Hockessin
Hockessin is an unincorporated community located in New Castle County, Delaware, with a history stretching back to 1688, when several families first settled in the area and established what would grow into a small but historically significant village.[1] Far from being a sleepy backwater, Hockessin played meaningful roles in colonial American history, the American Revolution, and the Underground Railroad, and it retains numerous historic structures that speak to its layered past. Today, the community is home to longstanding institutions, dedicated preservation efforts, and a local historical society that works to keep its heritage accessible to residents and visitors alike.
Early Settlement and Colonial Origins
Hockessin's origins as an organized settlement date to 1688, when the first families arrived in the area and put down roots in what was then the frontier of European settlement in the Delaware Valley.[2] The community grew gradually over the following decades, developing into a small but active village along key trade and travel corridors in northern Delaware.
One of the earliest and most enduring structures associated with Hockessin's colonial period is a farmstead that has stood along Old Wilmington Road for nearly 300 years. The farmstead's identity and historical significance remained largely obscured for much of its existence, but more recently its history has been made available for public recognition.[3] Such structures serve as tangible reminders of the community's deep colonial roots and provide context for the broader history of New Castle County.
The area's position along busy trade routes connecting Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to Newport, Delaware made it a natural gathering point for travelers, merchants, and settlers moving through the mid-Atlantic region. This geographic situation would prove consequential throughout the community's history, drawing both commerce and conflict to its doorstep.
Revolutionary War Significance
Hockessin's importance during the era of the American Revolution has come into sharper focus in recent years. Historians have identified a location within the community as possibly the last rallying point of British command during a critical moment in the conflict, when roughly 18,000 British soldiers were reportedly in the vicinity.[4] The significance of this designation adds Hockessin to the broader geography of the Revolutionary War in the Delaware and Pennsylvania region, a theater of conflict that is sometimes overshadowed by more famous engagements in other states.
The presence of such a large British force in the area underscores the strategic value of northern Delaware's road networks and the farmland that supported military operations during the war. The identification of specific sites within Hockessin as places of historical military activity helps preserve that record for future generations.
Tweed's Tavern
Among the most notable surviving historic structures in Hockessin is Tweed's Tavern, a two-story log building that dates to 1790. Originally known as the "Mudfort," the structure measures 21 feet by 27 feet and is listed in a colonial-era tax assessment as a large building that included a cookery, barn, and stables.[5]
In 1802, the building was sold to John Tweed, whose family owned it until 1831, when tavern operations ceased.[6] During its years as a functioning tavern, the building attracted travelers moving along the busy trade route between Lancaster County and Newport, Delaware, and it would have been a familiar landmark to those passing through the region during the era when George Washington served as President of the United States.
For much of the late 1800s, the Thomas Baldwin family owned the property. Ownership changed several more times before Alfred Giacomelli purchased the building in 1930; his family retained it until 1989. Recognizing the structure's historical importance, the State of Delaware acquired it in 1999. Preservation Delaware, operating under the guidance of the Hockessin Historical Society, took formal ownership of Tweed's Tavern in 2000.[7]
The tavern was originally situated at the northwestern corner of Limestone Road (Delaware Route 7) and Valley Road. It was later relocated to a site just off Valley Road, near the Hockessin Athletic Club. Although many of the walls and floorboards have been reconstructed over the years, some original materials remain, including logs more than two centuries old. The relocation process itself had a lasting institutional legacy: the community effort involved in moving and preserving the building prompted local residents to form the Hockessin Historical Society, which continues to maintain the tavern and advocate for historic preservation in the region today.[8]
Religious History
Hockessin is also home to a place of worship whose origins predate American independence by nearly four decades. The congregation began its life 38 years before the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, placing its founding around 1738.[9] This makes it one of the older continuously existing religious communities in northern Delaware, and the building associated with it stands as a physical link to the community's pre-Revolutionary past.
The longevity of this institution reflects the broader character of Hockessin as a place where community organizations have tended to endure across generations, maintaining connections to the past even as the surrounding landscape has changed.
The Underground Railroad
among the most historically significant aspects of Hockessin's past is its role in the Underground Railroad, the network of routes and safe houses that helped enslaved people escape to freedom in the decades before the American Civil War. According to Hockessin Historical Society vice president Darleen Amobi, "Hockessin was one of the main sites for the Underground Railroad in the north."[10]
Thomas Garrett, a prominent Quaker abolitionist based in Wilmington, Delaware, is identified as having assisted many people escaping enslavement who passed through the Hockessin area.[11] Garrett is among the most well-documented conductors of the Underground Railroad in American history, and his association with Hockessin places the community within a significant chapter of the national story of abolition and resistance to slavery.
The fact that this aspect of Hockessin's history remained unknown to many people for a long time speaks to a broader pattern of underdocumented African American history in small communities throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Ongoing preservation and educational efforts by organizations such as the Hockessin Historical Society have worked to bring this history to wider public attention.
Education and Community Infrastructure
Hockessin's landscape also retains structures associated with its educational history. Several buildings that served to educate young people in the late nineteenth and into the early twentieth century remain standing in the area, adding another layer to the community's physical historical record.[12] Hockessin Elementary School is among the educational institutions with deep roots in the community, having served local students for generations.
The Hockessin Historical Society
The Hockessin Historical Society serves as the primary institutional steward of the community's historic resources. The society was founded as a direct outgrowth of the effort to preserve and relocate Tweed's Tavern, a project that galvanized local residents around the cause of historic preservation.[13]
The society maintains Tweed's Tavern and offers tours of the facility, providing visitors with direct access to one of the region's best-preserved examples of late eighteenth-century vernacular architecture. The society also works to document and publicize the broader history of Hockessin, including its connections to the Underground Railroad, the American Revolution, and colonial settlement.
Among the community members recognized by the society is Joseph Lake, a native of Hockessin born on June 28, 1941, son of Joseph R. Lake, Sr. and Bettie Lake. Joe Lake attended local schools including Hockessin Elementary before going on to contribute to the community in ways that the society has seen fit to memorialize.[14] The society's remembrance of local individuals like Lake reflects its commitment to preserving not only the built environment but also the human stories that give that environment meaning.
Historic Farmsteads and Landscape
The rural character of Hockessin's landscape has allowed a number of historic farmsteads to survive into the present day. One such property along Old Wilmington Road has stood for nearly 300 years, and only in recent years has its full historical identity been made publicly accessible through signage and documentation.[15] The recognition of such properties helps establish the physical continuity between Hockessin's present landscape and its origins as a colonial settlement.
These farmsteads also speak to the agricultural economy that sustained Hockessin for much of its history. The fertile land of northern Delaware, combined with the community's access to trade routes, made it an attractive destination for farming families in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the legacy of that agricultural past can still be read in the landscape today.