BGuthrie Photos: DE -- Wilmington -- Hagley Museum and Library -- Museums

DE -- Wilmington -- Hagley Museum and Library -- Museums:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. HAGLEM_080112_012.JPG: They had a map display showing the stream and all of the mills that were built on it.
2. HAGLEM_080112_036.JPG: Oliver Canby, a Quaker from Burke County, Pennsylvania, settled in Wilmington in 1740 and by 1742 had built the first mill on consequence on the lower Brandywine. Other Quaker millers, such as Thomas Shipley, Joseph Tatnall and Thomas Lea built mills near Canby's, transforming the tidal basin of Brandywine Creek into an important mill center. Here at the close of the 18th century were fourteen merchant mills capable of grinding 500,000 bushels of wheat a year. During the Revolution, the Confederation and the early years of the Republic, the flour mills pictured here were perhaps the most celebrated industrial community in America. The success of the Brandywine millers was due to an abundance of waterpower, the proximity of grain in the fertile fields of lower Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland, and convenience of water transportation -- and Quaker ingenuity and resourcefulness. The 1840 painting by Bass Otis reproduced on the right is a view of the flour mills on the lower Brandywine owned by the Canbys, Leas, Pooles, Prices, Shipleys, and Tatnalls.
3. HAGLEM_080112_047.JPG: You'll see a metal version of this device in the shop
4. HAGLEM_080112_048.JPG: The wheels which turned the mills. Left to right: The Overshot wheel, the breast wheel, and the undershot wheel.
5. HAGLEM_080112_058.JPG: The Wheels Which Turned the Mills: The Overshot Wheel: The overshot wheel is the most efficient of all. It needs only a relatively small amount of water, provided it has a high fall. It is practically a pure gravity machine, turned by the weight of water in its buckets. Although expensive to construct, the overshot wheel can put 60-65% of the available power to work.
6. HAGLEM_080112_064.JPG: The Breast Wheel: The breast wheel is turned by the force of water falling into buckets at a point above the middle of the wheel. It is adaptable to changing volumes of water with a moderate fall, and can be operated in a back water. Its efficiency rating is about 50%.
7. HAGLEM_080112_066.JPG: The Undershot Wheel: The undershot water wheel, operated by a stream flowing against its paddles, is the least efficient of the three principal types. It requires more water and it puts only 30% of the available power to work. Yet under conditions right for it, it continued to be used as long as there were water mills.
8. HAGLEM_080112_076.JPG: Water Turbines: The turbine, which receives the force of water on its entire circumference, was a great advance over the water wheel, only a portion of which is acted upon. First developed in France in 1827, the turbine began to replace wood water wheels on the Brandywine in the 1840s. This model illustrated an American-built turbine of the late nineteenth century. The turbine displayed on the left is of the same design and was used in the Hagley Yards of the du Pont Powder Mills. Its operation is explained below. The turbine is moved by the force of water passing through its wheel vanes, while a water wheel is turned by the weight of water in its buckets. In the model above, water from the mill race enters the flume and flows into the water case housing the turbine. Passing through the stationary guide vanes A, the water moves the curved wheel vanes B by a combination of impulse and reaction, and is discharged under the turbine with most of the energy consumed. Gate C, a movable sleeve, controls the amount of water admitted to the wheel, while the power is taken from shaft D. This turbine was from 80 to 90% efficient.
9. HAGLEM_080112_087.JPG: Converting hides into leather was an Old World craft brought to America by the earliest settlers. Tanneries were established in Delaware during the seventeenth century, and the industry flourished. By the 1830s, the manufacture of leather ranked with flour milling, textiles, and paper as one of the state's leading industries. Local farms supplied some of the hides and skins; others were imported from South America. Tan bark came from the oak forests which once covered parts of the state. Mechanization, new tanning methods, and the development of synthetic leathers have brought importance changes to the industry, but Wilmington continues to be a major center for the processing and finishing of various types of leather. A tannery directed by a young Frenchman, Alexandre Cardon de Sandrans, was operated within the powder yard at Hagley from 1815 to 1826. Using a new process developed during the French Revolution, Cardon produced finished leather in two to four months instead of the twelve to eighteen months required by traditional methods. This new process, however, did not result in a high quality product, and a combination of inferior quality and the depressed business conditions of the 1820s forced the closing of the tannery.
10. HAGLEM_080112_091.JPG: Tannery operation
11. HAGLEM_080112_117.JPG: Dynamite: With the introduction of dynamite by Alfred Nobel in 1867, the explosives industry changed fundamentally. Nitroglycerin, invented in 1846, was powerful but highly unstable. Nobel discovered the nitroglycerin added to an absorbent soil formed a stable substance that could be packed into cartridges. It would remain stable until detonated with a blasting cap, which he also invented. Henry du Pont (1812-1889), who led du Pont from 1851-1889, was adamantly against manufacturing dynamite because of the dangers involved with the production of nitroglycerin. His nephew, Lammot, was strongly in favor of producing this new "high" explosive, seeing it as the future of the explosives industry. In 1876, DuPont purchased the California Powder Company, the largest producer of black powder on the West Coast. It also made dynamite, bringing DuPont into the business that Henry had been determined to avoid. Having entered that field, the company in 1880 joined competitor Laflin and Rand in forming the Repauno Chemical Company in New Jersey to manufacture dynamite on the East Coast. Railroads would not transport dynamite across the continent. Lammot du Pont became head of Repauno. Tragically, an experiment to recover and regenerate the acids in a tank of nitroglycerin exploded on March 29, 1884, killing Lammot.
12. HAGLEM_080112_122.JPG: The Role of Explosives in America: Gunpowder was an essential item in the opening of the frontier and the settlement of the nation. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, gunpowder was used not only for hunting, protection, and military purposes, but also for mining and canal construction. It was gunpowder that cleared the way for the building of the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825. In the middle of the century, gunpowder was used in railroad building. Between 1851 and 1860, more than 20,000 miles of new track was built, opening up the West to new development. Gunpowder also had extensive military usage. During the Civil War, almost all of DuPont's production of gunpowder was purchased for the Union army and navy. When dynamite became available, it facilitated America's rapid industrial and economic growth. Dynamite was so powerful that it made it practical to move mountains. The building of cities, railroads, highways, dams, and aqueducts all used immense quantities of dynamite. The Panama Canal alone used nearly 61 million pounds of dynamite. One important use of dynamite was in the mining of stone. Crushed stone was used to make the concrete that built roads and cities. The use of dynamite changed our landscape and helped to build our nation's infrastructure.
13. HAGLEM_080112_124.JPG: Transition to a Chemical Company: The DuPont Company quickly became the country's leading producer of black powder due to the high quality of its ingredients and thoroughness of its processing. This was based on centuries-old formulas for mixing together saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. Lammot de Pont's knowledge of chemistry led to "B" blasting powder in 1857, providing an inexpensive product to meet an increasing demand for civil engineering projects. Entry into the new field of dynamite in the 1870s increased the role of chemistry at DuPont. Extensive research into the development of smokeless powder in the 1890s transformed DuPont from a manufacturer of explosives to a firm with the capacity for fundamental scientific research. In the decade from 1910-1920, DuPont remade itself from an explosives firm into a much more diversified business. Antitrust pressures, as well as enormous profits during World War I and the huge excess capacity represented by its wartime smokeless powder facilities, all led DuPont onto a new path. Soon it would develop products previously unimagined. Please take the nearby elevator to the third floor to continue this exciting story in "DuPont Science & Discovery."
14. HAGLEM_080112_129.JPG: Early Years of the DuPont Company: DuPont produced its first gunpowder in May of 1804. In the first year of operation, the company produced 38,525 pounds of gunpowder. It was during these early years that DuPont began a long-term relationship with the U.S. government, supplying it with gunpowder for the army and navy. By 1811, the company was the largest gunpowder manufacturer in the United States. Because he was committed to the long-term growth of the company, E.I. reinvested profits into expansion and to a lesser degree used them to pay off old debts and the interest on new ones. The company was heavily in debt through E.I. du Pont's lifetime. Westward expansion of the United States and war with England increased the demand for quality gunpowder. In 1813, the U.S. government's orders for gunpowder totally 500,000 pounds. In response to that growing need for his product, E.I. du Pont purchased the adjacent sixty-two acre Hagley estate to expand his business. By 1827, DuPont employed 140 men and had the capacity to produce 800,000 pounds per year. When E.I. du Pont died in 1834, the mills were producing a million pounds of gunpowder a year.
15. HAGLEM_080112_131.JPG: Gunpowder: Throughout the nineteenth century, DuPont primarily produced gunpowder, a mixture of saltpeter (potassium nitrate), charcoal, and sulfur. Careful attention to the purification of the ingredients and to the separate steps of its manufacture gave DuPont a product with acknowledged superiority over its competitors' gunpowder. They produced cannon, mortar, musket, and rifle powder for the army and navy as well as sporting, blasting, mining, and fuse powders. The product remained largely unchanged until 1857 when Lammot de Pont (1831-1884), a grandson of E.I. with a degree in chemistry, patented a "B" blasting or soda powder, which used the more readily available sodium nitrate in place of potassium nitrate. By varying the composition of the powder and its processing, Lammot succeeded in making a blasting powder that became heavily used in the mining industry. At this point, the older product, traditional gunpowder, became known as black powder. Upon request of the government, DuPont began exploring a new type of gunpowder -- one based on nitrocellulose that had been developed in Europe. DuPont began producing smokeless powder in 1894 using an improved manufacturing process that Francis G. and Pierre S. du Pont patented in 1893. Smokeless powder was primarily made for military use but it also became popular for hunting and trapshooting.
16. HAGLEM_080112_147.JPG: Model of the Dupont house in one of the dioramas
17. HAGLEM_080112_166.JPG: Coming To America: During the French Revolution, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817), a noted statesman and philosopher, made a difficult decision to leave France and move to the United States for a new beginning. This followed his second imprisonment for his political views. Du Pont had received high-level government appointments during the reign of Louis XVI and later was elected to positions of prominence in the numerous provisional governments leading up to and through the French Revolution. Joining him on the trip were his two sons, Victor Marie and Eleuthere Irenee, with their families. Victor, employed by the diplomatic corps, had spent several years in the United States. The younger son, E.I., had been managing his father's printing and publishing business in Paris. Preparations for the move took almost two years. Pierre Samuel raised capital from investors based on plans that he outlined for several commercial ventures in the United States. Along with his two sons and their families, he left France on October 2, 1799. Following a long, harrowing voyage aboard the American Eagle, they arrived in the United States in January of 1800 and settled in New Jersey.
18. HAGLEM_080112_171.JPG: Starting a Gunpowder Business: Of the eight business plans that Pierre Samuel and his sons considered, only one was successful. It was the younger son, E.I., who suggested making gunpowder. He had discovered after arriving in this country that American gunpowder was of poor quality and that manufacturing methods were out of date. This was an industry where E.I. had some experience. Prior to working in his father's printing shop in France, E.I. (1771-1834) had apprenticed with the famed chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who was then in charge of the government agency for manufacturing gunpowder. Following his apprenticeship in 1790, E.I. worked at the government powder mills at Essonnes, near Paris. After convincing his father that this was a good plan, E.I. went back to France in 1801 for six months to acquire up-to-date knowledge, machinery, and plans for his new venture. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (DuPont) was organized in Paris on April 21, 1801.
19. HAGLEM_080112_172.JPG: Selecting the Site: The ideal site had to be located near a rapidly moving stream for a dependable source of waterpower to operate the mills. It needed to be somewhat isolated, some distance away from a city because of the potential for explosions, yet close enough to transport the powder easily to markets. E.I. du Pont looked at land in Maryland and Virginia, near the nation's new capital, before he decided upon a site near Wilmington, Delaware, for his gunpowder mills. The site selected (approximately 1 mile upstream from here) met these requirements and had the added benefit that other French immigrants lived nearby. A sixty-five acre site was acquired from Jacob Broom in the spring of 1802. E.I. du Pont and his family arrived here from New Jersey in July. The problems of beginning a company were particularly difficult for a young Frenchman of twenty-nine with limited capital in a new country whose language he did not speak. A methodical and practical man, du Pont tackled the major problems of raising capital, recruiting workmen, and building the mills. Construction began in the summer of 1802, and within two years, the powder mills were in operation.
20. HAGLEM_080112_207.JPG: Ceremonial Gates: About 1906, a new entrance to the Hagley powder yard was built, replacing wooden gates that were a little further upstream. With the inscription on the top marking the 100th anniversary of the DuPont Company, they have become known as the Centennial Gates. More than four million visitors to Hagley Museum have passed through them. In this 1957 photo, retired powderman Ed Bader revisions the gates which he built more than fifty years earlier.
21. HAGLEM_080112_234.JPG: A stone used to crush gunpowder ingredients was incorporated into a monument to mark the Du Pont Company's 150th anniversary. It is located along the Brandywine, near Eleutherian Mills, about one mile upstream from here.
22. HAGLEM_080112_264.JPG: This device was built at the machine shop to show what sort of things they could make. It doesn't serve any real function. A wooden model of it is in the museum.
23. HAGLEM_080112_304.JPG: Black powder, an explosive, played a major role in the building of roads, canals, and railroads, in mining, and in farming. It also revolutionized the waging of war. The formula for the powder made here on the Brandywine was basically the same as that used around the world, since its origination in China centuries earlier. Saltpeter, or potassium nitrate, is found in natural deposits. The Bengal region of India was the principal source for it in the 19th century. Sulphur was imported from Sicily until rich deposits were found in Louisiana and Mexico. The third ingredient, charcoal, was produced in the powder yards' charcoal houses. Local farmers harvested willow branches to supplement that grown here. Wives and children of powder workers cut the branches into proper lengths and peeled the bark, prior to charring.
24. HAGLEM_080112_396.JPG: This guy was demonstrating how black powder exploded. A small sample would cause the wheel to rotate a certain distance.
25. HAGLEM_080112_436.JPG: A variable speed device. The guide thought this was the coolest thing in the machine shop.
26. HAGLEM_080112_448.JPG: Showing kids how pulleys work
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: Hagley Museum and Library
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution located in Wilmington, Delaware. The library houses a collection of manuscripts, photographs, books, and pamphlets documenting the history of U.S. business and technology. The library and archival collections owned by Hagley are open to the public for research, with a catalog available online.

The facility is located on 235 acres (0.95 km�) along the banks of the Brandywine River, the site of the gunpowder mill founded by Eleuth�re Ir�n�e du Pont in 1802, known as Eleutherian Mills. The museum and grounds include the first du Pont family home and garden in the United States, the powder yards, and a nineteenth-century machine shop. On the hillside below the mansion lies a Renaissance-Revival garden, with terraces and statuary, created by Louise Evalina du Pont Crowninshield (1877-1958) in the 1920s.

The Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation was formed in 1954, and the museum opened to the public in 1957. By 1972, the plan for restoring the garden had been completed. Today, the facility offers a diversity of restorations, exhibits, and live demonstrations for visitors.
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