This tiny Delaware town beat the rest of America to independence by three weeks

New Castle’s cobblestones go back to 1651

Six miles south of Wilmington, right on the banks of the Delaware River, sits a town that most Americans have never heard of but probably should have.

New Castle has about 500 buildings in its historic district, cobblestone streets that have been here since the colonial era, and a courthouse where Delaware declared independence before the rest of the country got around to it.

The whole place is walkable, and history turns up around every corner.

Fort Casimir stood here before America had a name

The Dutch West India Company put down roots here in 1651, when Peter Stuyvesant built Fort Casimir on land that had been a Lenape village.

From there, control of the settlement passed between Swedish, Dutch and British hands over the next two decades. The English took permanent hold in 1674 and renamed it New Castle.

Then, on Oct. 27, 1682, William Penn stepped off a ship and set foot on American soil for the first time right here.

The town served as Delaware’s colonial capital until 1777, when the Revolutionary War pushed the government inland to Dover.

Delaware broke from Britain right here on The Green

The New Castle Court House went up in 1732, making it one of the oldest surviving courthouses in the country.

On June 15, 1776, delegates gathered inside and voted to separate from both Pennsylvania and Britain, effectively creating the State of Delaware.

That happened weeks before the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. Two of Delaware’s signers of that Declaration, Thomas McKean and George Read, had deep roots in New Castle.

The building served as Delaware’s first state capitol and kept working as a courthouse until 1881.

The cupola up top drew an arc that split two states

Look up at the courthouse cupola and you’re looking at the center of something you won’t find anywhere else in American geography.

The Duke of York was originally granted all lands within a 12-mile radius of that spot, then passed them to William Penn while keeping them separate from Pennsylvania.

The resulting boundary is one of only a few arc-shaped state lines in the country.

The two colonies argued about exactly where the line fell for decades, and it took the Mason-Dixon survey, which ran from 1763 to 1767, to finally settle the question.

A ruined man stood up in this courtroom and promised to keep going

In 1848, abolitionist Thomas Garrett stood trial in the New Castle Courthouse, charged under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 for helping the Hawkins family escape slavery in Maryland.

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who would later write the Dred Scott decision, presided. The court sentenced Garrett to financial ruin.

He stood up and told the courtroom he would carry on helping freedom seekers anyway, and he did. In 2003, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated the courthouse a National Historic Underground Railroad Site.

The oldest Episcopal parish in the country still holds Sunday services

The Green at the center of town dates to the original Dutch colonial layout, and Immanuel Episcopal Church has stood on its edge since 1689.

That makes it the oldest continuously operating Anglican and Episcopal parish in the country, and the congregation still meets there today.

The church’s architecture was shaped by William Strickland, the same man who designed the Second Bank of the United States.

Out in the churchyard, the graves include Revolutionary War veterans and George Read, who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Two houses still hold the furniture the Dutch colonists left behind

The Dutch House went up somewhere between 1690 and 1700, and it still holds Dutch colonial antiques from those earliest European settlers.

A few blocks away, the Amstel House dates to the 1730s and served as the residence of Governor Nicholas Van Dyke during the Revolutionary War era. George Washington attended a wedding there in April 1784.

Both museums run through the New Castle Historical Society, with tours leaving from the Visitor Center at the Arsenal. Walking between the two takes about five minutes.

George Read II built a 14,000-square-foot mansion with river views

The Read House is the kind of place that stops you at the gate.

George Read II, son of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, completed the Federal-style mansion in 1804.

It covers 14,000 square feet and sits on 2.5 acres of formal gardens that look out over the Delaware River. Between the 1920s and 1970s, the house drew enough attention to appear in dozens of national magazine features.

The Delaware Historical Society runs it now, and it carries National Historic Landmark status.

Battery Park sits on land that once held cannons facing the river

The park gets its name from the artillery positioned here to defend the town from enemy ships, a practice that goes back to the 1600s.

The current park opened in 1939 after the Trustees of New Castle Common bought the land from an abandoned railroad yard.

Today you can walk the river path, use the picnic areas, play tennis, or let the kids loose on the playground.

Near the entrance stands the restored 1832 ticket office of the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad, one of the earliest railroads in the nation.

Two trails follow the river all the way to Wilmington

The Battery Park Trail runs 1.7 miles along the Delaware River, following a dike that once carried a single-track railroad to an iron works plant.

You can watch the water and spot wildlife, and on clear days, the Delaware Memorial Bridge hangs at the edge of the view.

If you want more distance, the Jack A. Markell Trail adds another 5.5 miles of shared-use path connecting New Castle to Wilmington’s Riverfront, completed in 2018.

Both trails connect to the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000-mile route running from Maine to Florida.

Delaware’s tall ship sails from the same pier where history landed

The Kalmar Nyckel is a full-scale replica of the Swedish flagship that brought the first permanent European settlers to the Delaware Valley in 1638. Delaware made it the official Tall Ship of the state.

During the warmer months, the ship runs public sailing excursions from both Wilmington and New Castle’s historic pier.

You can haul lines alongside the crew, pick up some maritime history, or just watch the river go by from the deck.

In 2026, the Kalmar Nyckel is taking part in Sail 250 festivals along the Eastern Seaboard as the country marks its 250th anniversary.

Every June, the town reenacts the day Delaware went its own way

Separation Day, each June, marks the moment Delaware declared independence from Pennsylvania and Britain on June 15, 1776.

The 250th anniversary falls on June 12 and 13, 2026, with reenactments, a parade, live music and fireworks over the river.

If you come in May, the third Saturday brings “A Day in Old New Castle,” the oldest home and garden tour in America, running continuously since 1925.

Private homes open their doors, and residents walk the streets in period costume.

October brings ghost tours, December brings a Spirit of Christmas celebration, and Fourth Fridays draw arts events throughout the year.

Explore New Castle’s Colonial District in New Castle, Delaware

New Castle sits right off I-95 and I-295, about 10 minutes south of downtown Wilmington.

The New Castle Court House Museum runs free guided tours Wednesday through Sunday, and the Visitor Center at the Arsenal on Market Street is where Amstel House and Dutch House tours begin.

Free on-street parking runs throughout the historic district, with public lots at Second and Chestnut Streets, West Third Street, and Battery Park.

You can also arrive by bike on the Jack A. Markell Trail or by bus on DART Route 15.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• The cobblestone streets of Alexandria, Virginia were measured by a teenager named George Washington
• 100 Warships From 30 Countries Are Sailing to New York for Americas Birthday
• You can walk the most famous shopping street in Beverly Hills and spend nothing