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What is a Cultural Resource?
What is a Cultural Resource?
Cultural resources are physical evidence of past human activity that are significant in a historical context. In our park, our cultural resources are what remains of buildings and infrastructure from early settlement and development of this land. The people that lived and used the land of our park shaped the way the land has changed over time, making the actions of these people in the past significant to our park today. Our park holds many cultural resources including our walls, bridges, spring houses, trails, and barns, and many of them can be found along our trails!
The map below is labeled with the locations of some of our key cultural resources!
The map below is labeled with the locations of some of our key cultural resources!
Rockland Mills Dam view from the park
1) Rockland Mills Dam
1) Rockland Mills Dam
Rockland Mills Dam is a part of Rockland Historic District built in 1978 by Caleb Kirk and William Young. This dam historically fed the mill race in Rockland. Rockland Historic District is made up of six buildings that made up the town of Rockland and Rockland mills built from 1797-1885, including the old schoolhouse and springhouse. The Dam suffered damage in the early 2000s from flooding, but is otherwise intact. Brandywine Creek State Park still monitors and documents the conditions of the dam.
2) Freshwater Marsh Nature Preserve
2) Freshwater Marsh Nature Preserve
Our Freshwater Marsh was the first established nature preserve in the state of Delaware in 1982. Today, there are 34 nature preserves in the state, with four in our park. The freshwater marsh was historically used for grazing land for the surrounding dairy farms. The marsh today is protected land and many areas are inaccessible to visitors, as it is home to a variety of species that are studied and monitored by the department of fish and wildlife. Marshes and wetlands are key parts of our ecosystems that control flooding and water filtration, so we make sure to protect our marsh.
Our protected freshwater marsh
Wilson Complex, currently park employee housing
3) Wilson Farmstead and Mill Complex
3) Wilson Farmstead and Mill Complex
Most of the land that today contains our meadows was owned by the Wilson family in 1789 through 1883. Their property included what is today our meadows, disc golf course, Hawkwatch, Wilson's Run, and maintenance area. The Wilsons built barns, homes, and a saw and grist on Wilsons Run powered by the stream. Many of the buildings established by the Wilsons were renovated by the DuPonts, so there are many ruins and buildings still standing. The original stone house, garage, silo, mill race, and ruins of the a springhouse and tenant house are still standing, and the Wilson house is still used as employee housing.
4) Stone Walls
4) Stone Walls
The outstanding stone walls that run through our park were originally commissioned by Henry A. DuPont in the late 1800s. He hired a crew of Italian and Italian American stonemasons to construct stone fences in order to separate the fields that held crops from those that were pastures for cows. The walls took about 40 years to build and used a method called dry stone stacking. This means that no mortar was used to hold the stones in place, and the wall's integrity relies on the placement of each stone. The walls were also a testament to the DuPont's wealth and success.
Stone Walls by Hawkwatch
The filled in cistern ruins behind our meadows
5) Cistern
5) Cistern
In our woods behind the meadows lies the ruins of a large cistern, built to hold water to send down to a home that was never built on the property. This area was leased by Lammot DuPont Copeland, who intended to build a stately home for his family near Winterthur. However, construction began in 1940 and was halted by United States involvement in World War II. The cistern for the house was the only structure built, and had been since filled in and covered.
6) Beehive Site
6) Beehive Site
The Beehive Site is what remains of a house and three outbuildings in our Tulip Tree Woods. It is named for the beehive that was found on the site when it was first recorded, and the original structure was built by the DuPont family as a tenant house. What remains today are the foundations of the four original buildings and the yellow bricks of the house patio. Parts of our Tulip Tree trail and Hidden Pond loop were originally farm roads that connected Indian Springs Farm to the Beehive House Site.
Yellow brick patio of the Beehive Site
Indian Springs springhouse ruins
7) Indian Springs Agricultural Complex
7) Indian Springs Agricultural Complex
Indian Springs Farm, located along our Hidden Pond loop, consisted of a house, a chicken house, a wagon shed, a barn, a springhouse, and a canoe house. These buildings were constructed using the same yellow bricks as the Beehive site, and are now in ruin. The original Indian Springs farm was established in the 1700s by the Wilson family, and was expanded by the Dupont family for their dairy farm operation and as a tenant farm for employees. The farm complex was in operation until the 1930s. The springhouse is the most easily accessible building from the trail and is great to explore.
8) Rocky Run Bridge, Sawmill, and Dams
8) Rocky Run Bridge, Sawmill, and Dams
The original Rocky Run bridge was built in the mid to late-1800s constructed by the DuPont family. This bridge stood for over 100 years until it suffered storm and hurricane damage from 2011 to 2014. The current Rocky Run bridge was built in 2015 with matching stones and structure to the original bridge, and what remains of the original bridge can still be seen by Rocky Run. These bridges, however, are not the only historic landmarks on Rocky Run. In the late 1700s, dams and a sawmill were constructed as well, and Rocky Run was repeatedly dammed throughout the 1800s. While the sawmill is no longer standing, the remains of some of the dams can be seen along Rocky Run's beaches.
Rocky Run Bridge (new) behind the old bridge ruins
Smith Ford Road as part of the paved Brandywine Trail
9) Smith Ford Road
9) Smith Ford Road
Smith Ford Road is located on what is today part of our Rocky Run and Brandywine Trails. This road was constructed long before the establishment of the park, however, as it was petitioned for by local farmers in 1797. Farmers wanted an established path along the east side of the Brandywine Creek from Rockland to Smith's Ford. This road was frequently used and lasted until the park was established, and continues to be used and preserved as part of our trails.
10) John Carney Agricultural Complex
10) John Carney Agricultural Complex
Driving along Thompson's Bridge Road we can see a couple of historic buildings that were part of the John Carney Agricultural Complex. As the name suggests, this area was owned and established by John Carney in 1874. This site contains a house, barn, springhouse, and various stonewalls. This farm was not used for large agriculture endeavors but was well loved by the Carney family, as we have learned in an oral history interview with Martina Lawless, John Carney's granddaughter. The complex became part of our park in 1997 and today is one of the state's nature preserves and employee housing.
Carney Barn off of Thompsons Bridge Road
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