Newark (Delaware)

Newark (pronounced NEW-ark) is a city in New Castle County in the northern part of the state of Delaware. Home to the University of Delaware, it is located 8 miles (13 km) west-southwest of Wilmington and 28 miles (45 km) southwest of Philadelphia. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 30,601, and it constitutes part of the Delaware Valley and the Philadelphia metropolitan area. One of Delaware's most storied municipalities, Newark draws its identity from a deep colonial heritage, a celebrated research university, and a geographic position at the crossroads of three states.

History

Colonial Origins

Newark arose from the crossroads of two Lenni Lenape Indian trails which spanned the peninsula between the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River, and connected the lower peninsula with the northern hills of later-day Pennsylvania. As Europeans — mainly English, Welsh, and Scots-Irish — came to the area in the early eighteenth century, the same intersecting crossroads gradually matured into a village, with brickyards, mills, and tanneries developing in the vicinity.

Settled in the early eighteenth century, Newark was a thriving market town and a stop for travelers between the Chesapeake Bay and Philadelphia when, in 1758, it received a colonial Charter from King George II. Newark received a license from King George II to hold semi-annual fairs and weekly markets for agricultural exchange in 1758. In time, the area began to serve travelers en route from the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia and Maryland to colonial Philadelphia. The streams flowed with sufficient velocity to power the grist and sawmills that soon dotted their banks. Rich soil meant wheat, corn and vegetables were plentiful, and the available ore from nearby Iron Hill fed the forges of a small country iron works.

Newark was incorporated as a town in 1887 and elevated to city status in 1951. In 1951, legislation was enacted which changed the name of the "Town of Newark" to the "City of Newark," establishing a new Charter. In 1965, the State of Delaware granted the present Charter to Newark, significantly strengthening the Council-Manager form of government.

The American Revolution

Newark played a notable, if indirect, role in the American Revolutionary War. The Battle of Cooch's Bridge, also known as the Battle of Iron Hill, was fought on September 3, 1777, between the Continental Army and American militia and primarily German soldiers serving alongside the British Army. It was the only significant military action during the war on the soil of Delaware, and it took place about a week before the major Battle of Brandywine. The battle marked the start of the British army's Philadelphia campaign — a monthlong drive of British and Hessian troops that began in Elkton, Maryland, and proceeded north through Hockessin and on to the Battle of the Brandywine in Chadds Ford on September 11.

Defending the area was a newly formed light infantry corps of about 800 men, led by Brigadier General William Maxwell of New Jersey. Outnumbered by roughly two to one, Maxwell's unit could not stop the British advance, but it did slow down the enemy. Some traditions claim this as the first battle in which the U.S. flag was flown. Historians and flag scholars remain divided on this point; other sources claim that the first time the Stars and Stripes flew in battle was at the Battle of the Brandywine. Most flag scholars would say that the American flag did not receive a confirmed usage until the 1820s, but it remains an important part of the Cooch's Bridge historiography.

Nineteenth Century Development

A paper mill, the first sizable industrial venture in Newark, was created around 1798. This mill, eventually known as the Curtis Paper Mill, was the oldest paper mill in the United States until its closing in 1997. Methodists built the first church in 1812, and the railroad arrived in 1837.

Industrial concerns like the Curtis Paper Company, reestablished in 1848 from the older Meteer Paper Company, Continental Fiber (1896), and National Vulcanized Fibre (1924) helped diversify the local economy. In 1855, the town's first bank was established. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad — the predecessor of the modern CSX rail system — came in 1886 and provided additional passenger and freight rail service to Philadelphia and points west and south. The town's population grew rapidly through the 1920s, and a substantial retail market developed in conjunction with University and industrial expansion.

Twentieth Century Growth

While the Great Depression slowed economic growth, the pace of industrial and commercial development increased dramatically during World War II and the subsequent Korean conflict. Several DuPont facilities opened in the 1940s and, in 1951, the Chrysler Corporation constructed its Newark Assembly Plant. One of Newark's major sources of employment and revenue was the Chrysler Newark Assembly Plant. Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley worked as an assembly-line worker at the plant during his short stint in Delaware in the 1960s. Originally constructed to build tanks for the US Army, the plant was 3.4 million square feet in size. The plant was closed in late 2008 due to the recession and limited demand for larger cars.

Geography

Newark is located directly east of the Maryland state line, adjacent to the unincorporated community of Fair Hill, and is less than one mile south of the tripoint where Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania meet, known as The Wedge. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.19 square miles (23.8 km²), all land.

Originally surrounded by farmland, Newark is now surrounded by housing developments in some directions, although farmland remains just over the state lines in Maryland and Pennsylvania. To the north and west are small hills, but south and east of the city, the land is flat — part of Newark falls in the Piedmont geological region, and part of the city is in the Coastal Plain geological region, as is the majority of the land in the State of Delaware.

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Newark has a humid subtropical climate (abbreviated Cfa on climate maps). Summers are hot and humid, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms. Winters are moderate-to-cold, with occasional snow in December, January, and February. Newark averages more than 220 frost-free days.

Newark is surrounded by extensive public green space. Although it is situated not far from two major metropolitan areas — Philadelphia to the north and Baltimore to the south — Newark is surrounded by 12,000 acres of public parkland, including Iron Hill Park, White Clay Creek State Park, and the Middle Run Valley Natural Area, which provide opportunities for hiking, mountain biking and even horseback riding through forests, fields and rolling hills.

The University of Delaware

No institution has shaped Newark more fundamentally than the University of Delaware. The University of Delaware (UD) is a privately governed, state-assisted land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware. The University of Delaware traces its origins to 1743, when Presbyterian minister Francis Alison opened a "Free School" in his home in New London, Pennsylvania. In 1765, a small preparatory and grammar school had moved from New London, Pennsylvania, to Newark.

The New London Academy, begun in 1743 by the Reverend Francis Alison in nearby New London, Pennsylvania, had a significant impact on American history, as three of its graduates — George Read, Thomas McKean, and James Smith — would subsequently sign the Declaration of Independence.

In 1833, the State of Delaware — recognizing the need for local higher education — granted a charter to a new institution in the town, Newark College, later renamed Delaware College. The next year, the college merged with the academy and shortly thereafter the grammar and preparatory portion of the school was closed. The college itself shut its doors in 1858 as a result of a student fracas and the coming of the Civil War. When Delaware College reopened in 1870 it had become a land grant institution assisted with federal funds.

In 1914, the Women's College, physically adjacent and linked administratively to the male school, began operations. The two institutions were not formally combined until 1944. Prior to that, in 1921, the male college received a revised state charter and a new name — the University of Delaware.

UD today offers 4 associate programs, 163 bachelor's programs, 136 master's programs, and 64 doctoral programs across its ten colleges and schools. The university has developed the 272-acre Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus, which is the home of UD's College of Health Sciences, including teaching and research laboratories and several public health clinics. The University of Delaware was the first American university to begin a formal, for-credit study-abroad program, which was later adopted by many other institutions.

Economy and Downtown

The most common employment sectors for those who live in Newark are Educational Services (3,238 people), Retail Trade (1,449 people), and Accommodation & Food Services (1,243 people). The city's economy is tightly linked to the presence of the University, and the relationship between the two institutions — municipal and academic — has at times been the subject of civic debate. Mayor Travis McDermott has acknowledged that "Newark has long carried the cost of being home to a major university."

By the late 1990s and through the early years of the new millennium, Newark renewed its commitment to preserving its downtown core through the establishment, in 1998, of the tripartite — city, university, business community — Downtown Newark Partnership. The city's downtown and historic building incentive programs led to renewed landowner and developer commitments downtown exemplified by the construction of Main Street Court, Center Square, Main Street Plaza and Pomeroy Station. These projects all included first-floor commercial space with upper-floor apartments, intended to help meet the need for housing downtown, while at the same time increasing the available mix of quality retail square footage.

Newark also serves as a regional hub beyond its city limits. Newark plays a role as an industrial, commercial, and service hub for New Castle County and nearby counties in Pennsylvania and Maryland, in addition to its status as the state's principal home for higher education.

Transportation

Newark Rail Station is serviced by SEPTA and Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor. Norfolk Southern provides freight service and operates the Newark Yard. CSX passes along the Philadelphia Subdivision line. DART First State and DART Connect provide bus service through the Newark Transit Hub. The closest airport is Wilmington Airport in New Castle County. The City of Newark Electric Department provides electricity within the city limits.

Culture and Landmarks

Newark has produced notable figures and landmarks that reflect its long history. Harry Coover was born in Newark but later moved to New York, where he received advanced degrees in organic chemistry from Cornell University. He worked for the Eastman Kodak Company. Most people do not know his name, but people around the world know his invention: Eastman 910, better known as Super Glue.

Newark is a recognized center of US and international figure skating, mostly due to the many national, world, and Olympic champions that have trained at the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club and at The Pond Ice Rink.

Several of Newark's buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Bank of Newark is a three-story brick structure built in a restrained Greek Revival style in 1845. It was added to the National Register in 1983, as was the Rhodes Pharmacy, which is a two-story Gothic Revival style structure built in 1917. The 1877 Pennsylvania Railroad Station on South College Avenue in Newark is home to the Newark Historical Society's History Museum.

Rock musician George Thorogood is well known to University of Delaware students; he played some of his first shows at the University's Rathskeller bar and the nearby historic Deer Park Tavern.