History is revealing when it’s reliable and well researched. The challenge is knowing where to find it.
Organizing history for others to use is even more challenging.
Sharing that history is the reward for these efforts.
-Gene
Historian
I’ve always wanted to know more about the history of places where I’ve lived, worked and gone to getaway. In too many cases, the story wasn’t easy to find and required long hours of research and detective work to connect newspapers articles, paragraphs from books and photographs in a library or archive. Those efforts have resulted in manuscripts, publications, and lectures that I’ve created to help others understand how land use evolved in the Delaware Valley, especially in the 19th and 20thCenturies. Among the topics of special interest that I have researched are:
- The early architecture and customs of the Brandywine Springs mineral springs resort in Wilmington, Delaware, which began in 1827. It later became a popular amusement park ,then abandoned woods and now a successful county park. My publications and lectures digitally unearthed the original hotel, nearby landmarks, and their precise locations.
- The dairy farms of the Brandywine Hundred in northern Delaware and their transition from openland to neighborhoods, supporting businesses, schools, and parks. Areas of interest included what are now the neighborhoods of Westwood Manor, Forwood, Sharpley, Woodbrook, Eden Ridge and Tavistock. In particular, the lands of the Forwood family sparked several controversial development plans that led to abandoned properties, the demolition of an historic school building, and the conversion of open green space to retail shopping and housing.
- The creation of the Flats neighborhood and East Side row homes in the City of Wilmington by William Bancroft. The Flats were one of the first affordable living developments in the United States and continue to be a success story managed by Bancroft’s Woodlawn Trustees, Inc.
- The story of industrialist William Bancroft and his ideas on thoughtful development of farmland north of the Brandywine River in Delaware and Pennsylvania. His founding of Woodlawn Trustees resulted in the creation of state and national parks as well as a planned mix of residential neighborhoods, retail businesses, churches and community centers.
After retiring from W. L. Gore and Associates, I worked as a private archivist for a family who started up a successful and respected global company. That work led me to joining the staff at Hagley Museum and Library to launch a new venture called Hagley Heritage Curators, an initiative to help companies and trade associations preserve and research their history. While at Hagley, I became familiar with the extensive archives of the Bancroft Textile Mills and developed a series of lectures about them for the University of Delaware’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
I also had the opportunity to work with the archive collections and records of Wawa Food Markets, about whom I wrote a series of articles on their evolution from a dairy farm to a successful network of fast-food markets.
I’m currently the historian and archivist for Woodlawn Trustees, Inc., founded through the philanthropy of William Bancroft to carry out his work of thoughtful development and affordable housing in northern Delaware.
Publications and Written Histories
Wilmington: Preservation and Progress
- The architecture of the original mineral springs resort at Brandywine Springs in Wilmington, Delaware
- The history of the Council Oak at the Brandywine Springs Resort and Amusement Park:
- The transformation of Brandywine Springs into one of Delaware’s first state parks:
- The history of the Westwood Manor neighborhood in north Wilmington and the legacy of builder James Conley:
- The history of Allenville, a small farm in north Wilmington descended from the Forwood family, that fell into controversy when efforts were made to develop it as an apartment complex. It is being renovated into the Forwood Preserve County Park:
- The demolition of the Forwood School, one of north Wilmington’s first schoolhouses, and the controversial conversion of the property by the Forwood family for housing and retail:
- A series of histories of Wawa Food Markets and their evolution from a dairy farm to a major convenience store network. Written for the library newsletter published by Hagley Museum and Library in Delaware:
- The history of return on investment (ROI), a financial metric developed by the DuPont Company in 1914, and the story of the elaborate chart room that they created for presenting and tracking the ROI of their businesses:
- The history of the Flats neighborhood in Wilmington, Delaware, one of the country’s first affordable living communities. The Flats was the inspiration of William P. Bancroft, who was a visionary in controlled development and preservation of park land. Written for the library newsletter published by Hagley Museum and Library in Delaware:
- An in-depth history of the Flats neighborhood developed for Delaware’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the Delaware State Housing Authority which documents the creation of the Flats by William P. Bancroft, its unique architecture and the cultural landscape around it. The Flats began a ten year renovation starting in 2015 in which most of the original units were replaced with modern designs. This document was used to create three historic storyboards in the Flats that tell the story of William Bancroft and his idea for affordable housing:
- The history of the Sharpley neighborhood in Wilmington, Delaware:
- An online lecture on YouTube that I presented about the history of the Flats and William Bancroft, recorded at the 2022 annual conference of Preservation Delaware, Inc:
- A lecture on the history of the Bancroft textile mills and the Bancroft family given at the Delaware Art Museum as part of a symposium on the philanthropy of William and Samuel Bancroft:
- William Bancroft’s contributions to education and libraries in the City of Wilmington. This paper was used to develop a section of the history wall in the new Maurice A. Pritchett Sr. Academy, which opened in August 2024 and replaced the 100 year old William P. Bancroft School:
This book takes you on an architectural walking tour of Wilmington, Delaware that begins in the 1980s and concludes nearly thirty years later.
Wilmington had been a city bursting with optimism, anxious to reinvent itself from a 19th century manufacturing capital into a 20th century financial center. Progress had its challenges but much of the dream was eventually realized. Although many of the buildings from that era met the wrecking ball and were replaced with modern office towers, others survived with tasteful preservation.
Revisit Wilmington’s architectural heritage through original photographs taken by the me. This book is an attractive “then and now” work featuring black and white images from the past paired with color images of the present. Carefully researched vignettes about each location make this book an addition to your Delaware history collection and a nostalgic conversation piece for friends and family.
Photographer
Find more of my photos and videos on Flickr and YouTube:
About
Gene Castellano is an avid researcher of Delaware history and a former trustee of the Delaware Historical Society and Preservation Delaware, Inc. He has authored several papers and given lectures on:
- Delaware’s lost mineral springs resort at Brandywine Springs in Wilmington
- The Bancroft textile mills in Wilmington, Delaware
- William P. Bancroft and the Woodlawn Trustees
- The history of American tourism and the influence of World Fairs on its development, especially the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia
In 2013, Gene authored the book Wilmington: Preservation and Progress, a study of 20th-century architectural changes in the City of Wilmington’s business district. The book presents the city’s history through original “then and now” photographs taken by him.
Gene graduated from Villanova University in 1973 with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree. He also holds a Master of Arts degree, a Certification in Museum Studies, and a Certification in Historic Preservation from the University of Delaware. While completing his museum studies degree, he interned at Hagley Museum and Library as a digitization specialist for their art collection.
During his business career, he held positions in product development, finance, and leadership with the DuPont Company and W. L. Gore and Associates, Inc. In 2008, when W. L. Gore and Associates turned fifty years old, he led the creation of Gore’s history archive. As the leader of their Capabilities Center in Newark, Delaware, he led a team that developed hands-on exhibits of the company’s products and technologies.
Gene retired from Gore in 2013 and now works as an archivist and business history consultant. In 2016, he joined the staff of Hagley Museum and Library to start Hagley Heritage Curators, an initiative to help companies and trade associations preserve and research their history. He is currently a contract archivist and historian for the Woodlawn Trustees, Inc., an organization created by the Bancroft Family to preserve and responsibly develop land in northern Delaware.
Gene serves on the board of the Siegel Jewish Community Center and co-chairs the Facilities Management Board of the Jewish Federation. He is also on the board of the Conservation Center of Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia.
He and his wife, Jane, live in Wilmington, Delaware.
Contact Gene at [email protected] or on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gene-n-castellano/