Director

Restored Railroad Switching Tower in 2019

A rail used to construct the station. Made by Carnegie Steel

More Info

In 1993, the Greater Harrington Historical Society saved a local landmark from destruction and in the process preserved what has turned out to be one of the few structures of its type left on the DelMarVa Peninsula. 
The Railroad Tower and Caboose are located on Hanley Street, just two blocks from the main museum. The tower has been restored to its original operating condition and houses many items used during the heyday of trains in Harrington. 
Items include a watchman shack, a conductors uniform, and several examples of tools used to operate and maintain the railroad operations. Next to the tower is a restored Model N5 Caboose, which was built in 1926. 
The caboose houses items used during daily operations of the railroad and shows was a workers life would have been like while working for the Pennsylvania Railroad Corporation in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Railroad Switching Tower and Caboose

A walking and driving tour of the rich history of Harrington Delaware. Use the Harrington Through Time book as a great reference for all of these locations

The original Saint Stephens Episcopal Church was constructed in 1875. The church was constructed under the watchful eye of Rev. Dr. J. Leighton McKim. He is related to the famous Architectural firm of&nbsp;McKim, Mead &amp; White of New York City, who worked on such buildings as the White House, Pennsylvania Station in NYC and other famous buildings around the world. While no drawings of the church's construction exist, others designed by the firm in Delaware for Rev McKim have the same design, so it is widely accepted that the firm designed this church as well.<br><br>In 1959, St. Stephen’s built a new church on the edge of Harrington, and the Baptist Church<div>of Harrington purchased the old building. During this time all of the stained glass windows were removed, including the large Rose Window&nbsp;The church was used until 1966, at which time it sat abandoned and began to show its age. <br><br>But at 100 years old, this little church was about to find new life. Donated to the Greater Harrington Historical Society, it underwent major repairs to restore it to its former glory, which included the return of the beautiful rose window. The church turned museum was dedicated on May 3, 1987. On October 8, 2014, the Little Red Church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It remains to this day almost exactly as it was in 1878.</div>

Built in 1875, this small church was constructed by the Episcopal congregation. It is now part of the Greater Harrington Historical Complex. 

Original St Stephens Episcopal Church

<p>Founded in May 1977, the Greater Harrington Historical Society is one of the oldest in Delaware. From our humble beginnings in an office, we have grown to now include 3 museum locations and we house over 50,000 artifacts, some dating back to the early 1700’s.</p><p>Our first museum is the original St Stephen’s Episcopal Church, located at 110 Fleming Street. It was built in 1876 and is one of the oldest structures still standing in the city. It was renovated in 1983, which included the re-installation of the original Rose Window, first purchased by the church in 1877, for a cost of $75.00. This museum houses artifacts from the Harrington High School, our military tribute, as well as, items from all our local churches and civic organizations.</p><p>The Pauline Satterfield Annex was built in 1987 and is located at 108 Fleming Street. Due to the society’s growing collection and need for office space, the members raised the needed funds to provide this much needed expansion. This building now houses business and houseware artifacts from the city and surround countryside. Items of interest in the Annex include; the store counter and soda fountain from Burton’s Sport Shop, a model of the town as it existed in the early 1900’s, a seed cabinet from Taylor’s Hardware, and a horse drawn funeral coach.</p><p>In 1993, the Greater Harrington Historical Society saved a local landmark from destruction and in the process preserved what has turned out to be one of the few structures of its type left on the DelMarVa Peninsula. The Railroad Tower and Caboose are located on Hanley Street, just two blocks from the main museum. The tower has been restored to its original operating condition and houses many items used during the heyday of trains in Harrington. Items include a watchman shack, a conductors uniform, and several examples of tools used to operate and maintain the railroad operations. Next to the tower is a restored Model N5 Caboose, which was built in 1926. The caboose houses items used during daily operations of the railroad and shows was a workers life would have been like while working for the Pennsylvania Railroad Corporation in the 1920’s and 1930’s.</p>

Welcome to the Greater Harrington Historical Society. We here at the society strive to preserve the history of our area through the collection of artifacts and living history. Whether you are looking to see how our city began, what businesses have been in our town, or look back at our churches and civic organizations, we have something for everyone. Our collections also includes documents and photographs that anyone who is working on genealogy will find invaluable in learning more about their family tree. No matter if you are a lifelong resident, a Harringtonian at heart, or just interested in history, we here at the Greater Harrington Historical Society will be happy to give you a tour you will find interesting and full of fun.

Greater Harrington Historical Society Annex Museum

<div>In 1681, William Clark received a land grant for the area that would eventually become Harrington. Clark was given a large portion of the lands known as the Mispillion Hundred, a total land grant that encompassed over 3,000 acres of farm and woodland. William’s son, Thomas, would later own 650 acres in the center of this vast expanse and build his home here in the early 1700s. He named his piece of heaven “Clark’s Folly.” It is from this farmhouse our city was born.<br><br></div><div>The first business was an inn and tavern, constructed by Benjamin Clark, William’s grandson, in the late 1700s. This building was located a block away from the cemetery location. He renamed the crossroads Clark’s Corner. This location was a major intersection on the stagecoach line linking the ports of Johnnycake Landing, later Frederica, and Milford. With this single building, the stage was set for the city and what would forever be its destiny, where Delaware comes together.<br><br>Since the Clark Family were Quakers, the cemetery markers were simple wooden crosses. The cemetery was used until 1881. As the family moved on, the cemetery location was lost. During parking lot work in the early 1990s the cemetery was rediscovered.<br><br>It is estimated there are 15-20 Clark Family members interred at the site. A marker was placed at the site to honor the founder of the town and his family.</div>

The Clark Family were the founders of Harrington, then called Clark's Corner. The monument is located on the family cemetery location. The cemetery location was unknown until it was found in the 1990s. The marker was placed to honor the family graves that are still located on the site.

Clark Cemetery Monument

Henry Wolcott was one of Harrington's early successful businessmen. He was an entrepreneur in several areas, including lumber and other local business ventures.<br><br>He was also Harrington's first philanthropist, donating both money and land to churches in the area, including the African American churches of Harrington, something rare for the day. He was given the honor of a street being named after him, Wolcott Street, which was one of the first streets added in the town when it expanded after the railroad came to town in 1857.<br><br>The mansion was home for decades to Thomas Parsons, one the founders of the Greater Harrington Historical Society. His business was the home of the first museum in Harrington.<br><br>The home today is privately owned and is being restored.

The Wolcott Mansion is one of the oldest homes in the city. It was built in the late 1800s by Henry Clay Wolcott, one of Harrington’s first entrepreneurs and a philanthropist. He would later go on to donate property to several churches in the city for their buildings and have a street named in his honor. Today the house is being restored to its former glory.

Wolcott Mansion

Built by the Baptist Union, in 1903 it was sold to Harrington Pilgrim Holiness and the Church of the Nazarene. In 1909, a split occurred between these two groups, and the church was turned over to the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene.<br><br>It was later sold to the Mount Carmel Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and still serves this congregation today. This church servers one of the few African American Seventh Day Adventist congregations in central Delaware.<br><br>The church recently added on a hall to better serve their congregation and the community as a whole.

This humble church has undergone major changes since this it was orginally constructed. It has also witnessed changes in the groups that have called it home.

Built by the Baptist Union, in 1903 it was sold to Harrington Pilgrim Holiness and the Church of the Nazarene. In 1909, a split occurred between these two groups, and the church was turned over to the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene. It was later sold to the Mount Carmel Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and still serves this congregation today.

Mount Carmel 

The red brick building was constructed in 1888 and was located just a couple of buildings away from the first commercial building. In the street photo included in this post, you can see the building on the left, the 3 story structure with a porch. This was the original stagecoach stop and inn that was constructed by Benjamin Clark in the 1700s.<br><br>The First National Bank of Harrington printed its own money until 1935. Those bills are rare and the $100 dollar bill is valued at over $10,000 today.<br><br>In 1920, the bank moved to its current location on Commerce Street. The art decco building they constructed was the first building in the city to have an elevator.<br><br>The original lights and teller window from the building can be found at the Greater Harrington Historical Society.<br><br>The original building is now home to Community Church.<br><br>In front of the building, the State of Delaware Archives placed a Historical Marker indicating the site where the stagecoach stop and inn where located.

Founded in 1888, the First National Bank of Harrington was the town’s first bank and is still in business today. Before then, locals who needed to do banking had to travel to Milford. The building is the oldest commercial structure in the city. The building was constructed in 1888

Old First National Bank and State Historical Marker

The Harrington Post Office was constructed in the mid-1930s. The old storefronts built in the
mid-1800s were outdated and were torn down for the new post office. 

A wax tempera mural, Men Hoeing, was painted in 1941 by Eve Salisbury inside the post
office. The program was funded by the US Treasury as a part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Prior to its construction, the site was home to Denny's Store, one of the first stores in Harrington to offer home delivery.

Harrington was the first city in Delaware to offer free rural mail delivery in 1898

U. S. Post Office

Built in 1886, the train station quickly became a hub of activity for the area. Once lighting and a kitchen were added, locals would stop in for a meal and meet and see those coming an going from the area.<br><br>One of these dinner meetings led to the founding of the Kent and Sussex Fair, which later became the Delaware State Fair and still exist today.<br><br>The exterior of the building has seen little change since it was constructed.<br><br>The interior has been changed over the decades but still has several features that are original to the station.

The Delaware Railroad came to Clarks Corner in the summer of 1853. The first station was no more than a barn. The second station was constructed in 1886 and later the railroad consolidated with the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroads. At its peak in the early 1940s, this station stood witness to as many as twelve passenger trains and twenty freight trains a day. Now serving as the district office for the Delmarva Central Railroad, a division of Carload Express, the station still retains its original look and stands as a silent reminder of the golden days of railroading in the United States.

Railroad Passenger Station

The first Trinity United Methodist church was built on Mechanic Street on land purchased from John Clymer and was dedicated on August 19, 1881. As the town grew, the small church was no longer large enough to hold the growing congregation. <br><br>On June 6, 1904, new property was purchased, and the new church was completed later that same year. A large pipe organ was added in 1924, and the Sapp Memorial Building was added in 1926.<br><br>The final addition was the community hall that can be seen in the color photo. Little else has changed inside or out of the original structure.<br>

Trinity Methodist Church had the same beginnings as many other churches in Harrington. The first services were held in the local school when the church organized in 1880. 

Trinity United Methodist Church

Several of the homes along Commerce Street date back to the late 1800s.<br><br>The home featured on the map was constructed in 1890 by Ora and Elva Sapp.<br><br>The Sapp family later placed the large window in Trinity United Methodist Church and the addition to the church in memory of their children.<br><br>Ora Sapp was one of the founders of the Kent &amp; Sussex Fair. as well as Vice President of Peoples Bank.<br><br>Other homes of the street have similar histories of the founding families of Harrington. Visit the Greater Harrington Historical Society for more information on these homes.

Residential Section of Commerce Street:
With the east side of the street still lined by the same trees that existed when the town was founded, the street is now home to some of Harrington’s largest homes. The block in the foreground of the street is home to Smith families and their relatives, building almost all the homes in the first block. Today these homes have changed little, and most have been or are currently undergoing restoration.

Victorian Homes of Commerce Street

Asbury Methodist Church has been added onto several times over the decades.<br><br><br>

The second Asbury Methodist Church in the area began as the first Sunday school in Harrington on March 30, 1853. However, the first church building was not constructed until 1870. It was rebuilt as seen in this picture in 1890. In 1915, the church had a beautiful pipe organ installed with the financial help of Andrew Carnegie.

Asbury United Methodist Church

<div>Sears, Roebuck and Company's Modern Homes program began in 1908 and ended in 1940. During those years, about 75,000 well-designed, well-constructed and economical houses were sold to American families. They ranged from pocket-sized English cottages to three-story, five-bedroom suburban manses; from lightly built garages and fishing camps to heavily framed houses that included two-story columned porticos, sleeping porches and porte-cocheres. Some of the earliest, marketed to areas without water or sewer services, had no bathrooms. Later, more lavish versions came equipped with the sought after amenities of the day, including built-in china cabinets, mirrored closet doors, dining nooks, kitchen cupboards, built-in ironing boards, telephone niches and medicine cabinets.</div><div><br></div><div>Customers would look through the Sears Modern Homes and Building Plans catalog, picked a dream home from dozens of models, sent a check and, a few weeks later, all the house parts arrived by rail. They included 10,000 pieces of framing lumber, 20,000 cedar shakes, screws, nails, paint and the endless other parts needed to build a house, including the doors, the doorknobs and the drawer pulls for the kitchen cabinets.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>The lumber came precut, along with instructions. Sears promised that, working without a carpenter and only rudimentary skills, a person could finish their Sears mail-order home in less than 90 days. Most customers, however, relied on local builders to put their house together. Sears even told you how much that should cost.</div><div><br></div><div>The price was right: In 1918, some of the most popular models, which included many bungalows and Foursquares, cost roughly $3,600 to $4,600. To make things even easier, in 1911 Sears, Roebuck and Company began to offer financing. Although the mortgage at first included only building materials, it soon expanded to cover the building lot.</div><div><br></div>

Precut Kit Home, Built in the 1910s: Precut homes were a trend starting in the early 1910s. Companies such as Sears and Aladdin Homes sold all the supplies needed to construct your home, except for masonry needs, directly to the consumer. Once ordered, the supplies would be loaded onto two train boxcars and delivered directly to the customer’s town for assembly. All the wood, down to the smallest details, were numbered, allowing for the owner to simply hammer them together. Still a residence today, this home shows little change from its original construction.

Prefabricated Victorian Home 

<div>With the increase in population, the need for a larger school in Harrington was evident. The first school was a small building constructed in 1863. In 1883, a Queen Anne–style school&nbsp; was constructed at a cost of $6,000 on Dorman Street near the current school&nbsp;In just five years’ time, the number of students grew from just</div><div>over 100 to 296</div><br>By 1910, the number of students had risen to such a high level that the current school had been outgrown, so the decision was made to borrow $25,000 to erect a new, modern school facility. The new building was a two-story structure designed to house 500 students and teachers. It included a laboratory and a nurse’s office, a first for a school in Harrington.Land was purchased and a new brick school housing first through twelfth grade was constructed on Dorman St., just a block away.&nbsp;<br><br>Within a few short years, this building too was in need of space, so one of the country one-room schoolhouses, Powell School, was brought to the site and served as the Home Economics classroom.&nbsp;<br><br>As the community continued to grow, the school’s need to house additional students rose as well. The class of 1913 was the first to graduate from the newly constructed Harrington High School.<div><br></div>

Harrington High School

In 1928, a wing built along side the brick school building that was constructed in 1910. It was designed to hold an additional 150 students and faculty was constructed. Above the door you can see the words "High School".

By 1956, another wing was again constructed to house the ever-growing student population. 
The final construction on this building occurred in 1963 when the original school structure that had been built in 1910 was razed in order to construct W. T. Chipman Junior High School. 

The last change to this entire complex occurred in 2008, when once again a new school, this time for the elementary grades, was opened.



Harrington High School

<div>Established in 1830, it is the oldest documented religious organization in Harrington and has been in practice continuously since that time.<br><br>The church was organized just 17 years after the founding of the AME movement by Richard Allen, a former slave and a Delaware resident before moving to Philadelphia. Pastor Allen successfully sued in 1807 and again in 1815 for the rights of the AME Church to exist independently.<br><br>The church building was nearly destroyed by fire in 1993, but it was repaired and serves to this day.</div>

St. Paul’s African Methodist Church was constructed in 1895 on land purchased from Henry C
Wolcott. It was the last of the 11 AME churches built in Kent County between 1867 and 1895.

Saint Paul AME Church

<div>Organized in early 1873 by a group of trustees headed by James Friends, it</div><div>purchased land to build the church, which was dedicated on October 8, 1893. The church was</div><div>extensively remodeled in the 1920s, and it remains virtually unchanged to this day.</div>

Metropolitan Methodist Episcopal Church in Harrington was the first African American church
founded in the area.

Metropolitan Methodist Episcopal Church

As the city opened up following the railroad coming to town in 1856, this hotel was built just across from the passenger station. Guests and their luggage would be transported by horse and wagon to the front door of the establishment.<br><br>When the property was sold, the hotel was divided into three homes and moved to Reese Avenue. The only existing home still shows the obvious connection to the left side of the hotel.<br><br>The other two homes were further down the street and later destroyed to expand Burris Foods Inc.<br><br>Where the hotel was originally located on Clark Street&nbsp;became home to Reese Theater.<br><br>Reese Harrington was the man that built the theaters. The first building opened on March 2, 1922. After a fire destroyed the building in 1943, the theater reopened to great fanfare on October 4, 1945. Harrington was known all over the East Coast as a visionary. He was the first to show a 3D movie in Delaware, constantly improving sound, movie screens, and the entire theater experience.<br>

The Delaware House Hotel was built in the 1850s by Levi Cain as a warehouse for the railroad. In 1861, it was made into a hotel by William Sapp and Thomas Dorman. The hotel was sold in the 1920s and moved to Reese Avenue, where it was made into three houses.

Delaware House Hotel

<div>Ezekiel Fleming was a man with a keen mind for business. Born in 1836, he quickly became one of the town’s wealthiest business leaders. At his zenith, he owned six mills producing flour, wagon wheels, lumber, and other goods of the day. Locals also called him a very generous man who paid his workers $1 per day, which at the time was above the average wage for this work.<br><br>His mills employed over 50 men at their peak of production. Fleming was also known to extend company store credit to his employees at the various merchants in town. They could purchase goods and have their debt paid out of their next paycheck. The Fleming Mansion still stands in town today and is slowly being restored. One of Fleming’s mills was located just yards away from his home.</div><div><br></div>Worried that his daughters would get their dresses dirty walking to and from the businesses, he constructed a wooden planked sidewalk just for them. Standing as stately today as it did in the 1860s, the current owners are slowly restoring the home.

The Fleming Mansion, Circa 1860: Still one of the largest homes ever built in Harrington, Ezekiel Fleming built this nineteen-room mansion in the 1860s after marrying Elizabeth Booth. Fleming’s lumber and flour mills were located on the properties next door. 

Fleming Mansion

<div>When the Kent and Sussex Fair was created, the decision was made to highlight the area’s rich</div><div>agricultural heritage. From its first days, youth would play a central role in the farm displays during the fair.<br><br><div>The fair board of directors contracted with Krause Greater Shows to provide rides, games, and entertainment for the patrons to enjoy. At the time, Krause was the leading traveling carnival show on the East Coast.<br><br><div>Harness racing became a staple of the Kent and Sussex Fair. Admission was charged for the races as well as for vaudeville stage acts added to the five-day event. With the proceeds from these events, the sale of stock certificates in the fair corporation, and other revenue sources, the fair continued to grow. In just five short years, it had become a week-long event.<br><br><div>As the fair grew in length, it also grew in size. Additional land was purchased and buildings</div><div>constructed to house other exhibits. A floral department, a boys and girls club department, and a poultry department were added, with premiums being paid to the prize winners in each category. The fair kept to its roots as first and foremost an exhibition of local agricultural products.<br><br><br><div>Beginning in 1921, two nights of auto racing were held on the harness track in front of the grandstands. Scores of people would come out for heat races and all the excitement leading up to the feature race. The Harrington Fire Company sponsored the auto races for decades, and for a while, the races were even sanctioned as point-earning events by NASCAR, increasing the number of drivers and cars entering.<br><br><div>By the 1950s, the fair had grown even larger. In 1950, an onsite water tower was constructed to meet the growing demands of vendors and patrons. A new grandstand was constructed in 1955 to allow for larger crowds to witness such acts as the world-famous Rockettes, the Lone Ranger, and Johnny Cash.<br><br><div>The midway of rides and games grew dramatically as well. The James E. Strates shows provided carnival rides and games of chance. When the midway first opened in 1920, there were only three rides, but by the 1950s, the midway was home to more than 30 amusement</div><div>rides, from small rides for the kids to larger and more exciting rides for adults.<br><br><div>By the mid-1950s, the fair was booming. Each year’s crowds set new records for attendance. Larger and more permanent structures replaced older ones. Some had been constructed by German prisoners of war, as the fairgrounds had housed prisoners in 1945 and 1946. During these years, no fair events occurred due to security reasons.<br><br>Today the fairgrounds have grown to over 300 acres and attendance figures routinely exceed 250,000 people a year.<br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>

January 12, 1920, was a date that not only affected the citizens of Harrington but has come to draw hundreds of thousands to the area each year. On this date, a group of local businessmen gathered to discuss the formation of a fair. The Kent and Sussex Fair Association was created, and the month of July in Harrington would never be the same.

In 2019 The Delaware State Fair will celebrate 100 years of fun!

Delaware State Fairgrounds, Harrington Raceway & Casino, The Centre Ice Rink

Hollywood Cemetery was founded in the 1880s and currently is the final resting place for almost 6000 people.<br><br>Over 60 Civil War veterans and almost 1000 total veterans are interred at the cemetery. Each year on Memorial Day the American Legion Post 7 of Harrington DE honors these men and women with a service.<br><br>In 2019 The Greater Harrington Historical Society began the Wreaths Across America Project, raising funds through sponsorship of wreaths to be placed during the month of December, Please see the museum website if you are interested in helping with this program.

Hollywood Cemetery was opened in the 1880s and was the first public cemetery in the Harrington area. Prior to that time burials occurred in family cemeteries or small graveyards attached to local churches.

Harrington Historical Tour

Railroad Switching Tower and Caboose

Introduction

Images

Sources

Additional Information