of partners with
intimate financial ties .. The transportation companies, with future service in mind but kept secret, bought
up large tracts along proposed routes. When the new lines were opened, the accumulated property was
subdivided and sold as building lots at drastically increased prices .. In some cases, the profits enjoyed by
what were, in effect, trolley-real estate companies were made in land sales, while the transportation side of
the business operated at a IOSS.137
In terms of both the number of passengers who rode the trolleys and the miles of track, the period
from 1890 to 1920 was one of substantial growth. In 1890, trolley passengers totalled two billion
annually, a number that increased by 700 percent to 15..5 billion by 1920; during the same three
decades, the population of the United States rose a comparatively modest 150 percent. 138 In 1923, the
ridership fell to 14 billion, exhibiting the first signs of the decline that marked the replacement of the trolley
by the automobile. Similarly, the number of miles of trolley track grew quickly, increasing from 1,200 in
1890 to 22,000 by 1902. The total peaked in 1917 at 41,000, after which it too began to shrink, another
indication of the emergence of the automobile as the popular form of transportation.
If the electric trolley had a powerful impact on the process of suburbanization in the opening
decades of the century, the automobile had as great an impact during the closing years of the period
under study. It was, according to Peter O. Muller, "the major new spatial force underlying interwar
suburban growth."139 At the turn of the century, automobile registration stood at 8,000 vehicles; by 1905
that number had increased to 77,000 and by 1920 had surged to 9 million. The application of principles of
mass production to the manufacture of automobiles lowered the prices to such an extent that the relatively
new technology became available to ever-widening circles of consumers .. The Model-T Ford which sold
for $600 in 1913 was priced at $393 in 1923; the base price for the Chevrolet dropped during the same
period from $1,200 to $495.140
In the early years of its appearance on the American landscape, the automobile was regarded
more as a toy than a means of transportation. Like the bicycle, it was "mainly used for recreation. It was a
means to escape the crowded and dirty city for an outing into the open country."141 While earlier city
dwellers had enjoyed Sunday outings by trolley to nearby amusement parks, in the 1920s interest turned,
at least in certain well-to-do circles, to using the automobile for similar leisure and relaxation. Although the
137Foster,17; Schaeffer and Sclar, 30; Mason, 193..
138Foster,14; Miller 116..
139Muller, 17
140Foster,59; see also Jackson, 161
141Schaefferand Sclar, 36
Transportation and Finance 84
vehicles "remained basically a novelty,"142 more families were becoming owners" As ownership increased,
the vehicle that had previously been seen as a luxury to be used for recreation became a necessity for
commuting between suburban home and city job.
The growing number of automobiles was complemented by an increase in the number and quality
of highways surrounding American cities. Mark S. Foster suggests that the need which arose at the end
of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s for new and better roads could not have come at a better
time. Planners, he writes, favored the automobile for a number of reasons:
half a century ago, streets and superhighways appeared to be a democratic response to
urban transportation needs. Unlike the turn-of-the-century parkway that transported the
carriages of the rich, the urban highway of the 1930s carried not only the automobile of
the middle classes, but buses for those unable to afford private transportation. ... " the
federal government encouraged highway building, both to revive America's single largest
industry and as a means of directly employing thousands of jobless victims of the
Depression.143
The new highway systems offered not only jobs to unemployed workers, but also a golden
opportunity for technical innovation. The construction efforts were matched by engineering
developments such as divided highways, traffic circles, and synchronized traffic signals, 144all intended to
keep traffic flowing smoothly .. As a result, in the words of M. Christine Boyer, "the automobile and the
paved highway spread the urban population over the surrounding countryside. "145
In effect, state and federal government financing of highway construction subsidized the process
of suburbanization.146 The new thoroughfares (or old roads newly improved) allowed the automobile and
suburban development to invade the spaces between the trolley routes which extended like rigid fingers
out from the city (Rgure 25). These interstices had been previously inaccessible for subdivision because
they lacked public transportation; the families who would have been likely residents lacked private
transportation and had to rely upon public systems of transportation. With the increased availability of
automobiles and the enlarged network of roads and highways, formerly unusable parcels of land came
onto the market as residential subdivisions. Just as the trolley had increased the distance that wage
earners could live from the city, now the automobile and highway increased the range of choices again ..
The provision of trolley service to Wilmington and its environs followed much the same pattern as
had been established elsewhere during the early years of the twentieth century .. Trolley service began in
1420ttensmann, 19
143Foster, 151
144Glaab and Brown, 278; Wright, 207.
145Boyer, 173
140Muller, 7; Hayden, 8
Transportation and Finance 85
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Rgure 25: Wilmington Transportation Routes
Transpo~tation and Finance 86
1864 when horsecars operated by the Wilmington City Railway provided transportation out newly-
developed Delaware Avenue.147 Organized by local businessman, Joshua T. Heald, the company built
virtually no extensions and paid no dividends in its first 15 years of service .. It was not until 1881 that the
company expanded its routes, when it added service from Fourth Street to both the Christina River and
Brandywine Creek. Six years later, the company extended a route up Market Street to Riverview
Cemetery and it was this route that, the following year, was the first in the city to have electric trolley
service. By the 1890s, electricity was replacing animal power for moving the cars and the last horse-drawn
cars were retired in 1892148 or 1893.149
The early years of the century were years of constant increase and improvement in streetcar
service. The planned work on a track extension to New Castle from the city was characterized in the
Sunday Morning Star as a "Big Trolley Boom. "150 Response to the trolleys was favorable. "Electricity has
become the seven league boots," declared a 1901 newspaper story, "by which we step from our house
door to that of a distant friend."151 The streetcar was a means both of temporary escape from the city's
crowds and noise and eventually of commuting so that city dwellers could live away from the city.
Local residents rode the trolley for pleasure .. "When the average person wanted to take a ride for
a diversion," recalled A.O.H. Grier, "he used the trolley~"152 Certainly the Wilmington City Railway and its
constant rival, the Peoples Railway Company, encouraged Wilmingtonians to ride the streetcars in search
of relief from everyday cares and both companies provided amusement parks as a place to enjoy one's
leisure. At the turn of the century, the newspapers were from April through August filled with inviting
advertisements for summer resorts, appealing to families who enjoyed long vacations and could take a
month in Atlantic City or at Niagara Falls. Working people, however, had no such vacations and had to
squeeze their relaxation into the Saturday afternoon and Sunday that was their respite from labor. For
these people, the parks became summer "resorts" and the five-cent trolley ride their country excursion.
The parks promoted themselves in that role. Over the decade, the Wilmington City Railway's
Shellpot Park on Philadelphia Pike was described as offering "cool breezes" and the company published
a booklet describing the park's beauties and referring to it as a "popular resort." In announcing its weekly
programs of music and entertainment, the promoters repeatedly stressed the park's appeal to the entire
family. Brandywine Springs Park in Christiana Hundred, operated by the Peoples Railway Company, was
much the same .. Opening the century with a full-page ad in May 1900, it mentioned its resort features--a
147Scharf, 669-670; Hoffecker, Corporate Capital, 18-20; Cox, 5
148Grier, 20.
149Cox, 9.
150Sunday Morning Star, 11 March 1900, t.
1511bid, 21 July 1901, 8.
152Grier, 44
Transportation and Finance 87
boardwalk, launch rides on the lake, and band concerts. Like Shellpot Park, Brandywine Springs issued a
descriptive booklet and publiShed weekly listings of the programs offered to Wilmingtonians who
ventured to the country. In both parks, the entertainment was primarily vaudeville and music, although
there were other occasional treats such as opera, minstrel shows, jugglers, and illustrated songs.153
It is dear from the newspaper articles and advertising that the trolley companies and their park
managers had identified and sought to attract a particular clientele. This same dass of working people was
the market on which many suburban developers focused. The appeal the developers made to potential
buyers bore a striking similarity to that of the parks .. The developers made widespread use of the
"excursion mentality" that had been generated by the parks. Banner headlines proclaiming subdivision
names were followed by such inducements as "Free Excursion Cars Sunday"154 and "How are you going
to spend Sunday? Why not take your wife out to Penn-Rose at our expense?"155 Ashley followed the
park example by providing a free band concert at the development site on 4 July 1909, stressing that,
because it was Sunday, the concert would be of sacred music.156 Promoters gave money away to the first
buyers 157and, in the case of Bellemoor, a $1,400 automobile was to be given to one of the lot
purchasers ..158
The key role of the trolleys in suburbanization was the access that the streetcars provided,
enabling suburban residents to commute to the jobs in the city. A 1902 advertisement for the Cedars
identified "Location, Surroundings, Accessibility"159 as primary concerns in selecting a suburban home
site. When the Wilmington City Railway experienced a power failure one Saturday in 1905, the newspaper
account of the delays that resulted stressed the importance of the service. "The breakdown caused much
discomfort," the paper reported, "and (those who live in the suburbs) realized how essential trolley cars
are to them."160 In 1907, the real estate page of the Sunday Morning Star reported that while city real
estate business was "dull," suburban land companies were enjoying a "thriving business (as) many people
of moderate means are preferring to build their homes along the trolley lines where they will enjoy a large
lot for their home. "161
153Sunday Morning Star, 24 June 1900, 7; 24 May 1903, 9; 2 April 1905, 1..
1541bid, 30 May 1909, 6; 20 June 1909,6 ..
1551bid, 12 July 1903, 8..
1561bid, 4 July 1909, 6.
1571bid, Hillcrest, 9 November 1902, 8; Riverview Heights, 23 May 1909,11 ..
158Ibid.., 30 May 1909, 6.
159Ibid., 18 May 1902, 2
16olbid, 18 June 1905, 1
161Ibid.., 1 September 1907, 6
Transportation and Finance 88
Suburban developers almost unfailingly included reference to the proximity of trolley lines when
advertising their development projects .. The Darby trolley line, which ran out Philadelphia Pike and served
Hillcrest, put the new subdivision only "15 minutes from Fourth and Market Streets"162 in 1903. Also
served by the Darby line, Penn-Rose was only "a short ride and a single fare from any part of the city"163
and Gordon Heights was ''Twelve minutes and only one five-cent fare, from the centre of the City.''164
Belvidere (Christiana Hundred) was located "One mile from Newport trolley line. Situated between two
trolley lines."165 In Brandywine Hundred, Montrose Terrace Addition was only one five-cent trolley fare
from the city, 166 as was Bellefonte Heights ..167 When there was some deterioration in the quality of the
service along the line serving Claymont and running to Chester, patrons were prompt and vocal in their
complaints. The response of the Holly Oak Public Service Association underscored the importance of the
streetcar to suburban residents. Describing the situation as "awful," one association member complained
that "When you leave home in the morning you are lucky if you get to town on scheduled time. You take
the same chance going out." The association undertook a systematic collection of information about
examples of poor service in an attempt to "move the traction magnates into giving value for the money that
the patrons of the line exchange for transportation to and from the city."168
There is no doubt about the importance of trolley service to real estate development. In 1905 the
real estate page of the Sunday Morning Star headlined a brief article with the declaration that "Trolley
Increases Land Values."169 Rve years later, real estate brokers reaffirmed that conclusion when they
complained that they had "experienced trouble in selling real estate in the neighborhood because of
inadequate transportation service .."170 During the first two decades of the century, 82 percent of the
subdivisions were adjacent to trolley lines and reliant upon them as the primary source of transportation for
residents. Between 1900 and 1910, Hillcrest, Gordon Heights, and Montrose (later renamed Bellefonte)
were developed along the Darby line; Ashley, Richardson Park, and Boxwood were among the
subdivisions on the Newport route; Roselle and the Cedars lay along the line which ran through Elsmere
to Brandywine Springs Park; and Hamilton Park was laid out on the line to New Castle .. The following
1621bid., 24 May 1903, 8..
1631bid, 22 November 1903, 8.
1641bid, 23 May 1909, 6..
1651bid, 11 August 1907, 12
1661bid, 1 August 1909, 7.
1671bid, 23 May 1915, 22.
1681bid, 13 June 1909,1.
1691bid, 25 March 1905, 7..
170lbid, 16 January 1910, 8
Transportation.and Finance 89
decade saw similar activity, with new projects extending the line of development. Gwinhurst and Holly Oak
lay beyond the earlier subdivisions along the Darby line; Bellemoor, Elmhurst, Lyndalia, and Tuxedo Park
were beyond Ashley and Richardson Park; Brack-Ex and Forest Park pushed the developed area past
Roselle; Holloway Terrace and Eden Park Gardens added to the development along the New Castle
route.
By the third decade of the century, only about half of the subdivisions were sited adjacent to
trolley lines, as highways, largely the old turnpikes, began to playa role in the process of growth .. Concord
Pike, which had seen virtually no suburban development prior to 1920, was the route along which
McDaniel Heights, Perry Park, and Concord Manor (previously called Farmon and then Washington Manor)
were all planned between 1921 and 1930. During the same period, Kennett Pike witnessed its first
suburban incursion when Westover Hills was laid out.
Delaware was brought into the automobile age early in the century. As the century dawned, the
state had only 30 registered automobiles" By 1910, the state had seen motor vehicles registrations
increase to 960, a number that increased to 18,300 in 1920 and 30,000 in 1923.171 This phenomenal
increase was due in part to the state legislature's 1911 endorsement of T. Coleman du Pont's plan to build
a motor highway from Wilmington to the southem border of the state .. That year the General Assembly
authorized du Pont's Boulevard Commission to exercise the power of eminent domain in order to obtain
the necessary land and rights of way for the construction.172 Du Pont's original plan included not only
pavement for motor vehicles but separate lanes for trolley traffic and pedestrians. Thirteen years and
nearly $4 million after he started, du Pont turned over control of the du Pont Parkway to the state.173 The
growth in automobile registrations continued unchecked in the years following the completion of the
highway, reaching 57,000 in 1930, 73,000 in 1940, and 108,000 in 1950.174
The reorientation away from tracked transportation to the more flexible automobile was reflected
both in the location of new subdivisions and in the advertising that accompanied them. The du Pont
Parkway itself became part of the development process in 1927 when the Joseph B..Stahl farm was
subdivided by Koch Realty Company to create Wilmington Manor, a large scale subdivision that combined
the grid form with gently curving streets. In addition, the spaces between the trolley lines were opened to
development. Along Shipley Road, a secondary road between the Darby trolley line and long-established
Concord Pike, Gumwood (1938), Liftwood (1940), Shellburne (1949), and Shipley Heights (1949) were
all developed.
171Highway Statistics Summary to 1975,48 ..
172Hoffecker, Delaware - A Bicentennial History, 57
173Hoffecker, Corporate Capital, 52.
174Highway Statistics Summary to 1975,48.
Transportation and Finance 90
As early as 1925, the automobile began to figure in the advertising for newly-developed
subdivisions. Villa Monterey was situated on Philadelphia Pike, adjacent to the trolley line. Yet each
house at Villa Monterey had its own separate garage and the subdivision was described as "within fifteen
minutes' ride of Wilmington's business district by motor. "175 Edgemoor Terrace was laid out along
Governor Printz Boulevard and built in 1939. Every house had a built-in one-car garage, but the
developers covered every contingency by advising that the subdivision also enjoyed "Excellent
transportation by train and trolley."176
Financing and the Process of Suburbanization
The improved and ever-expanding transportation network that was the hallmark of the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries provided a means for urbanites to journey out of the city. Initially
coaxed to the country to enjoy leisure moments strolling in pastoral rural cemeteries or being entertained
at amusement parks, the city dwellers were soon also being tempted by hopes of houses in the country.
Promises of fresh air and sunshine were offered by developers as the process of suburbanization got
underway.
Ann Durkin Keating accurately describes the changes that have occurred in the development
process when she writes that "Real-estate developers offered outlying residents service packages, which
became more sophisticated in the twentieth century, culminating in completely planned communities. "1n
Starting with the developers of the late nineteenth century who offered purchasers varying levels of
improvements, the process evolved to the point that buyers were, at the end of the period, provided
Levittown's landscaped lots and appliance-equipped Cape Cod houses.
Between 1880 and 1950, substantial changes occurred in the way land was subdivided,
improved, sold, and occupied. Prior to World War I, the developer acquired a tract of land on which he laid
out streets and lots. He constructed, or at least graded, roads, and occasionally provided some limited
utilities, according to how readily they were available from the nearest supplier. The building lots were sold
to a range of buyers. Some parcels were purchased by individuals, either as investments or for the
construction of a house. Other lots were sold to builders who, operating on a small scale, acquired a few
sites and built one or two houses at a time, using the proceeds from the last house sold to finance the
next house to be built.. The subdivision developer himself might retain some lots, either as a site for his
175Sunday Moming Star, 22 November 1925, 28
176Jouma/-Every Evening, 6 May 1939, 17
177Keating, 124.
Transportation and Finance 91
own residence or on which he would build dwellings for resale. Real estate brokers also purchased lots,
intending to find builders and buyers to whom the land could be sold for the construction of houses.178
As the opening years of the century gave way to the 1920s, the process had changed relatively
little. Individual buyers began the process of acquiring a house by finding an attractive lot and paying for it..
Once the land was fully theirs, they found a contractor or builder to construct a dwelling on the site. In the
alternative, hopeful homeowners had the option of purchasing a house that was already built. Builders still
generally worked on a small scale, building no more than four to six houses at a time. The provision of
improvements was not a foregone conclusion even at this date. As late as 1928, One-Two-One-Four
warned readers that the price of a lot should reflect whether there were improvements, defining an
unimproved lot as one where "streets, curbing and sidewalks are not yet laid, and where water, gas,
electricity and sewerage have not been provided."179
The challenge facing many families during the 19208 was finding a means of financing the
ownership of their own houses. A national meeting of realtors in 1925 declared that using a land contract
and second mortgage was the only method by which a house could be purchased ..180 In the average
case, they concluded, a buyer had little cash although he might have paid for a lot. Such a purchaser's
options were limited" He could borrow the money he needed by seeking both a first and a second
mortgage .. The first mortgage, from a bank, amounted to only 50 to 60 percent of the cost of the house.
The five- to seven-year loan would be made at 6 percent interest. The bank, however, could not provide a
second mortgage. Only the builder or contractor could arrange the second mortgage, which carried a
heavy cost, referred to as a "bonus,," On the average, the bonus paid for a second mortgage of one year
was 10 percent of the amount borrowed, for two years it was 15 percent, and for three years, 20 percent.
The size of the bonus varied with the desirability of the property and the buyer's reputation.181
An alternative method of financing was for the buyer to join a building and loan association. The
associations' savings plans required participants to make deposits over several years. The associations
emphasized long-term deposits and assets thus accumulated were expected to remain with the
association until they reached maturity. The association controlled withdrawals and, when the accounts
had matured, the funds were available to be used for financing the purchase of a house.182 Frequently,
the account was sufficient for the initial payment and the buyer could then borrow from the building and
loan association up to two-thirds of the money needed to arrange for dwelling construction. The
association paid installments directly to the contractor as stages of construction were completed. State
178Jackson, 133-137; Warner, 122; Vance, 406-407 ..
1790ne-Two-One-Four, January, 1928,4
180Ibid., July, 1925, 1
181Ibid.,3.
182Ewalt, Q.
Transportation and: Finance 92
law determined the amount of interest the association could charge and loans were written for periods of
up to ten or twelve years. Because the building and loan association could not lend the full amount, the
buyer still had to rely on the contractor for the necessary and expensive second mortgage to cover the
balance of the purchase price.183
The financial hardships of the 1930s toppled many of these precariously-erected mortgage
arrangements and by 1933, mortgages were being foreclosed at a rate of 1,000 per day. 184 The
intervention of the federal government with the Home Owners' loan Corporation (HOlC) and the Federal
Housing Administration (FHA) plans reshaped both the methods by which families purchased houses and
the landscape on which those houses were constructed.
In April, 1933, when the HOlC legislation was enacted
the overwhelming part of the home mortgage debt was in the form of unamortized loans
secured by short-term mortgages written for from one to three years -- sometimes up to
five years. The borrowers expected automatic renewal for a similar period so long as the
appraisal remained satisfactory, and without any need to reduce the principal.185
If there was ample money available for mortgages, this situation presented no serious problems, but the
extremely tight money of the 1930s precipitated massive numbers of foredosures. In the three years after
its creation, HOLC refinanced over one million mortgages valued at a total of $2.75 billion. The old, short-
tenn, unamortized mortgage instruments were replaced by amortized 15-year loans at 5 percent
interest, 186 with borrowers making monthly payments directly to the government.
A year later, the National Housing Act established the Federal Housing Administration, whose
program insured housing loans. The program made substantial, permanent changes in mortgage lending
standards and practices" The insurance applied primarily to new construction and was available both to
individual homeowners and to large-scale developers. Initially, the plan increased to 80 percent the
portion of a dwelling's value that could be loaned and by 1938 that limit had been raised to 90 percent, a
marked increase over the previous 50 to 60 percent that could be covered on a first mortgage. In addition,
the length of the mortgage jumped from a standard of three to five years to 20 years as the period over
which the mortgage could be amortized" With program amendments in 1938, the length of an insured
mortgage was increased to 25 years. By 1940, "the amortized mortgage had become the norm for all
lenders. "187
1830ne-Two-One-Four. April, 1928,3.
184Ewalt. 36; Abrams, 54.
185Ewalt. 37.
1861bid.
1871bid, 165, Wright, 241
Transportation and Finance 93
Interestingly, an examination of the percentage distribution of home mortgage loans based on
dollar volume suggests that the initial impact of the FHA and its 1944 companion Veterans Administration
mortgage guarantee legislation was not so much in absolute dollars as it was in the standards and
examples that the legislation set. In 1940,81 percent of the home mortgage dollars were loaned via
conventional loans where none of the risk was shared by the government and only 19 percent of the
mortgage money was FHA-insured. By 1945, the distribution was 89 percent to conventional loans, with a
mere 8 percent FHA-insured and 3 percent guaranteed under the provisions of the newly-enacted VA
legislation. The share of mortgage dollars loaned conventionally dropped to 66 percent in 1950, while the
portion that enjoyed VA guarantees rose to 19 percent and FHA-insured loans increased to 15
percent. 188
The powerful intervention of the federal government into the field of home financing reoriented
lending institutions in ways that made basic changes in the physical landscape. Mortgage bankers, James
E. Vance asserts, began to consider houses and lots together" They took account of a subdivision's
potential for future resale, seeing new value in curving streets, large lots, and conservative housing
styles,,189 The catalogue of the FHA's impact is familiar" The program encouraged new construction of
single-family, detached, individually-owned houses190 of traditional designs.191 FHA guidelines decreed
that insurance would not be provided for loans to African-Americans nor would it cover loans to inner city
neighborhoods, so the benefits of the program went to white families buying new suburban houses on
large lots along attractive, winding streets.192
The process of suburbanization in Wilmington followed the pattem that evolved nationally. In the
early years of the century, construction was undertaken by a variety of participants acting as builders" In
many cases, an individual, having paid for his lot, contracted with an builder for the construction of his
house. George H. Pote; for example, had a dwelling built for himself and his family in Hillcrest in 1905193as
James F. Fox did the following year.194 The practice of individual contracts did not disappear even as
other building schemes became popular" In 1924, One- Two-One-Four, reporting on the activities among
the local builders, catalogued a number of houses under construction" Jacob Wagner was completing
work on houses for Mr. Teilman in Gordon Heights and for Mr" Anderson on Lore Avenue, H"D. McCrea
1881bid, 137..
189Vance, 406-407.
190Cohn, 168.
191Wright, 242.
192Marsh, 155, 184
1935unday Morning Star, 17 September 1905, 7..
1941bid, 4 March 1906,7 ..
Transportation and Finance .,94
was starting a house for Mr. Jackson in Gordon Heights, and George W. Rodman was nearly finished with
the Bullock house on Penny Hill.195
Many builders undertook construction of more than single houses, but continued to operate on a
small scale. Frank A Levering operated simply as a builder in the Richardson Park area beginning in the
1920s. Buying two or three lots at a time, he erected a sign on the vacant site, announcing his intention to
construct houses there and advising passers-by of his phone number. Frequently, he had down
payments and contracts for the finished bungalows before the ground had been broken.196 In 1925,
William T. Potter, purchased lots along the northeast side of Laurel Street, Gwinhurst, as the site for a set
of six identical bungalows. Advertising them on the real estate page of the Sunday paper, Potter
identified himself as "Owner and Builder."197
Although most subdivision developers did not become large scale builders until the late 1930s,
some developers undertook limited construction for families that purchased lots. Aaron K. Taylor, who
created Brack-Ex on the Bracken Farm in Christiana Hundred, offered in a 1914 advertisement "Rrst: You
buy the lot. We build the home and You pay for it in monthly installments on the rent plan."198 A decade
later, C.A. Perkins was reported as developing "a large tract of land by installing a central water system and
a central sewage system .." Not only did Perkins and his son build houses on the developed land in
Brandywine Hundred but some of the dwellings were constructed of "granite-faced block, which Mr.
Perkins manufactures .."199
Real estate brokerage firms also acted as contractors, 'Why Pay Rent," inquired Walters and Ash,
"when we will sell you a lot on easy terms, and build you a home,''200 National Real Estate Trust Company
announced in September 1910 that their Home Building department had "closed contracts for a number
of new dwellings to be erected (at) Hillcrest."201 The following spring, the company, which sold lots in all
the suburbs, offered to "Build The Home for YoU''202after the land had been purchased. They provided
this service to John A Branch by October, reporting that the company had arranged with the Delaware
Construction Company to build a bungalow at Gordon Heights for Mr. Branch.,203
1950ne- Two-One-Four, November, 1924, 4,
1961nterview with Blair Levering, Frank Levering's son, 10 February 1992
197 Sunday Morning Star, 11 October 1925, 28..
1981bid, 20 September 1914, 10
1990ne-Two-One-Four, June, 1924,2.,
200Sunday Morning Star, 14 March 1909,6
2011bid, 18 September 1910, 14
2021bid, 26 February 1911, 14
2031bid, 1 October 1911, 23
Transportation an~ Fi~ance 95
These diverse arrangements for the construction of houses continued until the financial crisis of
the 1930s. During the 1930s, the local building trades newsletter urged renters to consider building and
becoming homeowners while prices were low. "How long they will stay down is hard to guess. It is very
doubtful if materials and labor can go lower. "204 Addressing their entreaties to builders, the newsletter's
editors advised, "If you are a contractor and builder and construct homes for re-sale, you can build now for
less money and give a better home than at any time since the war. "205
These suggestions were of little avail, however, without funds to finance residential construction.
The situation remained depressed until 1939 when Wilmington Construction Company proposed to use
FHA financing to build several hundred single-family detached houses in a newly-planned subdivision
called Edgemoor Terrace. For $550 down and $29.61 a month, Wilmingtonians could buy both house
and lot as a unit.206 There were three basic dwelling styles which were varied by turning neighboring
houses by 90? for a contrasting appearance. It was, as Carol Hoffecker points out, the first example of tract
housing that became common in the 1940s:
a limited number of styles, furnished models, standardized lot sizes and materials, .... and
a package-deal mortgage backed by the FHA. The mass production concepts of the
automobile industry had been brought to the construction industry ..207
Among the features promoted by the Wilmington Construction Company for Edgemoor Terrace
to attract buyers was the promise to pave all streets. Rrst residents discovered that it was sometimes
necessary to assume some of that responsibility themselves" In Edgemoor Terrace, the new home
owners organized a civic association in order to undertake street improvements, including grading and
paving. Having assessed themselves for the cost of the work, the group then negotiated with the county
to take over the jobs of upkeep and plowing on the subdivision's streets ..208
The provision of improvements had always been part of the development process. A 1905
newspaper account of Hillcrest identified the improvements undertaken or planned for the subdivision ..
A natural spring ... has been deepened, increasing the daily capacity to 10,000 gallons ..
A pumping station has been erected and a water tower .... Both the gas and electric light
companies are now considering the extension of their respective systems to Hillcrest ...
Streets and sidewalks are laid out and being improved.209
204Four-One-Two-One, June, 1930, 1
2051bid, April, 1931, 1..
206Joumal-Every Evening, 6 May 1939, 17.
207Hoffecker, Corporate Capital, 111.
2081nterview with Carl Haugerrer of the Edgemoor Terrace Civic Association, 24 July 1991
209Sunday Morning Star; 4 June 1905, 7.
Transportation and Finance 96
In 1908, the improvements to Montrose Terrace included laying out streets and planting trees210 and
Bellemoor (Christiana Hundred) promised "High-class improvements" Substantial cement walks will be laid
in front of lots. "211
But as Edgemoor Terrace residents learned, promises and fulfillment may be separated by a
period of time. Although Richardson Park's developer, Aaron K. Taylor promised electric lights, purest
spring water, and other unspecified improvements that would cause buyers' investments to appreciate,212
the Women's Civic Club of Richardson Park was formed in 1916 because
The streets were unlighted, and sidewalks unpaved. The school was antiquated and
unsanitary. Streets and gutters needed cleaning out, cinders spread on streets .. There
was no collection of rubbish or garbage, and residents dumpted (sic) same on back
streets and nearby fields.213
The previous year, a newspaper account of the suburban growth that had linked subdivisions across the
landscape noted that having contiguous populated areas was "beneficial to the suburban dwellers for it
has enabled them to have electricity, water and modem conveniences which smaller sections cannot now
enjoy. "214
Rnancial arrangements for the purchase of subdivision lots around Wilmington were similar to
those elsewhere. In the early years of development, the prices for lots ranged from $99 to $250 and most
were available for $5 or $10 down and $1 per week, with a 10 percent discount for cash.215 Repeatedly,
developers stressed the profit to be made by judicious investment. The Ashley Syndicate suggested that
their new subdivision was suitable for buyers interested in building a house or in investing for
speculation,,216 Another developer proposed that purchasers "Build a pair of houses. Live in one and sell
the other. The profit from the one you sell will greatly reduce the cost of the one you keep."217
While some development companies specified easy terms or offered "Easy Payments"218 for the
purchase of lots, other developers extended their services to financing building as well. Referring to their
Bellefonte Heights (Brandywine Hundred) project, Larter and Morris offered to "finance any building
2101bid, 24 May 1908, 6.
2111bid., 23 May 1909, 6.
2121bid, 26 April 1908, 6.
213History of the Womens Civic Club of Richardson Park, undated MS
214Sunday Morning Star, 16 May 1915,15
2151bid, 19 November 1911,23, ad for Roselle; 26 July 1914, 7, ad for Montrose Terrace
2161bid, 30 May 1909, 6 ..
2171bid, 4 June 1911, 15
2181bid, 11 April 1909, 6, ad for Bellemoor.
Transportation and Finance 97
operation desired on this property.''219 Aaron K. Taylor announced that once purchasers had paid for their
lots in Brack-Ex, "We build the home and you pay for it in monthly installments on the rent plan,,''220 The
National Real Estate Trust Company advertised a savings plan to assist families to save toward their first
mortgage221 and the Standard Home Company promoted a lending scheme that would allow borrowers to
"buy, build or improve."222 Similar practices continued through the 1920s, when unemployment and tight
money curtailed house construction in all but the wealthiest subdivisions.
Associative Property Types for Suburbanization:
Transportation and Finance
Property types related to the suburbanization historic context have both physical characteristics
and associative characteristics" As the discussions of subdivisions in Chapter II and of the dwelling styles
in Chapter III made clear, physical characteristics are represented by structural forms, architectural styles,
building materials, and site types"
The characteristics of the subdivisions and the dwellings are also associative, Associative
characteristics are related to events, activities, specific individuals, groups, or the kind of information a
resource may yield.223 Every historic resource may be linked to more than one property type. The primary
associative characteristics linking suburbanization to economic trends are the clear connections between
the subdivisions and Transportation and Communication and between the subdivisions and Rnance.
Property Types Related to Suburbanization and Transportation
Three major types of subdivisions can be identified through associative links to Transportation
and Communication. The earliest is the streetcar/trolley subdivision which was developed adjacent
to a trolley line on which residents depended for transportation to and from the city" Because there was
limited private vehicle traffic, the streets are often narrow and the houses designed without garages .. The
second type is the turnpike subdivision, developed adjacent to existing major transportation routes,
most frequently long-established turnpikes. Because the developers expected residents to own and use
automobiles as their primary form of transportation, the subdivisions were laid out with wider roads and the
dwellings often were complemented by garages .. The final type of subdivision is the automobile
subdivision, laid out on the land between earlier major transportation routes such as trolley lines and
turnpikes. These subdivisions were on land that was previously inaccessible due to lack of transportation,
2191bid, 6 July 1913, 11..
220lbid, 20 September 1914, 10..
221Ibid., 9 July 1911, 9..
2221bid, 3 August 1913, 11
2230elaware Plan, 24.
Transportation and Finance
~8
either public or private. and were developed only when the private automobile became widely available.
They were designed with streets wide enough to accommodate cars and the dwellings have garages"
At first glance, it may be difficult to distinguish certain of the Wilmington subdivisions because
they appear to satisfy more than one description. Villa Monterey, for example, was developed on a site
adjacent to the Darby trolley line which ran up Philadelphia Pike. Rather than being considered a streetcar
subdivision, however, it might more accurately be considered a turnpike subdivision because the
developer emphasized the travel time by car along Philadelphia Pike between the subdivision and
Wilmington. In addition, he built an individual garage for each dwelling he constructed in his original dozen
houses. Similarly, Edgemoor Terrace fits the description of an automobile subdivision, with its location
adjacent to Governor Printz Boulevard clearly pointed out in its early advertisements. In addition, each of
the dwellings had a built-in garage, indicating that the development company anticipated the residents
would drive cars. Still, the same advertisements that pointed out the easy access to the highway also
noted that the subdivision was served by trolley and train transportation as well.
The necessary associative link between the subdivision and transportation must be established
by examining the location of the subdivision in relation to transportation routes at the time of its
development. In addition, the design of the subdivision and its dwellings must be considered in forging an
associative connection .. Rnally, documentary sources should be included in the establishment of this
association ..
To establish an early subdivision as a trolley subdivision one must obviously determine that it
was created near or on an operating trolley line and that the development company stressed the proximity
of the trolley route and the convenience of trolley service as selling points in marketing the subdivision.
This connection is strengthened to the extent that contemporary newspaper articles either about
developing suburbs or about trolley routes mention the subdivision as one served by public
transportation. If possible, one should also attempt to document to what degree the subdivision residents
used the trolley for commuting to and from the city.
An associative connection can be established for a turnpike subdivision by demonstrating
that the subdivision was developed along an old turnpike route, rather than on a trolley line. That such
turnpikes as Concord Pike. Lancaster Pike, and Kennett Pike appear on nineteenth century maps of the
county is sufficient to consider them well recognized as major transportation routes prior to the advent of
suburbanization. The link between the subdivision and transportation is strengthened by a clear
demonstration that the developers' advertising referred to the highway as one of the advantages of the
subdivision's location. Further, the streets of the subdivision should be designed for automobile traffic.
The dwellings in a subdivision that is considered one of this type should have garages as a standard
feature" The deeds that conveyed the building lots to new residents should be examined to identify deed
restrictions addressing such issues as the placement of the garages on the building site, the size of the
Transportation and Finance 99
garages, and the materials of which they were to be constructed. Such deed provisions will establish the
growing importance of the automobile on the suburban landscape.
The associative link between the automobile subdivision and transportation is established by
pursuing many of the same threads that are followed in examining the turnpike subdivision. The
subdivisions are developed not along any previously major transportation route but instead fill in the
spaces between them. Because these subdivisions were remote from major transportation paths, it is
unlikely that the developers would mention adjacent highways in their advertising. Rather, the subdivision
and dwelling designs themselves must provide the link to transportation as an associative theme. The
roads of the automobile subdivisions should be sufficiently wide to allow not only moving traffic but also
parked vehicles, as families progress to multiple cars. The dwellings will have built-in garages, often to
accommodate two cars.
Property Types Related to Suburbanization and Finance
Three major types of subdivisions can be identified as having associative links to Rnance. The
earliest is the pre-FHA subdivision, developed prior to the 1934 enactment of the National Housing
Act and the establishment of the Federal Housing Administration .. Subdivisions developed during the
opening years of the century can provide essential insights into the suburbanization process and into the
financial crises that arose during the 19305. To establish an associative link between a pre-FHA
subdivision and finance, one must determine who the developers and builders were and the scale on
which they operated .. This requires an examination of the deeds by which entire suburban tracts were
assembled and individual building sites were conveyed during these early years in order to compile a
history of ownership and construction. One must determine from this legal history the degree to which it
reflects the financial problems that emerged during the 19305.. Specifically, this deed study should
establish whether there were a significant number of foreclosures which would suggest that mortgages
had been precariously piled atop one another. If there were foreclosures, it is also essential to identify the
parties against whom foreclosure was brought--developers, builders, or owner-occupants.
The second type of subdivision with an associative link to finance is the FHA-insured
subdivision, in which some or all of the financing was arranged with the oversight of the Federal
Housing Administration, Establishment of this connection can be made most easily if the subdivision
developer advertised that FHA mortgages were available for houses in the subdivision .. With the creation
of the mortgage insurance program, substantial mortgage money could be arranged by developers for
large-scale subdivisions, like Edgemoor Terrace. Thus a developer who was also operating as a builder
might market his subdivision and its houses by emphasizing the availability of low-interest, long-term,
amortized FHA mortgages. In addition, an associative link can be established by examination of individual
mortgage instruments applicable to individual dwellings to determine the extent to which FHA-insured
mortgages were used in financing" If there was substantial FHA participation, it is essential to determine
Transportation and Finance 100 .
the extent to which the dwellings adhere to the suggestion that FHA guidelines favored traditional,
conservative housing styles.
An associative link can be found to tie a third type of subdivision, the conventional loan, post-
FHA subdivision, to finance. Considering that during the 19405, FHA-insured loans accounted for
between 4 percent and 25 percent of all mortgage dollars, there is some merit in identifying and assessing
the subdivisions that were developed after the passage of the National Housing Act but which did not
utilize FHA-insured mortgages. It has been suggested that part of the impact of the FHA legislation was
not the money that it made available, but the standards that it set for the mortgage lending community. As
banks began to follow the FHA example by writing mortgages for higher amounts over longer periods of
time, construction that had previously been impossible for lack of funds could be undertaken. Therefore,
subdivisions that were developed after the passage of the FHA program but which did not take direct
advantage of its provisions are nonetheless connected to the theme of finance" An examination of
mortgage instruments that lacked FHA insurance should reveal the extent to which the lending
institutions followed federal guidelines voluntarily. Further, it is important to the associative link to discover
the degree to which dwellings constructed using conventional loans without FHA guidelines were similar
in design to those subject to FHA standards"
VI. CONCLUSIONS AND STANDARDS FOR EVALUATING SUBDIV,SIONS
The field work and documentary research that were undertaken for the development of this
context provide the basis for three different types of conclusions about the process of suburbanization
and the nature of the subdivisions in Wilmington's periphery. Rrst, certain definite conclusions were
made regarding the impact of the subthemes discussed in the historic context. Second, during the
course of the project, a number of areas of research were identified that could not be pursued; they are
discussed here as information needs. Third, the context work reached certain conclusions regarding the
process of evaluating historic resources related to suburbanization"
Conclusions Based on Subthemes
Transportation and demography. Transportation and dempography were of overwhelming
importance in the development of Wilmington's suburbs. Transportation, first public and then private,
allowed city dwellers to move out of the city. This movement was in response not only to the pressure of
increased population but also to its changing ethnic character. The initial suburbs, dating from the 1880s,
were developed along the fixed paths of streetcar lines and followed a radial pattern away from the city ..
The same radial pattern repeated and extended as transportation shifted to the automobile during the
1920s ..As more people acquired cars, previously inaccessible land lying between the radial axes became
available for development. Thus from 1880 to 1950, Wilmington subdivisions went through three distinct
phases tied to transportation; Streetcar Subdivisions, 1880-1920+/-; Turnpike Subdivisions, 1920-
1940+/-; and Automobile Subdivisions, 1940-1950+. Each transportation technology allowed a different
portion of the Wilmington periphery to be developed.
Working class subdivisions. While scholarly examinations of the suburban developments
surrounding other cities asserts that their populations were middle class, the results of this study strongly
suggest that the residents of Wilmington's subdivisions were from the working class as well. Both the
marketing of the subdivisions and of the dwellings built in them support this conclusion. Developers,
particularly those selling building lots during the first three decades of the twentieth century, directed their
advertising at people of modest means, addressing the "working man" directly or noting that even people
on a "narrow income" could own property. This is further supported by the offer of many developers to
refund the five-cent trolley fare an individual had to pay to ride from the city to the subdivision site ..This
was an acknowledgement by the development companies that even a nickel was a matter of
consequence to potential buyers .. Many of the dwelling types built in the subdivisions were identified
with low construction costs. The bungalow, for example, was considered to be an appropriate house style
for frugal property owners. The simple front-gabled cottage was similarly promoted as a dwelling that could
101
Conclusions and Standards
102
be constructed inexpensively and was therefore within the reach of families with limited income.
Scale of suburban landscape. The image of large scale post-World War II suburban
development that envelopes entire hillsides and valleys is far from the picture of suburbs dating from the
first half of the twentieth century as revealed in this study. Many of Wilmington's subdivisions were small;
44% of those platted between 1900 and 1950 consisted of 10 to 20 building lots along one or two
streets. Operating on an equally small scale, builders constructed but two to six houses at a time. After
1932, the possibility of building on a substantially larger scale was created by the enactment of the FHA
legislation which made greater sums of money available both to individual property owners and to
contractors interested in building large numbers of houses simultaneously. Although these large scale
developments have dominated images of suburbanization, in Wilmington, the number of small
subdivisions continued to rise largely unchecked through 1950..
In spite of the subdivisions being small scale, their developers had a dear idea of the essential
elements of a planned subdivision. Their ideal was a low density residential community of single family
detached dwellings each set in the middle of its own lot and surrounded by parklike landscape of lawns
and trees uninterrupted by fences or high hedges. Lacking government regulation over the development
process, developers provided their own private zoning through deed restrictions to insure that this new
residential landscape would be unlike the city.
Changes in the process of development. The research for this historic context also
found that the way developers organized their efforts went through several stages ..The pattern often
associated with suburbanization is the mass-produced subdivision and housing exemplified by the
Levittowns built after 1945 in which a single developer undertook all of the steps necessary to complete a
subdivision" In contrast, the first developers in Wilmington were responsible for only part of the process,
that of acquiring land, subdividing it into building lots, and laying out a grading streets at a minimum ..These
prepared lots were then sold to individuals who intended to built their own dwellings or to small-scale
builders who constructed a few dwellings at a time to be sold,
Because these individuals could not always afford to build immediately, construction of dwellings
often took place over many years, or even decades, in some subdivisions. As a result, these suburbs
exhibit architectural diversity because they incorporate the several housing styles popular during the
extended period of construction. While these oldest subdivisions, dating through the mid-1920s, are the
most diverse, later suburbs exhibited a more consciously designed diversity as a result of variation in
material and ornamentation rather than building form, Using the same basic house, development
companies, building entire developments on larger parcels of land in a shorter period of time, showed
great ingenuity in creating visual diversity by varying the combination of architectural elements in different
decorative motifs" It was only toward the end of the period that the homogeneous suburbs so fixed in the
popular imagination began to appear,
Changes in subdivision design. There were also trends in design of the subdivisions
Conclusions and Standards
103
themselves. As housing became more uniform, the layout of the subdivisions became more intricate and
self contained. As the automobile became more common toward the end of the period, subdivisions
showed a greater tendency to be self-contained with only a single access road connecting the interior
street network of the subdivision to the nearest highway. There are a number of factors that support the
conclusion that the increase in limited access was related to the increase in reliance on the automobile.
In the case of the streetcar suburban developers provided multiple access streets from the
primary transportation route into the subdivision because residents walked from the trolley stop to their
houses and needed as direct a walking route as the subdivision's grid pattern would allow. As the
automobile replaced the trolley and commuters drove directly to their houses another set of values came
into play and developers opted for limited in response. A single road into and out of a subdivision
removed the subdivision from the urban grid, limited the volume of vehicular traffic along with the noise
and dangers of congestions. Limited access was also a means of creating privacy and forming an
unbroken buffer around the subdivision. The developers' design fostered a sense of community by its
small scale, buffered residents from outsiders, and presented a visual and social contrast to the high
density, impersonal, and sometimes dangerous grid of the city.
Information Needs
One of the elements required of a fUlly-developed historic context is the identification of
information needs. These are areas of research that may contribute to the context but, given the
limitations of the current project, could not be pursued. Work on the historic context for suburbanization
revealed certain research questions that should be undertaken in future projects.
Develop an Historic Context for the Non-residential Aspects of the Suburbs.
This historic context has dealt with only the residential suburban landscape. Other important aspects of
the suburban landscape around Wilmington should be examined as part of a comprehensive context for
suburbanization. Early suburbs were bedroom communities to an adjacent central city initially dependent
on that central city not only for employment but for almost all of their needs. The evolution of the suburbs
has been the evolution of an area increasingly providing for its own needs--schools and other community
institutions; retailing and service to its resident population; and finally jobs and autonomous economic
development. A comprehensive historic context for suburbanization should chronicle that development
as reflected in a changing built environment, manifested, for example, in the expansion of transportation
and the progression of retailing from shops clustered at a streetcar stop to automobile strip malls to
regional shopping centers.
Determination of the Socia-economic Character of the Subdivisions. The
classification of several subdivisions as working class needs to be verified through an examination of the
socio-economic status of their residents in terms of income, occupation, and education within the context
Conclusions and Standards
104
of the larger Wilmington population. A form of social area analysis appropriate to the historic circumstances
should be undertaken to establish the socia-economic continuum of subdivisions in the Wilmington
vicinity during the study period.
Determination of the Range of Physical Attributes of Subdivisions and
Dwellings. Although the research for the historic context examined 176 subdivisions, it was not
intended to be a comprehensive survey. The identification activities should survey subdivisions in regard
to their size in terms of numbers of lots, average lot size, value of land, number of dwellings, and other
variables that will help place the findings of this research in a broader context.
Acreage Consumed by Suburban Development. Few of the subdivision maps indicate
the total number of acres that were included in the plan being proposed. The field work maps indicate the
extent of development and the directions in which it spread over time, but they provide only a rough
sense of the rate at which agricultural land was turned over to residential use. Counting the number of
subdivisions by decade also gives only a vague idea of the pace of development. A far more telling
assessment would be provided if acreage were calculated as a measure. This would also provide a means
of calculating changes in population density that occurred as suburbanization proceeded.
Landscaping. It is clear from observations made in the field, that the residents of various
subdivisions had extremely different ideas about landscaping .. The planting of trees and shrubs
apparently varied with both the age of the subdivision and the socio-economic class of the residents. It is
possible to speculate that differences in ethnic group also entered into landscaping practices and how the
external space surrounding the dwelling was used and decorated. Further research into the attitudes
toward as well as the physical manifestations of landscaping would provide insight into the connection
between suburbanization and ideas of home" In addition, the role of the developer played in landscaping
needs to be identified and acknowledged if a fuller understanding of the suburban landscape is to be
achieved ..
Process for Evaluating Subdivisions and Suburban Dwellings
For a resource to be eligible for the National Register an historic resource must meet one of the
National Register Criteria for Evaluation by being associated with an important historic context and
retaining historic integrity of those features considered necessary to convey its significance. As cited in
the introduction, the criteria for evaluation are described as:
The quality of significance in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering and culture
is present in sites, buildings, structures, and objects that possess integrity of location design,
setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and:
Criterion A. That are associated with events that have made a significant
contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
Conclusions and Standards 105
Criterion B" That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
Criterion C. That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or
method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or possess high
artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose
components may lack individual distinction; or
Criterion D. That have yielded, or may be likely to yield information important in
prehistory or history.
There are four steps in determining whether a subdivision and/or its dwellings are eligible for the National
Register: categorizing the resource as a district, site, building,s structure or object; determining which
historic context the resource represents; determining whether the resource is eligible under National
Register Criteria A, B, C, or D; and, determining whether the resource retains integrity.
Step 1: Suburban Historic Resourcesas Historic Districts and as Multiple Property
Nominations
There are two categories of historic properties associated with suburbanization: districts and
buildings. Subdivisions are considered districts and dwellings are defined as buildings" A subdivision, as
defined in this context, is an historic designed landscape and is considered a district because it
possesses a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures or objects
united historically or aesthetically by plan or physical development. A district must be a definable
geographic area that can be distinguished from surrounding properties by changes such as density,
scale, type age, style of sites and buildings, or by documented differences in patterns of historical
development or associations. Dwellings, or houses, are considered buildings because they are
created principally to shelter human activity. A "building" may also refer to a historically and functionally
related unit such as a house and garage in a subdivision. To be eligible for the National Register, a building
must include all of its basic structural elements.
Since subdivisions are the basic building blocks of suburbs, most historic resources related to
suburbanization will be nominated to the National Register as districts, with the individual dwellings
included as integral parts of the district. However, there may be resources that are distributed across
several subdivisions and could be placed on the National Register as part of a multiple property
nomination,,224 This is a nomination of a group of related resources and is used to nominate and register
thematically related historic resources simultaneously .. One example of a situation that might call for a
multiple property nomination would be a property type related to a particular style of dwelling .. Minquadale
and Rock Manor, for example, are ineligible for consideration for the National Register. Minquadale has
experienced substantial dwelling modification and in-fill building. A large portion of the original plan of
224 For details see, How to Complete the National Reqister Multiple Property Documentation Form,
National Reqister Bulletin No. 16B, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Interagency ResourcesDivision.
Conclusions and Standards
106
Rock Manor was destroyed by the construction of Interstate 95. Yet both subdivisions have fine examples
of shingle-clad bungalows that could be included in a multiple property nomination of early twentieth-
century bungalows found in sububan subdivisions" Another example of a potential thematic nomination
might be dwellings built in several different subdivisions by the same builder or developer.
Step 2: Evaluating Historic Resources Related to Suburbanization within the Historic
Context
In Step 2, the evaluation of how an historic property is significant within its own historic context, a
candidate subdivision--or group of properties in the case of multiple property nomination--is related to the
significant themes within the Suburbanization Historic Context as defined in this report.
Step 3: Determining Eligibility of Historic Resources Related to Suburbanization
Once the property has been related to the appropriate theme or themes within the
suburbanization historic context, the four National Register Criteria are applied to the resource to
determine whether it is significant for its associative value related to events (Criterion A) or persons
(Criterion B), or for its design or construction value (Criterion C). (Criterion D, information value, is most
commonly applied to archeological sites. ) To be considered eligible for the National Register a resource
must be significant under at least one of the National Register Criteria and retain the historic integrity of
those features necessary to convey its significance.
The historic themes identified in this historic context and their relationship to the National Register
Criteria are presented below.
Criterion A: Event Association with event or patterns of events or an historic trend that made
an important contribution to the development of a community, a state, or the nation.
Economic Trends: Trends in the national, regional, state and local economy that
influenced the economic well being reflected in employment and incomes and
geographical organization of metropolitan areas such as the Depression of the 1930s
and post-World War II economic boom. Specific trends include:
1. Manufacturing/ Contract construction. Trends related to ways in which a
builder/developer organized and carried out construction of subdivisions from initial
acquisition to disposition of property.
2. Rnance .. Trends related to the ways in which subdivisions and housing were financed.
3. Transportation. Trends related to the form of transportation that created access to the
land for initial development and served residents after occupancy ..
Cultural and Social Trends ..
4. Settlement Patterns and Demographic Change. Trends in social values, the
demographic attributes of the population, and choices of residential locations reflected in
the historic suburban landscape including trends associated with:
*The deconcentration of American cities through dispersed residential
Conclusions and Standards
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settlement
* The socioeconomic character of the suburbs
*The personal and social values regarding, family, home and the role of women a
5. Architecture, Engineering and Decorative Arts. Architectural trends related to the
evolution of subdivision design and the style of suburban dwellings"
Criterion B: Person. Association with an important individual whose activities are
demonstrably important within a local, state, or national context.
1. Builders/developers.
2. Civic Associations
Criterion C: Design! Construction. Properties significant for their physical design or
construction, including such elements as architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, and artwork.
To be eligible a property must meet at least one of the following requirements:
*Embody distinctive characteristics of a type, period and method of construction.
*Represent the work of a master
* Possess high artistic value
*Represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual
distinction
Subdivisions considered under this criterion must possess a high degree of integrity in each of
the following element: ground plan, road system, architectural character, landscape character, and other
attributes as defined in Chapter II. They must also possess integrity as defined for one of the three major
property types related to transportation: Streetcar Subdivisions, Turnpike Subdivisions, or Automobile
Subdivisions"
Dwellings considered under this criterion must be excellent examples of the property types
related to architectural style as defined in Chapter III and must meet the standards of integrity listed
therein.
Step 4: Integrity of Historic Resources Related to Suburbanization
Integrity is the ability of a resource to convey its significance" To be listed on the National
Register of Historic Places, a resource must not only be shown to be significant under the National
Register criteria, but also must retain integrity. Integrity is not a relative measurement--resources either
retain integrity or they do not. The National Register recognizes seven aspects or qualities that, in various
combinations, define integrity: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association.
The definitions of these qualities of integrity and how they apply to subdivisions are as follows:
1. Location. Location is the place where the historic property was constructed or the place
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108
where the historic event occurred.
Subdivisions are by definition located in the periphery of a central city with individual
subdivisions usually separated from the city by intervening vacant land in early years and
later by intervening older subdivisions" They are located in close proximity to the
transportation networks connecting the suburbs to the central city.
2. Design. Design is the combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure,
and style of a resource. It results from conscious decisions made during the original conception and
planning of a property and applies to activities as diverse as community planning, engineering architecture
and landscape architecture. Design includes such elements as organization of space, proportion,
technology, ornamentation and materials. For districts it also applies to the way in which buildings, sites, or
structures are related. A subdivision is a designed landscape because it is planned to as a whole to attain
specific objectives. Essential characteristics are:
* A large parcel of land subdivided at one time with the goal of building low density residential
development.
*Dwelling units consist of single-family detached house on individual lots.
*House required to be sited in middle of lot through restrictive covenants"
*Variation in range and diversity of architectural design usually planned ..
*Subdivision should be self contained with limited access to exterior streets and should have an
interior road system for vehicular traffic ..
*Parklike landscaping reflected in open space in lawns, shrubs and other ornamental planting,
and planting of trees by developer as part of overall landscape plan.
3. Setting. Setting is the physical environment of a historic resource. Setting refers to the
character of the place in which the resource played its historic role. It involves how, not just where, the
resource is situated and its relationship to surrounding features and open space ..
The essential characteristic for a subdivision to retain integrity of setting is an open low density
parklike appearance. Often the subdivision is surrounded by a buffer of trees or built between
local streams ..
4. Materials. Materials are the physical elements that were combined or deposited during a
particular periOd of time and in a particular pattern or configuration to form a historic resource ..
Materials should be appropriate to the period of the subdivision development, especially those of
the dwellings .. The great majority of dwellings in a subdivision must retain the key exterior
materials dating from the period of its historic significance.
5. Workmanship. Workmanship is the physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or
people during any given period in history or prehistory ..
Workmanship is reflected in the design of the subdivision and the attention to detail in
infrastructure, landscape features, and the construction of the dwellings ..
6. Feeling. Feeling is a resource's expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular
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period of time. Feeling results from the presence of physical features that, that together, convey the
property's historic character.
In a streetcar subdivision, for example, retaining original design, materials, workmanship, and
setting will relate the feeling of suburban life in the early twentieth century whereas later
automobile suburbs will be lower density and have more features reflecting the automobile ..
7. Association. Association is the direct link between an important historic event or person and
a historic resource.
See discussion under Criterion A: Events.
Some Things to Consider in Evaluating Integrity
For a district, such as a subdivision, to maintain integrity as a whole, the majority of the
components that make up the districts character--site plan, street system, diversity and placement of
houses, to mention a few--must possess integrity even if they are individually undistinguished. Moreover,
the relationships between the subdivisions components must be substantially unchanged since the
period of significance. A subdivision nominated under Criterion C: Design/Construction must have a very
high level of integrity since its significance lies in its completeness as a representative of a property type ..
A subdivision being nominated under Criterion A: Events, under one of the associative property types
can possess less integrity if the features related to the historic theme are intact. When a number of
subdivisions manifest important aspects of the historic context but lack overall integrity, then a thematic
multiple property nomination might be in order .. Rnally, one of the purposes of the identification and
evaluation activities is to refine the criteria of integrity.
VII GOALS AND PRIORITIES FOR SUBURBANIZA TION
AND RELATED PROPERTY TYPES
There are three stages in the historic preservation planning process in Delaware: 1) establishing a
planning framework by developing an historic context and identifying property types; 2) identifying the
historic resource base through the identification, evaluation, and registration of resources which
culminates in a list of registered properties and 3) establishing preservation goals for treatment of the
resources and integration in other plans. The previous chapters have completed the first stage, the
planning framework, by developing the suburbanization historic context and its associated property types,
determining criteria for the evaluation of each of the property types ..
This chapter sets goals and recommends methods for completing the identification, evaluation,
and registration of the historic resources related to suburbanization in the Wilmington vicinity. The
purpose of these identification activities is to identify the number of resources related to the
suburbanization historic context, as defined by property types, and to gather information needed to
determine which resources might be eligible for consideration for the National Register under the criteria
established in Chapter VI. Evaluation activities are intended to determine which resources actually meet
the criteria and are eligible for nomination to the National Register.
Priorities and Goals for Identification and Evaluation Activities
Priorities for identification and evaluation activities are based on three of the associative property
types, each with its own chronological period:
1. Streetcar Subdivisions: 1880-1920+/-
2. Turnpike Subdivisions: 1920-1940+/-
3..Automobile Subdivisions: 1940-1950+
The property types defined by the subtheme of Transportation provide a useful tool for organizing
consideration of subdivision development. Each form of transportation is linked to a roughly-defined time
period so associating a particular subdivision with a particular type of transportation identifies the
subdivision with a chronological period. Each transportation form is also assodated with a particular
geographic configuration, trolleys following one unique pattern, turnpikes a second, and automobiles a
third. Connecting a subdivision with a transportation form allows one to predict where the subdivision
should lie geographically and also suggests certain design elements that are likely to occur with such a
connection. While the historic context identifies many other property types, all subdivisions must relate to
one of these three; therefore, organizing identification activities around them will assure that all
subdivisions are identified..
The oldest subdivisions--the Streetcar Subdivisions, 1880 to 1920+/-- have the highest priority
for identification and evaluation. They are the subdivisions closest to Wilmington and many are
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threatened by physical deterioration of the housing stock and loss of integrity in the actual subdivision.
Methodology for Identification and Evaluation
Because they are the basic property type of the suburbanization historic context, subdivisions
(and not buildings) will be the primary historic resources surveyed in the identification and evaluation
activities. Since, to be eligible for the National Register, a building, except under special circumstances,
must be a part of an eligible subdivision, dwellings will be surveyed as a element in a subdivision, as an
element of this historic landscape. Two new cultural resource survey forms should be designed, one for
suburban dwellings and one for subdivisions, and substituted for the building form normally used for
reconnaissance surveys. The survey forms will collect information about the attributes for the subdivisions
as a whole. Buildings will be surveyed on the form in terms of their dwelling property types and their
attributes related to the design of the subdivision, such as orientation on the building lot.
Not only is this approach dictated by the logic of the property types associated with
suburbanization but by the logistics and cost of the survey. As indicated in Chapter I, the number of
dwellings and other resources associated with the suburbanization context is huge .. It would be far
beyond the present personnel and financial resources of the Delaware State Historic Preservation Office
and the New Castle County Preservation Planning Office to undertake such a survey. Even if funds were
available, it would be prohibitively time consuming. From a methodological point of view, surveying
subdivisions and conducting intensive survey of buildings within potentially eligible subdivisions
establishes a method of sampling dwellings, as allowed under the Secretary's Standards for Identification.
The methods used to carry out the priorities for identification and evaluation activities include
archival research and two levels of field survey: reconnaissance and intensive .. A reconnaissance survey
identifies all resources within a designated geographic area or property type and collects information
sufficient to determine whether a resource is potentially eligible for the National Register. An intensive
survey evaluates the data from the reconnaissance survey, determines which resources are potentially
eligible and then resurveys those properties, collecting information detailed enough to make a final
determination of eligibility. The product of the evaluation phase is a list of all resources that are eligible for
the National Register under National Register criteria as well as the criteria established in the historic
context.
An additional goal for identification and evaluation activities is the development of another historic
context to deal with the development of social and economic support systems for the suburbs--i.e,
schools, churches, shopping centers, gas stations, commercial areas, etc.
Work Program for Identification and Evaluation Activities
The following work program for the completion of the identification and evaluation activities is
organized around the three major property types .. The work elements for one property type should be
completed before moving on to the next one The goal of the work program is to assure that all of the
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potentially eligible subdivisions will be surveyed within the appropriate property types. It is expected that
the identification and evaluation activities for one property type could take place in one year. The tasks for
completion of the work element associated with each property type are:
Reconnaissance Survey. The reconnaissance survey should collect data appropriate to
determining those subdivisions that are potentially eligible for nomination to the National Register (Level
1), those subdivisions that are not eligible but may provide important information (Level 2), or those
subdivisions that are not eligible for the National Register based on established criteria (Level 3). There
are three activities necessary to complete the reconnaissance survey: archival research, field survey, and
creation of a computer database .. These activities should be carried out in accordance with the
documentation requirements in Appendix E
A. Archival research is carried out for two purposes. The first is to identify subdivisions related
to a particular property type .. Using maps and other secondary sources, including this historic
context, all subdivisions platted or initiated during the time period of the property type should be
identified. Second, core data must be collected as called for on the Subdivision Survey Form. At
the level of the subdivision data collected will include size in acres, number of parcels, size of
parcels, street patterns classification, etc.; for dwellings, data should include the number of
buildings, floor area, etc ..
B. Field survey should be conducted for all subdivisions identified with the property type,
using the Subdivision Survey Form to confirm map information, and subdivision and building
attributes. Photographs should be taken as required in Appendix E
c. A computer database should be created from the data collected during archival research
and field work.
Intensive Survey. The intensive survey should review the reconnaissance survey data to
determine which resources are eligible for nomination to the National Register, either in a district or a
multiple property nomination. For the intensive survey, a more detailed survey form and check will be
used to assure that all relevant aspects of the developments are examined.
A. An evaluation of the reconnaissance survey should be carried out to determine
which subdivisions related to the property type are potentially eligible for nomination to the
National Register (Level 1), those that are ineligible but may provide important information (Level
2), or are completely ineligible for nomination (Level 3). Level 2 subdivisions may include
dwellings that are eligible for nomination under a multiple property submission .. All subdivisions
evaluated as Level 1 or Level 2 should be ranked from highest integrity to lowest.
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B. Select level 1 subdivisions for intensive field survey based on realistic
assessments of the constraints of staffing, time, and funding. A sufficient number should be
surveyed to allow reliable assessment of survey data.
c. Archival researchshould be conducted for each of the subdivisions selected for intensive
field study. This research should determine the development sequence of the subdivision, the
presence or absence of restrictive covenants, the method of financing, and other information
relevant to the associative property types.
D. Intensive field survey of subdivisionsshould be conducted using Intensive
Subdivision Survey Form and Checklist.
E. A surveyof dwellingsin the selected subdivisions should be carried out, using the
Subdivision Dwelling Survey Form, a modified version of the state cultural resource survey form.
F. Evaluate subdivisions against established criteria to determine which
resources are eligible for nominationto the National Register. Once eligibility has
been established, recommendations should be made as to which subdivisions represent the best
examples of the particular property type and should be nominated to the next element of the work
program ..
G. Identification and evaluation of dwellings in level 2 subdivisions that are
potentially eligible for nomination through multiple property nominations should be carried out
These dwellings should be surveyed and evaluated for their relationship to the themes
established in the historic context as well as being evaluated in terms of their integrity.
Time Schedule for Identification and Evaluation Activities
The priorities and time schedule for completion of the identification and evaluation activities
related to the suburbanization historic context are as follows:
PROPERTY TYPE
STREETCAR SUBDIVISIONS
1880-1920+/-
TURNPIKE SUBDIVISIONS
1920-1940+/-
AUTOMOBILE SUBDIVISIONS
1940-1950+/-
RECONNAISSANCE
& INTENSIVE SURVEY
1993-1994
1995-1996
1997-1998
On this schedule, with those suburbs built after 1950 becoming eligible for the National Register
in 2000, the survey and evaluation of properties will be current
Priorities and Goals for Registration Activities
The primary goal for registration activities is that a minimum of two eligible subdivisions for each of
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the three major property types be nominated to the National Register within two years of the completion of
the identification and evaluation activities for that property type .. The nominated subdivisions should be
selected for their representation of the variety of subthemes related to the historic context of
suburbanization ..
The Historic Context for Suburbanization identifies both subdivisions and suburban dwellings as
key elements, expressing different yet related aspects of the process of suburbanization. In some cases,
dwellings will occur in subdivisions that Jack the integrity necessary to be considered eligible for the
National Register. The dwellings themselves, however, may retain substantial integrity and should be
considered for inclusion in a multiple property nomination based on the dwellings' particular building style.
The thematic context for the nomination would still be suburbanization because, first, the dwellings are
found in identifiable, though ineligible, subdivisions and, second, the dwelling styles articulate key
aspects of the suburbanization process. As such dwellings are identified in dispersed subdivisions, they
should be considered fot nomination as part of a multiple property nomination developed to address
architectural themes that are not adequately represented by the historic district subdivisions nominations.
PROPERTY TYPE
STREETCAR SUBDIVISIONS
1880-1920+/-
TURNPIKE SUBDIVISIONS
1920-1940+/-
AUTOMOBILE SUBDIVISIONS
1940-1950+/-
NATIONAL REGISTER
NOMINATIONS
1994-1996
1996-1998
1998-2000
Priorities and Goals for Treatment Activities
Treatment refers to the specific actions that can be taken to preserve an historic property or
landscape. The primary historic property to be preserved from the suburbanization historic context is the
subdivision, consisting of its site, its internal improvements for vehicular and pedestrian circulation, public
open space and community facilities, if present, and the pattern of subdivision of lots and the houses built
on them. The secondary historic property to be preserved are suburban dwellings on their lots. The major
means of preserving historic subdivisions will be through pUblic education and by maintaining
subdivisions and their buildings in continued use through preservation activities and by reenforcing the
integrity of subdivisions in conjunction with the New Castle County Comprehensive Plan ..
Since there is little appreciation among the public that suburban subdivisions have historic
character, or most any twentieth century property for that matter, and can now be listed on the National
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Register of Historic Places, it is recommended that the public education program be initiated along with
the identification and evaluation activities to educate them about the historical significance of suburbs and
promoting their cooperation with field surveys. Later, as the identification and evaluation activities are
completed for each of the major property types--Streetcar Subdivisions, Turnpike Subdivisions, and
Automobile Subdivisions--more intensive treatment activities would be undertaken after they have been
evaluated and a list compiled of those subdivisions eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The
priorities for treatment are that the oldest suburbs, those built from 1880 to about 1920, the Streetcar
Subdivisions, would have the highest priority followed by the Turnpike Subdivisions developed from
1920 to 1940 and then by the Automobile Subdivisions constructed after 1940.
It should be noted that New Castle County has a very weak historic preservation ordinance.
Historic districts can only be established of all of the owners of property in an area petition for a rezoning of
their areas as an historic district. The County has no power to create an historic district without such
consent; nor can individual properties be designated for protection without the owner's permission" The
only traditional means for preserving historically significant properties available in New Castle County is
through documentation, recognition through listing on the National Register of Historic Places and public
education.
Because subdivisions are a new type of historic property--they are all landscapes, very numerous,
and perhaps the first mass-produced historic property--they call for treatment strategies which mix new
and old approaches. As historic landscapes, significant subdivisions could be preserved as historic
districts, a tested approach. However, because there are so many similar subdivisions, only a few could be
so preserved practically. With only one full-time historic preservation planner and a minimal budget,
designating and administering a number of large historic districts would take important time and resources
away from other more important tasks, such as completing identification, evaluation and registration
activities for a variety of historic resources in addition to those associated with the Suburbanization Historic
Context. As well, until subdivisions are well established in the public mind as important, and legitimate,
historic resources, an aggressive effort to create formal suburban historic districts might meet with
skepticism, if not opposition.
There is, however, a good potential for preserving residential subdivisions without using
traditional preservation treatments. Most subdivisions are in continued use and, in their general character,
protected by zoning. The need for preservation treatment arises when the integrity of historic resources
are threatened from sources ranging from the deterioration of the property itself to changes in its land use
context which may render it obsolete: treatment activities intervene in such threats. The best way to
preserve an historic property is not to have to intervene but to maintain it in continued use for its original
purpose in a way that sustains its physical integrity. Most of the subdivisions surveyed in New Castle
County are so situated .. As residential landscapes, most are protected by zoning which separates
residential from non-residential uses and sets density standards through minimum lot size and set back
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requirements. Although all of the subdivisions studied for this context were built before zoning was
established in New Castle county in the 1950s, all of them were "grandfathered" into the existing zoning
and their basic character is protected by law, with exceptions as noted below ..
Most residential subdivisions in this historic context are also "protected" by the housing market
itself, one in which housing values have continually appreciated over the last 20 years and in which the
demand is particularly keen for lower cost single-family houses, which is the niche now filled by many of
the single-family subdivisions built during the first half of the twentieth century. Indeed, because the
market for owner-occupied housing is so tight, one of the threats to the integrity of houses in subdivisions
is inappropriate renovation as families find it less expensive to expand their present homes than to move
to larger houses"
However, even within the protection provided by zoning and the strong housing market, there are
some subdivisions which have lost integrity and are now experiencing a number of threats" These are
primarily the older Streetcar Subdivisions built from 1880 to 1920 although some early Turnpike Suburbs
have been undermined as well .. The physical integrity of a subdivision lies both in the ground plan for the
site and in the buildings, primarily houses and garages .. The ground plan, consisting of streets, sidewalks,
and other improvements is fairly impervious to change, unless the site is redeveloped in whole or in part.
Much more vulnerable to change and loss of integrity are buildings and the uses to which they are put.
The subdivisions that have been most vulnerable to loss of integrity in their ground plans are
those which were originally located adjacent to streetcar lines or roads that became major arteries with their
frontage converted to commercial use and residential structures altered for commercial use or demolished
and replaced by commercial buildings. Several streetcar suburbs were so effected ..Subdivisions along
Concord and Philadelphia Pikes in Brandywine Hundred have also been affected by commercial strip
development as were those south of Wilmington along US Route 13 and State Route 9. Presently, road
widening, to accommodate increasing volumes of traffic, is the principle threat to the ground plans of many
subdivisions.
Changes to buildings in a subdivision-through modifications, demolition, and new construction-
have been the most common cause of loss of integrity. Many pre-automobile subdivisions, for example
have been modified through the addition of garages and street widening. As mentioned, many houses
have been continually altered over time .. Several of the older subdivisions, built as working class
neighborhoods near Wilmington, not included in the appreciating housing market, have experienced
deterioration and decline similar to central city housing although maintaining their integrity .. At the same
time, this housing continues to provide affordable shelter in a very tight housing market. In this situation,
historic preservation and housing preservation need to be joined in a single activity. Such structures
could be rehabilitated through the federal Community Development Block Grant program administered by
the Department of Housing and Community Development.
The most significant barrier, however, to the development of effective treatment strategies for
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historic subdivisions is a lack of public awareness that they are now considered historic landscapes.
Conversely, the most effective way to maintain the integrity of Wilmington's historic subdivisions is to
create a public awareness and appreciation of what makes them significant historically .. The major
treatment strategy proposed here is public education.
The treatment goals for suburbs have five parts:
1. To develop a public education program on New Castle County's historic suburbs
derived from the historic context and the results of the identification and evaluation
activities ..
2. To provide protection through the "Community Character" section of the New Castle
County Comprehensive Land Use Plan and its zoning requirements for residential
subdivisions ..
3. To implement four or five "cooperative subdivision historic districts" as part of the
County Historic Preservation Plan.
4. To translate the "Suburban Houses" Multiple Resources Nomination (proposed earlier)
into a suburban historic houses portfolio and tour to complement the more traditional
historic house tours.
5. To develop a program linking historic preservation with housing preservation and work
with housing rehabilitation interests and programs to rehabilitate historically significant,
but deteriorated, subdivisions.
1. Public Education Program. An intensive and diverse public education program is the
central treatment strategy proposed here to protect New Castle County subdivisions that are eligible for
the National Register.. The public education program would consist of a series of six publications the first of
which would be a brief overview of New Castle County suburbs an their historic significance ..It would be
distributed as a part of the identification and evaluation activities both to explain those activities as well as
to broaden the understanding of suburbs as an historic resource, (It could be made into a videotape,
released for newspaper stories, and scripted for radio spots.) As identification and evaluation activities
were completed for each of the three major types of suburbs-Streetcar, Turnpike, and Automobile-a
publication would be written describing each property type. The fifth publication would describe the range
of suburban houses found in New Castle County. The sixth publication would summarize the findings of
the identification and evaluation activities and discuss the 1960s suburbs as the next phase in the project.
2. Protect Subdivisions through the County Comprehensive landuse Plan. As
noted, in terms of their general character, most subdivisions are already basically protected under the New
Castle County comprehensive plan. Although there has not been a great emphasis on historic
preservation in the plan, there has been an emphasis on "community character" which has to do with the
physical qualities of the county and in fact strives to protect the suburban character of the county. That
such character can now be considered to have historic value should be incorporated into the community
118
character section of the comprehensive plan. This could be accomplished by adding a section to the
community character section of the plan describing the historic significance of those suburbs found
eligible for the National Register. In addition, the present zoning restrictions for each of the eligible
subdivisions should be examined to be sure that it is receiving the maximum protection, especially for
those subdivisions abutting major arteries and commercial zones .. In this, historic preservation goals can
be used to reenforce planning goals such as maintaining community integrity.
3. Designate Five "Cooperative" Historic Districts. As part of the public education
strategy and lacking a stronger historic district ordinance, the County Historic Preservation Commission
might consider establishing what are called here "cooperative" historic districts which function as
demonstration districts which are used to demonstrate the key characteristics of suburban development
The districts should be chosen to represent each of the major types of subdivisions in the county ..
4. Develop a "Suburban Houses" Portfolio and Tour. Whereas the subdivision is the
basic suburban historic property, it was however, the landscape context for showcasing the suburban
house which was designed to accommodate the then current values of family living and afford ability. The
house on an individual lot has been the icon of the suburban landscape .. To illustrate the range of cultural
values expressed though suburban architecture and to heighten the appreciation of the suburban
landscape as being of historic significance, a portfolio of the best representatives of suburban housing
types should be written, with drawings and photographs, including a diversity from bungalows to manors ..
This could serve as the basis to add a 20th century suburban dimension to historic house tours in the
county.
5. Yoking Historic Preservation and Housing Preservation. With a shortage of
affordable housing one of the most serious problems facing New Castle County, it is imperative to protect
as much of the existing housing stock as possible, especially that which can provide opportunities for
affordable housing both through home ownership and rental.. In the identification and evaluation phase,
subdivisions should be noted which retain their integrity but are deteriorated and which might be
candidates for rehabilitation under the Federal Community Development Block Grant Program
administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development. The State Historic
Preservation Officer and the New Castle County Historic Preservation Planner should work actively with
the County Department of Housing and Community Development, which administers the Federal
Community Development Block Grant Funds to target these areas.
The overall strategy for preserving historic subdivisions, then, is one of integrating treatment
activities with other land use and housing activities of the New Castle County government coupled with an
extensive and well designed public education program. The priorities among these five activities are 1)
designing and implementing a public education program, 2) yoking historic preservation and housing
preservation, 3) protecting subdivisions through the New Castle County Comprehensive Landuse Plan,
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4) designating five "cooperative" subdivision historic districts, and 5) developing a "suburban houses"
portfolio and tour.
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Bibliography
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APPENDIX A:
ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF SUBDIVISIONS
124
Name of Subdivision
Addicks Estates
Alapocas
Ashley
Augustine Hills
Avalon
Beechwold
Bellefonte
Bellemoor
Bellevue
Bellevue Hills
Bellevue Manor
Bellevue Manor Addition
Bellewood
Belvidere
Bigger Tract
Blue Rock Manor
Boulder Brook
Boxwood
Brack-Ex
Brandywine Hills
Brookland Terrace
Buckingham Heights
Buttonwoods, The
Carrcroft
Carrcroft Crest
Cedar Heights
Cedars, The
Chelsea Estates
Chincilla Farm
Christiana Acres
Claymont Addition
Claymont Center
Claymont Heights
Claymont Terrace
Clearview Manor
Cleland Heights
Cliffs Heights
Collins Park
Colonial Heights
Colonial Park
Colony Hill
Concord Manor
Cooling Terrace
APPENDIX A
ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF SUBDIVISIONS
Date Planned
1941
1936
1909
1933
1917
1937
1915
1911
1949
1950
1934
1941
1946
1908
1925
1940
1945
1910
1913
1929
1920
1940
1902
1925
1941
1923
1901
1950
1942
1942
1918
1917
1918
1917
1941
1920
1926
1943
1919
1917
1940
1926
1928
125
Appendix A
Cooper Farm
Cragmere
Cranston Heights
Cranston Property
Crestfield
Crestwood Place
Deerhurst
Delaire
Delaware Heights
Delwood
Dunleith
Duross Heights
Eastlawn
Eden Park Gardens
Edgemoor Gardens
Edgemoor Terrace
Edgewood Hills
Elliott property
Elmhurst
Elsmere
Fairlax
Faulkland Woods
Fern Hook
Rinnview
Forest Brook Glen
Forest Hills Park
Forest Park
Forwood
Fredericks property
Glen Berne Estates
Glenside Farms
Glynrich
Gordon Heights
Gordy Estates
Green Hill
Greenville Manor
Gumwood
Gwinhurst
Hamilton Park
Hayden Park
Hazeldell
Highland Woods
Highpoint
Hillcrest
Hilltop
Hilltop Manor
Holloway Terrace
Holly Oak
Holly Oak Terrace
Homestead
Idela
1942
1917
1907
1926
1938
1937
1939
1939
1924
1941
1950
1937
1917
1917
1941
1939
1938
1940
1918
1891
1950
1940
1920
1922
1941
1939
1915
1936
1911
1946
1929
1911
1905
1950
1937
1937
1938
1919
1906
1923
1920
1938
1923
1903
1906
1937
1916
1918
1920
1919
1924
126
Appendix A 127
Indian Reid 1941
Keystone 1930
Kiamensi Gardens 1940
Kynlyn Farms 1937
Lancashire 1932
Lancaster Court 1947
Lancaster Village 1938
Latimer Estates 1940
Leedom Estates 1948
Lenderman Heights 1924
Liberty 1918
Liftwood 1940
Lindamere 1926
Lindmere 1925
Lyndalia 1920
Lynford 1941
Madelyn Gardens 1943
Manor Park 1949
Manor tract 1913
Masonicville 1907
Mayview Manor 1946
McDaniel Crest 1946
McDaniel Heights 1925
Meadowbrook 1920
Minquadale 1917
Naamans Manor 1929
Newport Heights 1906 ,
Normandy Manor 1946 ,
North Hills 1930
-Oak Grove 1914 .-
Pembrey 1938
Penarth 1946
Penn Rose 1903
Penny Hill 1931 L
Penny Hill Terrace 1915
Perry Park 1926
Phillips Heights 1920
Pleasant Hills 1940
Plymouth 1932
Richardson Park 1904
Ridgeview Development 1938 ,
Riverside 1916
Riverside Gardens ~1936 ~
Rock Manor 1900 ~
Rogers Manor 1919
Rolling Park 1940 L_
Rose Hill Manor 1944
Roselle ""'"1901 <=~
Roselle Terrace 1911 ~
Rutter tract 1908
Sedgely Farms 1940
~?
~
Appendix A
Sharpley Heights
Shellburne
Shipley Heights
Silver Croft
Si/verbrook Gardens
Si/verside Heights
Si/view
Simonds Gardens
Stanton Crest
Stockdale
Stonehurst
Stony Crest
Swanwyck
Swanwyck Gardens
Tuxedo Park
Villa Monterey
Vi/one Village
Washington Heights
Weber tract
Welshire
West Haven
Westfield
Westover Hills
Westwood
Westwood Manor
Wier Avenue
Willow Run
Wilmington Manor
Wilmington Manor Gardens
Wilmont
Windsor Hills
Windybush
Woodbrook
Woodcrest
Woodland Homes
Woodside Hills
Woodward Addition
Wyckwood
1929
1949
1949
1919
1947
1920
1926
1950
1946
1921
1941
1941
1940
1948
1920
1923
1946
1907
1946
1947
1940
1930
1927
1948
1939
1931
1946
1927
1948
1925
1947
1938
1948
1933
1943
1938
1910
1936
128
APPENDIX B:
INDEX OF SUBDIVISIONS BY DATE
129
1891
1900
1901
1901
1902
1903
1903
1904
1905
1906
1906
1906
1907
1907
1907
1908
1908
1909
1910
1910
1911
1911
1911
1911
1913
1913
1914
1915
1915
1915
1916
1916
1917
1917
1917
1917
1917
1917
1917
1917
1918
1918
1918
1918
1918
APPENDIX B:
INDEX OF SUBDIVISIONS BY DATE
Elsmere
Rock Manor
Cedars, The
Roselle
Buttonwoods. The
Hillcrest
Penn Rose
Richardson Park
Gordon Heights
Hamilton Park
Hilltop
Newport Heights
Cranston Heights
Masonicville
Washington Heights
Belvidere
Rutter tract
Ashley
Boxwood
Woodward Addition
Bellemoor
Fredericks property
Glynrich
Roselle Terrace
Brack-Ex
Manor tract
Oak Grove
Bellefonte
Forest Park
Penny Hill Terrace
Holloway Terrace
Riverside
Avalon
Claymont Center
Claymont Terrace
Colonial Park
Cragmere
Eastlawn
Eden Park Gardens
Minquadale
Claymont Addition
Claymont Heights
Elmhurst
Holly Oak
Liberty
130
Appendix B
1919
1919
1919
1919
1919
1920
1920
1920
1920
1920
1920
1920
1920
1920
1920
1921
1922
1923
1923
1923
1923
1924
1924
1924
1925
1925
1925
1925
1925
1926
1926
1926
1926
1926
1926
1927
1927
1928
1929
1929
1929
1929
1930
1930
1930
1931
1931
1932
1932
1933
1933
Colonial Heights
Gwinhurst
Homestead
Rogers Manor
Silver Croft
Brookland Terrace
Cleland Heights
Fern Hook
Hazeldell
Holly Oak Terrace
Lyndalia
Meadowbrook
Phillips Heights
Silverside Heights
Tuxedo Park
Stockdale
Rinnview
Cedar Heights
Hayden Park
Highpoint
Villa Monterey
Delaware Heights
Idela
Lenderman Heights
Bigger Tract
Carrcroft
Lindmere
McDaniel Heights
Wilmont
Cliffs Heights
Concord Manor
Cranston Property
Lindamere
Perry Park
Silview
Westover Hills
Wilmington Manor
Cooling Terrace
Brandywine Hills
Glenside Farms
Naamans Manor
Sharpley Heights
Keystone
North Hills
Westfield
Penny Hill
Wier Avenue
Lancashire
Plymouth
Augustine Hills
Wood crest
131
Appendix B
1934
1936
1936
1936
1936
1937
1937
1937
1937
1937
1937
1937
1938
1938
1938
1938
1938
1938
1938
1938
1938
1939
1939
1939
1939
1939
1940
1940
1940
1940
1940
1940
1940
1940
1940
1940
1940
1940
1940
1941
1941
1941
1941
1941
1941
1941
1941
1941
1941
1941
1942
Bellevue Manor
Alapocas
Forwood
Riverside Gardens
Wyckwood
Beechwold
Crestwood Place
Duross Heights
Green Hill
Greenville Manor
Hilltop Manor
Kynlyn Farms
Crestfield
Edgewood Hills
Gumwood
Highland Woods
Lancaster Village
Pembrey
Ridgeview Development
Windybush
Woodside Hills
Deerhurst
Delaire
Edgemoor Terrace
Forest Hills Park
Westwood Manor
Blue Rock Manor
Buckingham Heights
Colony Hill
Elliott property
Faulkland Woods
Kiamensi Gardens
Latimer Estates
Liftwood
Pleasant Hills
Rolling Park
Sedgely Farms
Swanwyck
West Haven
Addicks Estates
Bellevue Manor Addition
Carrcroft Crest
Clearview Manor
Delwood
Edgemoor Gardens
Forest Brook Glen
Indian Reid
Lynford
Stonehurst
Stony Crest
Chincilla Farm
132
Appendix 8
1942
1942
1943
1943
1943
1944
1945
1946
1946
1946
1946
1946
1946
1946
1946
1946
1946
1947
1947
1947
1947
1948
1948
1948
1948
1948
1949
1949
1949
1949
1950
1950
1950
1950
1950
1950
Christiana Acres
Cooper Farm
Collins Park
Madelyn Gardens
Woodland Homes
Rose Hill Manor
Boulder Brook
Bellewood
Glen Berne Estates
Mayview Manor
McDaniel Crest
Normandy Manor
Penarth
Stanton Crest
Vilone Village
Weber tract
Willow Run
Lancaster Court
Silverbrook Gardens
Welshire
Windsor Hills
Leedom Estates
Swanwyck Gardens
Westwood
Wilmington Manor Gardens
Woodbrook
Bellevue
Manor Park
Shellburne
Shipley Heights
Bellevue Hills
Chelsea Estates
Dunleith
Fairfax
Gordy Estates
Simonds Gardens
133
APPENDIX C:
INDEX OF SUBDIVISIONS BY HUNDRED
134
Brandywine Hundred
Addicks Estates
Alapocas
Augustine Hills
Beechwold
Bellefonte
Bellevue
Bellevue Hills
Bellevue Manor
Bellevue Manor Addition
Bellewood
Bigger Tract
Blue Rock Manor
Boulder Brook
Brandywine Hills
Buckingham Heights
Carrcroft
Carrcroft Crest
Chincilla Farm
Claymont Addition
Claymont Center
Claymont Heights
Claymont Terrace
Cliffs Heights
Concord Manor
Cragmere
Crestfield
Crestwood Place
Deerhurst
Delaire
Delwood
Eastlawn
Edgemoor Gardens
Edgemoor Terrace
Edgewood Hills
Fairfax
Forest Hills Park
Forwood
Glenside Farms
Gordon Heights
Green Hill
Gumwood
Gwinhurst
Highland Woods
Highpoint
APPENDIX C:
INDEX OF SUBDIVISIONS BY HUNDRED
1941
1936
1933
1937
1915
1949
1950
1934
1941
1946
1925
1940
1945
1929
1940
1925
1941
1942
1918
1917
1918
1917
1924
1926
1917
1938
1937
1939
1939
1941
1917
1941
1939
1938
1950
1939
1936
1929
1905
1937
1938
1919
1938
1923
135
Appendix C
Hillcrest
Hilltop Manor
Holly Oak
Holly Oak Terrace
Indian Reid
Kynlyn Fanns
Lancashire
Lenderman Heights
Liftwood
Lindamere
Lindmere
Madelyn Gardens
Manor tract
McDaniel Crest
McDaniel Heights
Naamans Manor
Normandy Manor
North Hills
Pembrey
Penarth
Penn Rose
Penny Hill
Penny Hill Terrace
Perry Park
Phillips Heights
Ridgeview Development
Riverside
Riverside Gardens
Rock Manor
Rolling Park
Rutter tract
Sharpley Heights
Shellburne
Shipley Heights
Silver Croft
Silverside Heights
Stockdale
Villa Monterey
Weber tract
Welshire
Westwood
Westwood Manor
Wier Avenue
Wilmont
Windsor Hills
Windybush
Woodbrook
Woodside Hills
Wyckwood
1903
1937
1918
1920
1941
1937
1932
1924
1940
1926
1925
1943
1913
1946
1925
1929
1946
1930
1938
1946
1903
1931
1915
1926
1920
1938
1916
1936
1900
1940
1908
1929
1949
1949
1919
1920
1921
1923
1946
1947
1948
1939
1931
1925
1947
1938
1948
1938
1936
136
Appendix C
Christiana Hundred
Ashley
Avalon
Bellemoor
Belvidere
Boxwood
Brack-Ex
Brookland Terrace
Cedar Heights
Cleland Heights
Colonial Heights
Colonial Park
Colony Hill
Cooling Terrace
Cranston Heights
Cranston Property
Delaware Heights
Elliott property
Elmhurst
Elsmere
Faulkland Woods
Rinnview
Forest Brook Glen
Forest Park
Fredericks property
Glen Berne Estates
Glynrich
Gordy Estates
Greenville Manor
Hayden Park
Homestead
Idela
Keystone
Lancaster Court
Lancaster Village
Latimer Estates
Liberty
Lyndalia
Lynford
Masonicville
Meadowbrook
Newport Heights
Oak Grove
Pleasant Hills
Plymouth
Richardson Park
Roselle
Roselle Terrace
Sedgely Farms
1909
1917
1911
1908
1910
1913
1920
1923
1920
1919
1917
1940
1928
1907
1926
1924
1940
1918
1891
1940
1922
1941
1915
1911
1946
1911
1950
1937
1923
1919
1924
1930
1947
1938
1940
1918
1920
1941
1907
1920
1906
1914
1940
1932
1904
1901
1911
1940
137
Appendix C 138
Silverbrook Gardens 1947
Silview 1926
Stanton Crest 1946
Stonehurst 1941
Stony Crest 1941
Tuxedo Park 1920
Vilone Village 1946
Washington Heights 1907
West Haven 1940
Westover Hills 1927
Willow Run 1946
Wood crest 1933
Woodland Homes 1943
Woodward Addition 1910
Mill Creek Hundred
Cedars, The 1901
Cooper Farm 1942
Hilltop 1906
Kiamensi Gardens 1940
Westfield 1930
New Castle Hundred
Buttonwoods. The 1902
Chelsea Estates 1950
Christiana Acres 1942
Clearview Manor 1941
Collins Park 1943
Dunleith 1950
Duross Heights 1937
Eden Park Gardens 1917
Fern Hook 1920
Hamilton Park 1906
Hazeldell 1920
Holloway Terrace 1916
Leedom Estates 1948
Manor Park 1949
Mayview Manor 1946
Minquadale 1917
Rogers Manor 1919
Rose Hill Manor 1944
Simonds Gardens 1950
Swanwyck 1940
Swanwyck Gardens 1948
Wilmington Manor 1927
Wilmington Manor Gardens 1948
APPENDIX D:
FINDER'S GUIDE FOR ELEMENTS OF THE HISTORIC CONTEXT
139
APPENDIX D:
FINDER'S GUIDE FOR ELEMENTS OF THE HISTORIC CONTEXT
Historic Themes: p.5, chapters IV and V
Geographic Zones: p. 9-11
Chronological Period: p.12
Known and Expected Property Types: pp. 33-34, 40-59,78-80,97-100
Criteria for Evaluating Existing or Expected Resources: p.35-36, 62-64, 104-110
Distribution and Potential Distribution of Property Types: p.60-62, 97-100
Goals and Priorities for the Context and Property Types: Chapter VII
Information Needs and Recent Preservation Activity:: p..103-1 04
Reference Bibliography: p.120-123
Method for Involving the General and Professional Public: p.15, 117-119
Mechanism for Updating the Context: p.15
140
APPENDIX E:
SPECIAL DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS
141
142
APPENDIX E
SPECIAL DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS
Maps of an entire subdivision being evaluated are required documentation as are photographs of
all significant features of the ground plan of subdivision, in addition to its housing. Air photos should be
included when they are available.
Cartographic documentation. This should include at least three maps:: a one-to-one copy of
the original plat prepared by the developer showing street layout and lot division as a minimum, a Sanborn
Rre Insurance map, or comparable map dated as soon after the subdivision's completion as possible, and
a current parcel and building outline map at a scale of at least one inch to 200 feet. The purpose of
including these three maps is to document the original design of the subdivision, its character as
completed, and its present state of integrity. These three maps are essential to evaluating integrity ..
Photographic documentation ..Most metropolitan areas have systematic air photo coverage
starting at least in the 1930s; efforts should be made to obtain air photos of a subdivision taken as soon
after its completion as possible. In terms of ground photography, the features of the subdivision should
be systematically photographed on 35 mm film .. Views should include the major entrance or
representative entrances; streetscapes showing the overall character of the streets including placement
of houses, landscaping, and engineering character of the streets. In addition, the ways in which the
developer has created architectural variety should be photographed (variety of house type, stylistic trim ,or
placment on lots) .. Photographs documenting the variety in placement of houses on lots should include
two or three houses in a single view, not just a series of pidures of individual houses. At the same time,
streetscape photographs should not double for documentation of house placement or other variations"