Wilmington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It lies at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. The population
was 70,898 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley metropolitan area.
First Peoples & First Mentions
The area now known as Wilmington was settled by the Lenape (or Delaware Indian) band led by Sachem (Chief) Mattahorn just before Henry Hudson sailed up the Len-api Hanna (translated as "People Like Me River," now known as the Delaware River) in 1609. The area was called "Maax-waas Unk" or "Bear Place" after the Maax-waas Hanna (Bear River) that flowed by (present Christina River).
Explorers, Missions & Colonial Outposts
Wilmington was founded by Swedish settlers in 1638 as Christinaham or spelled Kristinehamn, which was planned to be the capital of New Sweden. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, which was the first Swedish settlement in North America. Control of the area shifted before it was formally incorporated within the Delaware Colony as Wilmington in 1739, named after Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington.
From Empire to Nation: Transfers of Rule
Although during the American Revolutionary War only one small battle was fought in Delaware, British troops occupied Wilmington shortly after the nearby Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777. The British remained in the town until they vacated Philadelphia in 1778. The greatest growth in the city occurred during the Civil War. Delaware, though officially remaining a member of the Union, was a border state and divided in its support of both the Confederate and the Union causes.
Rails, Roads & River Landings: Corridors That Sited Wilmington
In the 1980s, job growth and office construction were spurred by the arrival of national banks and financial institutions in the wake of the 1981 Financial Center Development Act, which liberalized the laws governing banks operating within the state, and similar laws in 1986. Today, many national and international banks, including Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, and Barclays, have operations in the city, typically credit card operations.
