Brandywine Hundred (also known as North Wilmington) is an unincorporated subdivision of

New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three List of counties in Delaware, counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent County, Delaware, Kent, and Sussex County, Delaware, Sussex). As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, United States. It is located to the north and northeast of the city of Wilmington.

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

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 Legi ...

. Brandywine Hundred and North Wilmington are commonly used colloquial names for this area. However, while their names still appear on all real estate transactions, all other hundreds in Delaware presently have no meaningful use or purpose except as a geographical point of reference. In the 2010 census, Brandywine had 77,182 people.

Grubb's Landing

Brandywine Hundred, also known as Grubb's Landing, was settled by two sons of

John Grubb John Grubb (1652–1708) was a two-term member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly and was one of the original settlers in a portion of Brandywine Hundred that became Claymont, Delaware. He founded a large tannery that continued in operat ...

: Emanuel Grubb and John Grubb II.

Boundaries and formation

Brandywine Hundred is that portion of New Castle County that lies north of the

Christina River The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles (56 km) long, in northern Delaware. It also flows through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near its mouth, the river ...

and east of Brandywine Creek, excepting that portion in the south included in

Wilmington Hundred Wilmington 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 ...

. Its northern boundary follows a portion of the 12 mile arc drawn around the town of New Castle. It was one of the original hundreds in Delaware created in 1682 and was named for Brandywine Creek that flows along its western boundary. When created it included some of the area now in the Wilmington Hundred, which was split off in 1833.

Development

Excepting a still wooded area along Brandywine Creek, the area is completely suburban with almost continuous industrial, commercial and residential development. The eastern portion was built out early in the twentieth century with the remainder in the decades following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The town of Bellefonte, the villages of

Arden Arden may refer to: Places Australia * Arden Street, North Melbourne, Victoria * Arden railway station, Melbourne Canada * Arden, Ontario Denmark * Arden, Denmark, a town ** Arden Municipality, a former municipality, including the town of Arden ...

, Ardencroft, and Ardentown, the

Claymont Claymont is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population of Claymont was 9,895. History The community now known as Claymont started on the banks of Naamans Creek where i ...

and Edgemoor Census Designated Places (CDP), and the community of Talleyville are in Brandywine Hundred. In recent decades the Hundred has become a major

edge city An edge city is a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban, residential or rural area. The term was popularized by the 1991 boo ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

due in part to

Delaware General Corporation Law The Delaware General Corporation Law (sometimes abbreviated DGCL), officially the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (Title 8, Chapter 1 of the Delaware Code), is the statute of the Delaware Code that governs corporate law in the U ...

Geography

Important geographical features, in addition to the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, include the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

, which forms its eastern boundary,

Naaman's Creek Naamans Creek (spelled Naaman Creek on federal maps) is a tributary of the Delaware River that is located in northeast New Castle County, Delaware and southeast Delaware County, Pennsylvania. History and geography This creek is believed to be na ...

Stoney Creek (Delaware) Stoney Creek is a long second order tributary to the Delaware River in New Castle County, Delaware. Variant names According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as: *Fransens Creek *Oele Fransens Cree ...

and

Shellpot Creek Shellpot Creek is a tributary of the Delaware River in northeast New Castle County, Delaware. The stream rises between Grubb Road and Shipley Road, south of Naaman's Road at in Brandywine Hundred and flows southeast for about six miles before d ...

. It is mostly in the

piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

region with one of the more dramatic sections of the

Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is noticeable especially the place rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the ...

being close enough to the Delaware River to allow many scenic views.

Ebright Azimuth The Ebright Azimuth is the point with the highest benchmark monument elevation in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is marked with a Geodesy, geodetic benchmark monument and has an elevation of above sea level. The only state high-point with a lo ...

, the highest natural elevation in the state at , is located along the northern edge of Brandywine Hundred, very close to the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

line. The Hundred has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa'') except in higher northern areas where a hot-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfa'') exists because January averages below freezing. Average monthly temperatures in Talleyville range from 31.1 °F in January to 75.4 °F in July, while at the interchange of Interstate 95/495 and Naamans Road they range from 32.8 °F in January to 77.4 °F in July
PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State U
The

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

is 7a except near the Delaware River where it is 7b.

Transportation

Important roads include portions of

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

, Interstate 495, Concord Pike (

U.S. Route 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of U.S. Route 2, US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware in the south to Maine in the north and traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, N ...

), Powder Mill Road (

Delaware Route 141 Delaware Route 141 (DE 141) is a state highway that serves as a western bypass of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware. Its southern terminus is at Delaware Route 9, DE 9 and Delaware Route 273, DE 273 in New Castle, ...

), Naamans Road and Thompson Bridge Road (

Delaware Route 92 Delaware Route 92 (DE 92) is a road in northern New Castle County, Delaware, that runs a short distance to the south of the Pennsylvania/Delaware state line for most of its length. The route runs from DE 100 near Montchanin ea ...

), Marsh Road (

Delaware Route 3 Delaware Route 3 (DE 3) is a state highway northeast of the city of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington in New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from Lighthouse Road/Hay Road just south of Interstate 4 ...

), Foulk Road ( Delaware Route 261), Delaware Route 491, and the old main highway between Wilmington and Philadelphia, now Philadelphia Pike (

U.S. Route 13 U.S. Route 13 or U.S. Highway 13 (US 13) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina, to US 1 in the northeast ...

). A portion of the

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad, headquartered in Philadelphia, that operated in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland from 1836 to 1902. It was part of an 1838 merger of four state-chartered railr ...

, subsequently the main north–south line of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as 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. At its ...

, and now

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

, follows the Delaware River, and a portion of the old

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

, now

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

Philadelphia Subdivision The Philadelphia Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. The line runs from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, southwest to Baltimore, Maryland, along a forme ...

, approximately follows the Fall Line.

Infrastructure

Brandywine Hundred Fire Company provides fire protection services.

In media

Mitchell Hundred, the fictional mayor of New York City and central protagonist of Brian K. Vaughn's comic book series '' Ex Machina'', notes that his surname was derived from Brandywine Hundred, where his ancestors originally settled.

Education

Brandywine School District Brandywine School District (abbreviated BSD) is a public school district in northern New Castle County, Delaware in the United States. It serves Arden, Ardencroft, Ardentown, Bellefonte, Claymont, Edgemoor, Talleyville, - Talleyville i ...

serves Brandywine Hundred. New Castle County Library operates the Brandywine Hundred Library. It began operations in April 2003, replacing the Concord Pike Library.

Famous residents

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

, lived a large part of his life in

* John Carney, Governor of Delaware, Claymont

Notes

References

* {{authority control Hundreds in New Castle County, Delaware