The Delaware Railroad was the major railroad in the US state of

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 ...

, traversing almost the entire state north to south. It was planned in 1836 and built in the 1850s. It began in

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

and was extended south through Dover, Seaford and finally reached Delmar on the border of

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 ...

in 1859. Although operated independently, in 1857 it was leased by and under the financial control of the

Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...

. In 1891, it was extended north approximately with the purchase of existing track to New Castle and Wilmington. With this additional track, the total length was .

Origin

The railroad was conceived in 1836 by John M. Clayton, a former United States senator who obtained a charter from 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 Legisl ...

to serve 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. ...

. He was concerned that a proposal in

to build a line along the western side of the peninsula would harm Delaware's economy. Delaware was highly motivated and exempted the railroad from taxation for fifty years and provided other incentives. Clayton, William D. Waples and Richard Mansfield were appointed as commissioners and a

survey Survey may refer to: Statistics and human research * Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population * Survey (human research), including opinion polls Spatial measurement * Surveying, the techniq ...

of the line was made. The Depression of 1837-1839 prevented investment in the railroad and the charter was forfeited. The charter was renewed in 1848 under the promotion of Samuel M. Harrington (Clayton at this time was serving as the United States Secretary of State). It called for a line from Dona Landing (just east of Dover) to Seaford that would be part of a

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

route. Sufficient investment was secured by 1852 allowing commencement of the operation. In 1853, the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad guaranteed construction bonds, and the line was built from a junction with the

New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad The New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road (NC&F) was opened in 1831, was the first railroad in Delaware and one of the first in the United States. About half of the route was abandoned in 1859; the rest became part of the Pennsylvania ...

to Dover in 1855 and on to Seaford in 1856. Moving the northern terminus from Dona Landing to Porter added approximately to the originally planned length. The first section was opened with an inaugural eight-car train north from Middletown on September 1, 1855, carrying the president of the railroad and that of the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad, the chief engineer, and railroad contractors.

History

Prior to the railroad, steamship traffic from Philadelphia ran to Dona Landing, a Dona steamship line port on the Leipsic River just off

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inland ...

and approximately east of Dover. Passengers would then go by stagecoach to Dover and south to Seaford where they would then resume travel by ship south to Norfolk on the Nanticoke River. Both the stage and steamship lines were made obsolete by the railroad and hence abandoned. The railroad ran inland to avoid wetlands near the coast through areas that had been sparsely populated. Railroad access spurred the growth of farms in this part of the state as farmers had means to ship

produce Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables (grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and g ...

north to

, New York and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Land that had not been farmed was cleared as the new access to city markets increased agricultural output. The railroad assisted the Delaware peach industry, allowing faster peach transport to market than had been possible by steamship. It also allowed the introduction of peach

orchards An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of lar ...

to areas without access to river shipping. The industry spread downstate from the Delaware City area where it originated as the railroad extended further south. By 1875, five million baskets (900,000 carloads) of peaches were shipped on the Delaware railroad. The railroad is credited with the peach becoming a "signature crop" in Delaware - the first state from which peaches were a commercial crop shipped long distances to market. In 1863, peach farmers sued the railroad after they grew a bumper crop but the railroad did not have enough freight cars to accommodate the entire crop, and as a result there was significant spoilage. The railroad felt the

judgment Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle s ...

was "exorbitant". New towns formed along the railroad including Bridgeville, Greenwood, Clayton (nearby

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

did not want the railroad competing with its shipping industry),

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

(nearby Camden refused to allow the railroad to be built through the town), Felton (named after David Felton, president of the railroad) and Harrington. In 1855, the railroad located its main office in Clayton.

Civil War

Prior to the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, southern sympathizers utilized the railroad as a route south to join the Confederacy. In 1861, Charles du Pont Bird (a descendant of E.I. du Pont) advised

General Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of North ...

that the railroad should be destroyed to prevent its use by the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

to ship troops and supplies to

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. The railroad remained under Federal control throughout the war. The railroad was used to ship contraband south to the Confederacy as its geography placed it in a prime smuggling route.

Later 19th century

In the latter half of the 19th century, the Pennsylvania Railroad had acquired the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, and several east–west lines serving locations throughout the

in Delaware and the eastern shore of

, effectively securing a monopoly over the peninsula. These included the Junction and Breakwater Railroad and the Queen Anne's Railroad (later the Maryland, Delaware and Virginia Railroad). Opening in 1884, the

New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad The New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad was a railroad line that ran down the spine of the Delmarva Peninsula from Wilmington, Delaware to Cape Charles, Virginia and then by ferry to Norfolk, Virginia. It became part of the Pennsylvani ...

utilized the Delaware Railroad track, with an extension south through Maryland to Cape Charles, located close to the mouth of the

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

on Virginia's Eastern Shore and then by rail ferry to Norfolk, Virginia. The New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad was conceived by

William Lawrence Scott William Lawrence Scott (July 2, 1828 – September 19, 1891) was a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, a prominent railroad executive, as well as a prominent horse breeding ...

, an

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

investor and coal magnate, who wanted to build a shorter railroad route between the coal wharfs of Hampton Roads by utilizing a ferry line across the Chesapeake Bay and a railroad line up the Delmarva Peninsula to the industrial north. In 1891, the former

track from Porter to New Castle and the former New Castle and Wilmington Railroad track was added to the Delaware Railroad (both then owned by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore) extending its northern terminus to the Christiana River in Wilmington. In 1910, the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad (the successor to the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore) renewed its lease of the railroad for another 99 years. The lease included the: * mainline Shellpot Crossing to Delmar * branch (cutoff) New Castle to Wilmington * branch

Centreville, Maryland Centreville is an incorporated town in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, United States on the Delmarva Peninsula. Incorporated in 1794, it is the county seat of Queen Anne's County. The population was 4,285 at the 2010 census. The ZIP code is 216 ...

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 ...

* branch

Chestertown, Maryland Chestertown is a town in Kent County, Maryland, United States. The population was 5,252 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Kent County. History Founded in 1706, Chestertown rose in stature when it was named one of the English col ...

Massey, Maryland Massey is an unincorporated community in Kent County, Maryland, United States. Massey is located at the intersection of Maryland routes 299, 313 and 330, southeast of Galena. Education It is in the Kent County Public Schools. Kent County Mid ...

* branch Nicholson, Maryland to Wharton, Maryland * branch Clayton to Symrna * branch Clayton to Oxford, Maryland * branch Seaford to

Cambridge, Maryland Cambridge is a city in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 13,096 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County and the county's largest municipality. Cambridge is the fourth most populous city in Mary ...

Legacy

In 1881, the parent company, the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, itself came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad, a larger and dominant railroad of the Northeastern United States. Facing financial difficulties in the 1960s, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with its rival New York Central in 1968 forming the

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

which itself filed for what was, at that time, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history in 1970. The mainline of the Delaware Railroad was eventually absorbed into Conrail, created by the Federal Government to operate the potentially profitable lines of multiple

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

carriers. Becoming profitable in the 1980s, most of Conrail was sold off to CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway in 1998. Norfolk Southern then operated the Delaware Railroad mainline until it was spun off in October 2016 to 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 Hal ...

, a

short-line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that oper ...

that operates of track on the Delmarva Peninsula. The majority of the Delmarva Central Railroad is the track of the former Delaware Railroad. The railroad extends past the southern terminus of the Delaware Railroad at Delmar another into Maryland to Pocomoke City. The railroad's station in Felton was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1981 and was renovated for use as a museum. The station in Wyoming was listed in 1980.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book, last1=Munroe, first1=John A., title=History of Delaware, date=2006, publisher=University of Delaware Press, isbn=0874139473, edition=Fifth, access-date=10 September 2017, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vs7NcOKnlNUC {{cite book, last1=Rendle, first1=Ellen, last2=Cooper, first2=Constance J., title=Delaware in Vintage Postcards, date=2001, publisher=Arcadia Publishing, isbn=0738513806, access-date=10 September 2017, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaB7GfUZfPgC& {{cite book, last1=Caoace, first1=Nancy, title=The Encyclopedia of Delaware, date=2001, publisher=Somerset Publishers, isbn=9780403096121, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u9StYwbI_F8C, access-date=10 September 2017 {{cite book, last1=Morgan, first1=Michael, title=Civil War Delaware The First State Divided, date=2012, publisher=The History Press, location=Charleston, isbn=9781609494452, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wFB_CQAAQBAJ, access-date=10 September 2017 {{cite book, last1=Miller, first1=Richard F., title=States at War, Volume 4: A Reference Guide for Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey in the Civil War, date=2015, publisher=University Press of New England, isbn=9781611686227, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=weA7BgAAQBAJ, access-date=10 September 2017 {{cite book, last1=Kee, first1=Ed, title=Delaware Farming, date=2007, publisher=Arcadia Publishing, isbn=9780738544496, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvoEPLNCfc8C, access-date=11 September 2017 {{cite book, last1=Vernon, first1=Edward, title=American Railway Manual, Volume1, date=1873, publisher=American Railway Manual Company, page=277, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aLopAAAAYAAJ, access-date=11 September 2017 {{cite book, last1=Conrad, first1=Henry Clay, title=History of the State of Delaware, Volume 2, date=1908, page=650, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkYVAAAAYAAJ, access-date=12 September 2017 {{cite book, last1=Burns, first1=James B., title=Railroad Mergers and the Language of Unification, date=1998, publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group, isbn=9781567201666, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H_YEIj8AMEcC, access-date=12 September 2017 {{cite web , url=http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2016/10/19-delmarva , title=UPDATED: New short line to take over NS's Delmarva Secondary , publisher=Trains Magazine , date=October 19, 2016 , access-date=September 12, 2017 {{cite book, editor1-last=Thomas, editor1-first=Selma, title=Delaware: an inventory of historic engineering and industrial sites, date=1975, publisher=US Department of the Interior, pages=20, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YxD0cNU0FTcC, access-date=14 September 2017 {{cite book, last1=Hansen, first1=Jess, title=Smyrna, Clayton, and Woodland Beach, date=2013, publisher=Arcadia Publishing, isbn=9781467120333, page=8, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRv5AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8, access-date=14 September 2017 {{cite book, last1=Clemons, first1=Denise, title=A Culinary History of Southern Delaware: Scrapple, Beach Plums and Muskra, date=2016, publisher=Arcadia Publishing, isbn=9781625858153, pages=35, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=skB8DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA35, access-date=15 September 2017 {{cite book, last1=Hayman, first1=John C., title=Rails Along The Chesapeake: A History of Railroading on the Delmarva Peninsula, 1827-1978, date=1979, publisher=Marvadel Publishers, asin=B0006DXHV0 {{cite book, last1=Badger, first1=Tom, last2=Badger, first2=Curtis, title=Accomack County, date=2009, publisher=Arcadia Publishing, isbn=9780738567846, page=77, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xc5sGWx3FSIC&pg=PA77 {{cite news, title=Opening of the Delaware Railroad to Middletown, url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12890341/1855_sep_5_delaware_railroad/, access-date=17 September 2017, work=Public Ledger, date=September 5, 1855, location=Philadelphia, via=

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

{{free access {{cite news, title=Lease of the Delaware Railroad, url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13876144/the_news_journal/, access-date=20 September 2017, work=The News Journal, date=February 16, 1910, location=Wilmington, DE, page=2, via=

{{free access {{cite book, title=Annual Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs: Railroad, canal, navigation, telegraph and telephone companies. Part 4, date=1908, publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs, pag
215
url=https://archive.org/details/annualreportsec10affagoog, access-date=20 September 2017 {{NRISref, version=2013a, refnum=83000843 {{NRISref, version=2010a, refnum=80000931 Predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad Defunct Delaware railroads