Appoquinimink Hundred is an unincorporated subdivision of

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

s were once used as a basis for representation in the

Delaware General Assembly The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legisla ...

, and while their names still appear on all real estate transactions, they presently have no meaningful use or purpose except as a geographical point of reference.

Boundaries and formation

Appoquinimink Hundred is that portion of New Castle County that lies south of Creek, extended generally westward from its headwaters to the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

state line, and north of

Blackbird Creek Blackbird Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river in northern Delaware in the United States. Course Blackbird Creek rises in two branches both ...

and Cypress Creek, a tributary of the

Chester River The Chester River is a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 and its watershe ...

. It was one of the original hundreds in Delaware created in 1682 and was named for Appoquinimink Creek that flows along its northern boundary. When created it included the area now in

Blackbird Hundred Blackbird Hundred is an unincorporated subdivision of New Castle County, Delaware. Hundreds were once used as a basis for representation in the Delaware General Assembly, and while their names still appear on all real estate transactions, they no ...

, which was split off in 1875. Originally, the default boundary of

and

was the vague height of land between the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

and

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

drainage basins and Appoquinimink Hundred extended only to that point. With the running of the

Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...

in 1767, the western boundary of

was established in its present location and became Appoquinimink Hundred's western boundary. The town of

Townsend Townsend (pronounced tounʹ-zənd) or Townshend may refer to: Places United States *Camp Townsend, National Guard training base in Peekskill, New York *Townsend, Delaware *Townsend, Georgia *Townsend, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Townsend ...

and a portion of the town of Middletown are in the hundred.

Development

Appoquinimink Hundred remains largely rural and agricultural, but there is significant development beginning around

and Middletown.

Geography

The important geographical features of the hundred, in addition to Appoquinimink Creek and Blackbird Creek, include the

, which forms its eastern boundary, Noxontown Pond, and the headwaters of the

Sassafras River The Sassafras River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula in the United States. It is approximately longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, ...

. It is entirely in the coastal plain region on the

Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula and proposed state on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia ...

Transportation

Important roads include portions of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway (

Delaware Route 1 Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) is the longest numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Fenwick Island, Sussex County, where the road continues south into that state as Maryland R ...

), the DuPont Highway (

U.S. Route 13 U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to US 1 in the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville ...

), the Townsend Road (

Delaware Route 71 Delaware Route 71 (DE 71) is a state highway in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from U.S. Route 13 (US 13) south of Townsend north to another intersection with US 13 in Tybouts Corner, traveling to the west ...

), Augustine Beach Road and Taylor's Bridge Road (

Delaware Route 9 Delaware Route 9 (DE 9) is a state highway that runs from DE 1 near Dover Air Force Base in Kent County north to DE 2 in the city of Wilmington in New Castle County. DE 9 is a designated scenic highway known as the ...

). A portion of the old

Delaware Railroad The Delaware Railroad was the major railroad in the US state of Delaware, traversing almost the entire state north to south. It was planned in 1836 and built in the 1850s. It began in Porter and was extended south through Dover, Seaford and fin ...

, subsequently the Delmarva branch of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

, now the

Delmarva Central Railroad The Delmarva Central Railroad is an American short-line railroad owned by Carload Express that operates of track on the Delmarva Peninsula in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The railroad operates lines from Porter, Delaware to Ha ...

's Delmarva Subdivision, runs north–south through

, and Middletown, and a portion of the

Maryland & Delaware Railroad The Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company is a Class III short-line railroad, formed in 1977 to operate several branch lines of the former Penn Central Railroad in both Maryland and Delaware, United States. These branches were omitted from th ...

's Northern Line runs west from Townsend.

References

*The University of Delaware Library (2001).
The Hundreds of Delaware
Retrieved August 17, 2005. {{Delaware Hundreds in New Castle County, Delaware Delaware placenames of Native American origin

Boundaries and formation

Development

Geography

Transportation

See also

References