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A Walking Tour of Smyrna, Delaware
In 1716 the seeds of a tiny village sprouted on the southern bank of Duck Creek, the crooked river that defines the boundary between Kent and New Castle counties, near the fork of Green’s Branch. It was known to its inhabitants as Duck Creek Crossroads. The hamlet grew up along the King’s Highway that ran north and south through the Colonies and soon it was a thriving community of merchant vessels.
Duck Creek Crossroads, so the story goes, almost became the State capital in 1792. When repairs were being made to the Courthouse at Dover the General Assembly was unceremoniously put out on the street and at the tavern of Thomas Hale in this town to the north proposed a resolution to make the move permanent. At the end of the session a calmer Assembly reapealed the resolution.
In 1806, the Delaware Assembly again butted into the town business with another change of far-reaching consequences, this time one that took. The name of the Town was changed to Smyrna, presumably after the chief seaport of western Asia.
By the 1850s the transport of grain, lumber, and peaches from the wharves at Smyrna Landing, a mile down the creek, made Smyrna the most important port between Wilmington and Lewes. The spectre of the new railroads threatened Smyrna’s prosperity and in 1855 a proposed line into Town was denied. Progress was inevitable and a branch line was run into Smyrna in 1861. Its decline as a shipping center was assured by then, however.
The next transportation marvel did Smyrna no favors, either. The DuPont Highway came through east of Town in 1923 leaving the businesses on Main Street, scarcely 100 yards from the highway, to go about their days in almost complete secrecy. But that road and its successor, Delaware 1, transformed Smyrna into a commuter town, 12 miles north of the State Capital of Dover and 30 miles south of the major business centers of Newark and Wilmington.
This walking tour will begin at the most striking building in Smyrna, the Opera House, one-time container of all public services, fire survivor and Town symbol...
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