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1919 Map of Wilmington

Name: 1919 Topographic Map of Wilmington
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1919
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1919

About this map

The coastal defenses and inland junctions of northern Delaware and southern New Jersey are captured here in 1919. A complex military landscape is revealed through the strategic triad of Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Id., Fort Dupont near Delaware City, and Fort Mott on the New Jersey shore. This defensive network guarded the approach to Wilmington during an era of expanding industrial and rail power.

Waterborne commerce is centered on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which cuts through the landscape near Summit Bridge, while the region's rail dependence is evident in the dense network of lines like the Philadelphia Baltimore and Washington RR and the Shellpot Branch. Local heritage is preserved in place names such as Coochs Bridge, site of a Revolutionary War encounter, and distinctive local landmarks like the Alms House near the Christiana River.