Брендивайн-Крик: История и Значение реки в Пенсильвании и Делавэре

Creek in Pennsylvania and Delaware, US

Brandywine Creek (also called the Brandywine River) is a tributary of the Christina River in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware in the United States. The Lower Brandywine (the main stem) is 20.4 mile (33 km) long and is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River with several tributary streams. The East Branch and West Branch of the creek originate within 2 miles (3 km) of each other on the slopes of Welsh Mountain in Honey Brook Township, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of their confluence. The mouth of the creek on the Christina River in present day Wilmington, Delaware, is the site of the New Sweden colony, where colonists first landed on March 29, 1638. The Battle of Brandywine was fought around the creek near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 1777, during the American Revolution. Water powered gristmills in Brandywine Village, near the creek mouth, and the nearby DuPont gunpowder mill were important in developing American industry before the introduction of steam power.

The Brandywine crosses the Fall Line just north of Wilmington. The elevation falls from about 160 feet (49 m) above sea level in Chadds Ford, to just a few feet above sea level in Wilmington. The steep descent powered many early industrial activities, including flour milling and the original DuPont gunpowder mills, while the navigable channel to the Delaware River and Delaware Bay allowed manufacturers to load ocean going ships from near their mills. By 1687, a Swedish colonist, Tyman Stidham opened the first mill on the Brandywine, near Wilmington. About 1735, Brandywine Village was founded across the creek from Wilmington. Quakers Elizabeth Levis Shipley, her husband William Shipley,
and Thomas Canby were important in establishing the village and its supporting flour mills. By 1743, a dam and a millrace south of the creek had been built. In 1760, a bridge was built at the current site of the Market Street Bridge, and the north race and two more flour mills were built by Joseph Tatnall. Oliver Evans in the 1780s helped local mills increase their efficiency, ushering in the industrial revolution. The first paper mill in Delaware, Gilpin's mill in north Wilmington, opened in 1787. This site was later used by one of the largest textile mills in the world, Bancroft Mills, which is now closed. In 1795, Jacob Broom built the first cotton mill on the Brandywine, a few miles north of the village, but it burned down two years later. In 1802, Broom sold the site, complete with a working dam and millrace, to Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, who paid $6,740 for the Gunpowder mills, known as the Eleutherian Mills, operated on the site from 1802, and by 1810, the site was the largest gunpowder producer in the country. During the Civil War alone, over 4 million barrels of gunpowder were produced here. The mills, which operated until 1921, are now part of the Hagley Museum and Library. By 1815, several toll roads connected the village with Pennsylvania's grain growing regions, including the Lancaster, Kennett and Concord Pikes. Milltown was the halfway point on the journey between Philadelphia and Lancaster, so several inns served travelers, including the Ship Inn (c. 1730), the King in Armes or Washington Inn (1761), the Half Way House (1790), and the Swan Hotel (1800). Coatesville on the west branch became famous for producing iron goods as early as 1810, and later, rolling steel plate. Lukens Steel Company has dominated the economy of the town since 1810; today, Cleveland Cliffs continues to make steel there.

These places near the Brandywine are on the National Register of Historic Places. Site Address Listed Fort Christina E. 7th Street, Wilmington, Delaware Near mouth of creek 1961, 1966 Old Swedes Church E. 7th Street at Church Street 1961, 1966 Dr. John A. Brown House 4 7th Ave 1966 Howard High School 13th Street at Poplar Street 1985 Brandywine Village North and east of Market Street Bridge 1971, 1976 Baynard Boulevard Historic District Baynard Blvd. between 18th St. and Concord Ave 1979 Brandywine Park North of Market Street Bridge to Augustine Bridge 1976 Old First Presbyterian Church of Wilmington West Street at Brandywine Park Drive 1972 Continental Army Encampment Site Lovering Avenue, near Broom Street 1972 Augustine Paper Mill N. Brandywine Park Dr. 1978 Bancroft Mills Rockford Road at the Brandywine 1984 Rockford Park West of Rockford Road, south of creek 1978 Brandywine Manufacturers Sunday School North of Wilmington on Hagley Rd. 1972 Eleutherian Mills Rt. 141 at Brandywine Creek Bridge 1966 Brandywine Powder Mills District Rt. 141 at the Brandywine 1984 Breck's Mill Area Breck's Lane and Creek Rd. 1971 Rockland Historic District Murphy Rd. near Creek Road, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 1979 Chadds Ford Historic District U. S. Route 1 at Creek Road, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 1971 Brandywine Battlefield U. S. Route 1 east of Brandywine Creek, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 1966 Brinton's Mill Creek Road, north of Chadds Ford 1971 Lenape Bridge Rt 52 at Creek Road, Lenape 1982 Gibson's Covered Bridge East Branch US 322 and Harmony Hill Rd, west of West Chester 1971 Downingtown Log House 15 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, Pennsylvania on East Branch Brandywine Creek 1979 Roger Hunt Mill Race Street, Downingtown, PA 1979 Embreeville Historic District West Branch Rt. 162 at Cannery Rd. 1985 Coatesville Historic District 1st–6th Streets and East Lincoln Highway at West Branch Brandywine Creek, Coatesville, Pennsylvania 1987 Brandywine Building and Loan Assoc. Rowhouses Hephzibah Hill Rd, Coatesville, PA

Several dams block passage to American shad (Alosa sapidissima) spawning runs which cannot access the Pennsylvania reaches of the river. The first of eight dams on Brandywine Creek was removed in 2019, enabling shad to migrate further up the river. The plan to remove all 8 dams is known as "Brandywine Shad 2020" and has been led by Professor Jerry Kauffman of the University of Delaware Water Resources Center.