The Historic Town of New Castle, DE
The New Castle Historical Society’s decorative arts and archival collections on display in the Dutch House and the Amstel House span over 300 years of local and national history. The furniture, ceramics, textiles, watercolors, photographs, silver collection, books, manuscripts, documents, and newspapers of early colonial life are preserved in these houses. The archival collection contains over 1,000 photographs of the town and waterfront in the 19th and 20th centuries. The kas (a cupboard) originated in the 1740-1770. The Queen Anne yoke back, duck foot side chairs in old paint stamped “Coutant” and the Delft ceramics reflect the town’s early Dutch period.
The Amstel House is an early Georgian residence that reflects the refinement and style of the early 1700s. The unique five bay, gable-end facade was built by Dr. John Finney in the 1730s. The Amstel House Garden has a Renaissance-era pilaster, originally from London Bridge, topped with a 1789 English sundial. The public and private Gardens and Battery Park are havens from a slower relaxing life of our ancestors.
The Old Library Museum is an 1892 hexagonal brick structure. Sunlight radiates from the soaring skylight and draws the eye to the extensive, breathtaking original interior woodwork. The Stitchery Exhibit, the Artifacts of Childhood Exhibit, and the Passing on the Story: African-Americans in New Castle Exhibit reflect colonial life.
The Old New Castle Court House is one of the oldest surviving courthouses in the United States. The original 1732 court house was built over the remains of Delaware’s first court house of 1689. The Court House was the statehouse and meeting place of Delaware’s colonial and first State Assembly from 1732 to 1777 when New Castle was Delaware’s capital. Significant events took place at the Court House involving slavery, abolition, and the Underground Railroad.
The Read House was built in 1801 and the Garden was designed in 1847. This Federal style house was owned by George Read II, the son of a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. This early 19th century house has 14,000 square feet, 22 rooms, and a one and a half acre garden.
The New Castle Frenchtown Railroad was constructed in 1832. Steam locomotive “Delaware” pulled the train that operated in the pre-Civil War period. This railroad was an important connecting link between the north and south.
The Immanuel Episcopal Church was founded in 1689 and built in 1703. Tombstones line the sanctuary. Tombstones in adjoining graveyard date from 1707. New Castle Presbyterian Church was built in 1707. The first congregation was Dutch.
The New Castle United Methodist Church began as a small brick chapel in 1820. The present church was built in 1863.
The Booth House was built in 1730. The Arsenal on the Green, Immanuel Parish House, also known as the Thomas House, Alexander Home also known as the Sloopes House, and the Old Academy Building are other historical buildings in New Castle.
New Castle is the home of three signers of the Declaration: George Reed, George Ross, and Thomas McKean.
A Day in Olde New Castle, a tour of historic homes and gardens, is held each May.
