WILMINGTON, Del., city, port of elm": county-seat of New Castle County, at the ex treme north end of the State, on the Brandy wine and Christiana rivers, above their outkt in the Delaware River, and on the Pennsyl vania (Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washing ton), the Baltimore and Ohio and the Phila delphia and Reading railways, about V miles southwest of Philadelphia and 69 miles north east of Baltimore. Several regular lines of steamers, for passengers and freight, connect the city with Philadelphia, and with the Dela ware River and Bay ports. It ranks as the first city in the State in population, commerce and industries.
Industries. The chief industrial establish ments are shipyards. car works (the Pullman Company and the Pennsylvania hare shops in the city), steel works, machine shops. foundries, paper mills, cotton mills, malleable iron works, and fibre goods factories. Leather goods, especially morocco, are manufactured in large quantities here. Dupont powder and dye mills, two plants covering 4,000 acres, the largest in the world, located nearby, in New Jersey across the Delaware River, contribute much to the city's trade. The 1909 census located 261 industrial concerns, with 16,285 wage-earners, this being two-thirds of the State's total of factory workers. There are estimated to be 25,000 wage-earners in 1918, an invested capital of over $50,000,000, and an nual gross products of $65,000,000.
Buildings and Municipal Improvements. The city is on land elevated sufficiently to materially increase its healthfulness. It ex tends about four miles back from the Dela ware. The houses are nearly all of brick and stone no wooden buildings are permitted to go up in the city proper, but the old wooden buildings are allowed to remain. There are 10 parks, 11 squares, seven playgrounds having a total area of 665 acres. The streets are well paved and sewered. There is a good water works system. The principal public buildings are the government buildings, city and county building. A building of special interest is the Old Swedes' Church (Holy Trinity), built of brick in 1698. It is said to be the oldest ing ' in the United States which has been in continuous use as a church since its erection. The city owns and operates the waterworks.
Churches and Charitable Institutions. The principal religious societies in the city are represented as follows: Methodist (white), 18 churches, (colored), seven churches; Baptist (white), nine, (colored), three; Roman Catholic, 13 and Protestant Episcopal, eight each; Presby terian, nine; Jewish, three Lutheran and Friends two each; Adventist, Unitarian and Sweden borgian, one each. There are a large number of charitable institutions; chief among them are the Home for Friendless Children; Saint Peter's Orphanage (Roman Catholic) for girls; Saint Joseph's Home (Roman Catholic) for colored children; two homes for aged men and women, and three hospitals. At Farnhurst, two miles out, is the Delaware State Hospital for the Insane, and near it the county alms house.
Educational Institutions. The State In
dustrial Schools for Girls and the Ferris Re form School for Boys are located near here. Other educational institutions established here are Hebbs School, Wilmington Friends' School, Ursuline Academy, a public high school es tablished in 1872, Goldey College, the Wilming ton Business School, public and parish elemen tary schools, a free public library (established in 1788 and incorporated as the Wilmington In stitute in 1859), which now contains about 95,000 volumes; the Historical Society Library, containing 5,000, and the library of the Law Library Association of the county, which has about 16,000 volumes.
Banks and Finances. There are three na tional banks and one State bank; four trust companies and a number of loan associations. The annual amount of business is about $180, 000,000. The foreign trade transacted through the port of Wilmington in normal years amounts annually to about $8,000,000, nearly all of which is in exports. The annual cost for city maintenance and operation is about $1,300,000. The principal items of expenditure are $300, 000 for schools; $120,000 for police; $75,000 for fire department ; $155,000 for waterworks, and $190,000 for interest on debt.
Government. Thegovernment is vested in a mayor, who holds office two years, and in a council composed of 13 members, who are elec ted by wards, except the president who is elected at large. The mayor appoints the board of water commissioners and the board of directors of the street and sewer depart ment. The council elects the city auditor, city clerk and inspectors of meat, milk, oil and markets. The judge of the Supreme Court appoints the police commissioners. The board of education, one member from each ward and a president at large, the city tax collectors and city treasurer are chosen by popular vote.
History. The first settlement was made in 1638 by a colony from Sweden under Peter Minuit. They found here an Indian village called Minquas. The Swedes erected a fort to which they gave the name Fort Christiana, in honor of the young daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, the king of Sweden. The village was called Christianaham. In 1655 the Dutch from New Netherlands bought the land on which Wilmington now stands, and other lands adjoining from the Indians, and took forcible possession of the fort. The name was changed to Fort Altena. The Dutch retained possession for nine years, when they were supplanted by the English. It came under control of Wil liam Penn, after which the colony gave more attention to civic pursuits instead of wars and conquests. In 1731 the village was named Willinketown, in honor of Thomas Willing, who had laid out the town. Later the name was changed to Wilmington. It was incorporated as a borough in 1739, and the first borough election was held 8 Sept. 1740. In 1832 it was chartered as a city.
Population. (1880) 42,478; (1890) 61,431; (1900) 76,556; (1910) 87,411; (1918 est.) 115, 000. Consult Powell, Towns of the Middle Ferris, (History of the Origi nal Settlements on the Delaware.)