Visit Winterthur Museum and Hagley Museum in Wilmington, DE

If you are looking for a beautiful place to visit this summer or even in the winter, Wilmington Delaware is the place to go; history is everywhere you look. There are two museums you just have to visit the Winterthur Museum, which was the home of Henry (Harry) Francis du Pont and the Hagley Museum, which was the home of Eleuthere de Pont and the starting of his gunpowder business.

Here is a little history behind these two great men that you just won't want to miss!

Winterthur Museum, Wilmington DE
By any measure, Henry Francis du Pont, who was graduated from Harvard in 1903, seemed destined for mediocrity. Harry, as people called him, did poorly at his studies, showed no interest in the du Pont chemical business or in Delaware politics, and indeed had little penchant for any of the real-world enterprises that animated other members of the family. Mostly, he liked to putter around the house and, as he put it, to "farm."

The place where Harry liked to do these things was a kingdom of 2,400 acres with a staff numbering in the hundreds, 23 miles of roads, and its own post office and railroad station, called Winterthur, this choice piece of Delaware real estate had been in the family since 1837.

Harry's father, perhaps concerned that his only son was headed for a life of indolence, made him manager of Winterthur in 1915, when he was 35. Almost overnight, Harry changed from a man with no particular goal in life to one possessed with a mission, to make his family home nothing less than the finest country house in America.

Winterthur's new manager started with the gardens, an area of interest that ran deep in all the du Ponts. Harry's sister, Louise, recalled that their father insisted on his children becoming knowledgeable horticulturists. Taking them for walks, he would quiz them on what they saw, and "if we didn't know the flowers and plants by their botanical names, we were sent to bed without our supper."

Harry became an avid collector of plants, particularly of new and unusual specimens, traveling far and wide to bring home the best. Also, his knowledge of and instinct for landscape design, and the perfectionism he brought to the planting and pruning of every tree, shrub, and flower in the 200 acres of gardens, gradually gained him international renown as a horticulturist.

Du Pont's interest in American antiques developed somewhat later, but once established, it became his number one passion. He began to collect not only furniture but also entire rooms of historical significance, often rescuing fine paneling, staircases, mantels, and stenciled or papered walls from houses that were due for demolition.

To increase the amount of space for this growing treasure, Harry began an extensive building program. Employing some 500 workmen, he more that doubled the size of the original chateau in a two-year period. And he gradually removed the du Pont family's French, Italian, and English furnishings, as choice selections from workshops in Newport, Philadelphia, Boston and Charleston took their place.

Beginning in the 1920's, with the help of some of the best curators in the country, du Pont collected more than 70,000 objects, including textiles, paintings, pewter, silver, ceramics, glass, and needlework. Installed in 196 period room settings, they portray American taste from 1640 to 1840, from early Dutch and English styles to neoclassic and Gothic revival.

By 1951 Harry du Pont thought his masterpiece was ready for presentation to the public. Moving to a smaller house on the property, he turned Winterthur over to an endowed foundation that has since operated it as a public trust. More than 300,000 people visit annually. Many are repeaters, who take added joy in seeing the gardens change with the seasons.

Hagley Museum, Wilmington DE
When Eleuthere de Pont left France in 1799, a political refugee, he had behind him several years of service as a chemist in the French royal powder works. It was only natural, when he found the gunpowder in his adopted country to be poor at best, that he saw an opportunity.

His father's backing, du Pont searched for a suitable place to establish a gunpowder business and found the banks of Brandywine Creek to his liking. In 1802 he bought an old cotton mill just above Wilmington and began building the Hagley powder mills, along with a fine Georgian-style house that he called Eleutherian Mills.

By 1804 du Pont was ready to market his black powder, and within a year his company, which now employed numbers of relatives, was turning a substantial profit. Business improved with each succeeding decade, as the works became the nation's prime supplier of gunpowder and construction explosives. Diversification and obsolescence caused the du Ponts to move their business elsewhere in 1921. But a fifth generation of du Ponts occupied the family mansion until 1958, when the entire property was bequeathed to a foundation.

The Hagley Yards, now an indoor-outdoor museum, contain fascinating exhibits, dioramas, and demonstrations of powder making and other 19th century industries. Included are grist milling, tanning, iron and steel production, textile and paper manufacturing, and tool making. Equally interesting are the furnished cottage, school, and shops, once used by du Pont employees, which give visitors a sense of the workers' lifestyle.

Upstream from the powder works is Eleutherian Mills. Small as du Pont houses go, it underwent many structural changes over the years, as a result of mill explosions. And its choice antique furnishings reflect the tastes of many du Pont generations. A carriage barn, cooper's workshop, and E.I. du Pont's lovely garden and tidy office are also on view. In its entirety the Hagley Museum is an example of the great American dream, preserved as inspiration for generations to come.