RAE TYSON

DELMARVA MEDIA GROUP CORRESPONDENT

Roughly 100 years ago, teams of mule-drawn wagons were used to help cut a 200-foot wide swath through the woods and fields of sparsely populated southern Delaware.

Starting at the Maryland-Delaware line, men and mules eventually carved a dirt path that stretched all the way from Selbyville to a point beyond Georgetown, stopping about 6 miles south of Milford.

But this was no ordinary land-clearing exercise.

Indeed, that swath of farmland and wilderness was the foundation for what was the first segment of a soon-to-be historic two-lane ribbon of concrete known as the DuPont Highway.

And it was a precedent-setting effort on several levels, catapulting the First State into the forefront of roadway construction and innovation nationwide.

BACKGROUND: More on the idea behind du Pont's highway

"It may well be the first highway in the world, and certainly in the United States, to become a legend before it was ever built," said the Historical Society of Delaware in 1974.

Though there were multiple reasons why the highway was legendary, atop the list is the fact that T. Coleman du Pont, a philanthropist and industrialist from Delaware's most prominent family, offered to build the entire 97-mile roadway at no cost to the state or its inhabitants.

And his rationale was typical of the other philanthropic projects undertaken by the du Pont family. He thought the highway would be an economic boost for Sussex County, a region that struggled in comparison to the rest of the state.

Overall, his plan was met with acceptance, with a notable exception.

"Public reaction was generally favorable; the proposed gift of a modern highway was especially appealing to a state whose highway network was notoriously poor," the historical society synopsis said.

"At the time, only about 8 percent of Delaware's roads could be rated as 'improved' ... and in bad weather, Kent and Sussex counties were virtually isolated," the historical summary noted.

But, ironically, opposition to the new road came from Sussex County — the very region that du Pont was trying to help.

"By a quirk of human perversity, most of the opposition came from the section of Delaware that needed it the most," the historical society said.

And that opposition, specifically, came from "downstate farmers who disliked the prospect of having their land subject to condemnation by a private corporation. Plus there was the suspicion that the sponsor must have some scheme in mind for personal profit," the society said.

"They were suspicious of his motives," said Andrew Engel, strategic initiatives manager at the Hagley Museum and Library. "This is ironic of course, because these are the exact people to which du Pont was trying to bring increased economic opportunity and prosperity."

But that suspicion turned out to be unfounded because du Pont, after spending over $4 million of his own money, turned the project over to the state.

"There is no reason to believe that Coleman du Pont had any ulterior motive as his opponents allege," the historical society said in its treatise on the highway.

Eventually, the highway turned out to be an economic bonanza for farmers, businesses and towns along its entire route.

"Economically, it brought many new opportunities," said Russ McCabe, former state archivist. "It also changed agriculture in southern Delaware forever."

And, that, apparently, was du Pont's primary motive.

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Writing after construction had commenced, du Pont observed: "What better public improvement could I make than a modern highway and boulevard?"

After contemplating and rejecting other philanthropic possibilities, "I considered that the farmer and all the citizens would benefit more by a roadway the length of the state," he wrote.

Once work began in 1911, the first segment between Selbyville and Georgetown was opened in 1917. The northern stretch was completed to the northern New Castle County border in 1923.

The two-lane concrete roadway later became known as Route 13 along the northern segment and 113 to the south.

When the entire DuPont Highway was completed from border to border, by all accounts its impact was immediate and widespread — even beyond Sussex County.

Coleman du Pont died seven years after his namesake road was completed.

"On so many levels, that highway had a significant impact on the entire state," said McCabe.

"When it was finished in 1923, nothing in southern Delaware would ever be the same," said Dan Parsons, Sussex County historic preservation planner.

Despite initial opposition, the communities south of Dover ultimately benefited because the highway provided easier access to boost tourism.

And agriculture in Sussex County was a big beneficiary because the highway provided easier access to population centers in Philadelphia and New York so fruit and vegetable crops and chickens could be sold to larger markets.

"Without the highway, we would not have the large scale farming and tourist industries we have today," said Parsons.

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Perhaps the strongest testament to its impact was this: No sooner had the two-lane road been built at a cost approaching $4 million when the state made plans to widen it to four lanes.

"The DuPont Highway, even in its limited dimensions, was so successful as a traffic artery that it quickly became congested," the historical society said.

By the early 1930s, the highway had been divided and expanded to four lanes all the way from Wilmington to Dover and eventually all the way to the Maryland line.

Bragging a little, the state called it "the best roadway in the world at that time."

And McCabe, a Delaware native, remembers how the DuPont Highway influenced his Sussex County family's shopping habits.

"Even when I was a boy, we did all of our Christmas shopping in Wilmington," he said.

Now, of course, Delaware has improved a number of other roadways and a reconfigured Route 1 has siphoned some of the personal and commercial traffic from the DuPont Highway.

Even so, even 100 years later, people are still amazed at the impact that highway had on all three Delaware counties.

"It ended up being such an awesome improvement on so many levels," McCabe said.

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