Centerville, also known as Centreville, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, United States. Centerville is now known primarily for being the location of

Du Pont family The du Pont family () or Du Pont family is a prominent family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739–1817), a French minor aristocrat. Currently residing in the U.S. states of Delaware and Pennsylvania, the Du Ponts have been ...

estates, as well as several other wealthy business families from nearby Wilmington, and the home of

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Jack Markell Jack Alan Markell (born November 26, 1960) is an American politician and diplomat. He had served the United States ambassador both to Italy and to San Marino. He had served as the United States ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-oper ...

History

The village developed along the Kennett and Wilmington Pike, which was chartered by the Delaware Legislature in 1811. The road, now known as

Delaware Route 52 Delaware Route 52 (DE 52) is a state highway in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from U.S. Route 13 Business (US 13 Bus.) in downtown Wilmington north to Pennsylvania Route 52 (PA 52) at the Pennsylv ...

or the Kennett Pike, is part of the Brandywine Valley Scenic Byway, a

National Scenic Byway A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...

. The village was named Centerville as it lay midway between

Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Kennett Square is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Kennett Square had a population of 5,943. Kennett Square is located in the Delaware Valley and considered a suburb of both Philadelphia, t ...

and Wilmington. A group of fifteen houses, most of the village, was listed as the Centreville Historic District by the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1982. About the same time, three other properties near the village, the Joseph Chandler House, the Carpenter-Lippincott House, and Mt. Airy School No. 27, were separately listed by the NRHP. The Centre Meeting and Schoolhouse had been listed in 1971. The hamlet of Fairville, Pennsylvania, about three miles north on Kennett Pike ( Pennsylvania Route 52) developed about the same time as Centerville, and is also listed on the National Register. Centerville's population was 110 in 1890, 110 in 1900, and 210 in 1925.

Geography

Centerville is located at on 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 ...

state line, 5 mi/8 km north-northwest of Wilmington. Its elevation is .

Area attractions

Brandywine Creek State Park Brandywine Creek State Park is a public recreation area located north of Wilmington, Delaware along the Brandywine Creek. The state park is in area and much of the park was part of a Du Pont family estate and dairy farm before becoming a stat ...

is located just to the SE of the village center.

Delaware Museum of Natural History The Delaware Museum of Nature & Science (DMNH, formerly Delaware Museum of Natural History) is a museum located in Wilmington, Delaware. The museum was founded in 1957 by John Eleuthere du Pont near Greenville, Delaware; it opened in 1972 on a s ...

and the Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library are located just to the south of Centerville, on

Education

Centerville is home to Layton Preparatory School and the Centreville Layton School.

Notable people

Isaac Collins, a colonial printer, publisher, bookseller and merchant born in Centerville.

Michael Spinks Michael Spinks (born July 22, 1956) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal ...

, a professional boxer born in St. Louis, MO, Former two-division champion.

References

External links

Centreville, Delaware homepage
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in New Castle County, Delaware Unincorporated communities in Delaware