Brandywine Creek (Christina River)
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Brandywine Creek
Hagley mill race on the Brandywine
Country	United States
States	Pennsylvania, Delaware
Major cities	Chadds Ford, PA, Wilmington, DE
Length	17 mi (27 km)
Primary source	West Branch Brandywine Creek
- location	Honey Brook Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
- coordinates	40°06′51″N 75°55′35″W / 40.11417, -75.92639
- elevation	850 ft (259 m)
Other source	East Branch Brandywine Creek
- location	Honey Brook Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
- coordinates	40°07′09″N 75°53′15″W / 40.11917, -75.8875
- elevation	686 ft (209 m)
Source confluence
- location	East Bradford and Pocopson Townships, Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA
- coordinates	39°55′21″N 75°38′58″W / 39.9225, -75.64944
- elevation	184 ft (56 m)
Mouth	Christina River
- location	Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware, USA
- coordinates	39°43′55″N 75°31′53″W / 39.73194, -75.53139
- elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Christina River Basin, including Brandywine Creek

Brandywine Creek¹² (also called the Brandywine River) is a tributary of the Christina River, approximately 17 mi (27 km) long, in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware in the United States. The Lower Brandywine (including a number of smaller tributary streams) is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.

The mouth of the creek on the Christina River in present day Wilmington, Delaware is the site of the New Sweden Colony, founded in 1638. The Battle of Brandywine was fought around the creek near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania in 1777, during the American Revolution. Water powered grist mills in Brandywine Village and the nearby DuPont gunpowder mill were important in developing American industry before the introduction of steam power.

Course

Both the East Branch and West Branch rise in western Chester County, Pennsylvania near Honey Brook and flow southeast for about 20 mi (32 km), with the two branches joining about 10 mi (16 km) south of Coatesville, between East Bradford Township and Pocopson Township. The combined stream flows southeast through Chester County, past Chadds Ford, Delaware County, Pennsylvania then enters the northern portion of the state of Delaware approximately 5 mi (8 km) north of Wilmington.

It flows south through Brandywine Creek State Park, into Wilmington, where it flows through Brandywine Park near the city center. It joins the Christina 1 mi (1.6 km) east of downtown Wilmington and approximately 2 mi (3 km) upstream from the mouth of the Christina on the Delaware River. The mouth of the Christina is on the Delaware River estuary and is the approximate dividing point between the freshwater Delaware River and the saltwater Delaware Bay.³

The Brandywine Creek in Brandywine Park near downtown Wilmington in February 2007, looking downstream toward Washington Street Bridge

The Pennsylvania towns of Avondale, Concordville, Downingtown, Glen Mills, Kennett Square, Unionville, and West Chester, as well as the Delaware towns of Centreville, Greenville, Montchanin, Hockessin, and Yorklyn are all part of the Brandywine Valley.⁴

History

The confluence of the Christina and Brandywine is the site of the founding of Fort Christina, the first settlement of the New Sweden colony, in 1638.

The Brandywine was called Wauwaset by Lenni-Lenape (or Delaware) Indians and Fiskiekylen, or "Fish Creek" by early Dutch and Swedish settlers. The current name may be from an old Dutch word for brandy or gin, brandewijn, or from the name of an early mill owner, Andreas Brainwende or Brantwyn.⁴

The creek lends its name to the 1777 Battle of Brandywine of the American Revolutionary War. The battlefield is in southeastern Pennsylvania on the banks of the creek near Chadds Ford. The Brandywine Battlefield Park covers 50 acres, but British troops marched north of the confluence of the east and west branches during the battle. Before the battle, General Anthony Wayne had his headquarters in Brandywine Village, across the creek from Wilmington, and Continental troops camped nearby, near Lovering Avenue. ⁵

The log cabin was introduced in America by Swedish and Finn settlers in the Brandywine Valley. The Conestoga wagon, which later became known as the "prairie schooner" was first built to haul grain from the Conestoga Valley to Brandywine flour mills. Early paper mills were also located along the creek, which supplied Benjamin Franklin's print shop and also supplied the paper to print Continental currency and the Declaration of Independence.⁴

A group of painters, including N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth and Howard Pyle, are referred to as the "Brandywine School" especially for their landscape works which depict the Brandywine valley. Many of their works are on view at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford.⁶

Brandywine Village and early industrialization

Brandywine flour mills about 1840, painted by Bass Otis. The north bank (to the right) is Brandywine Village.

The Brandywine crosses the fall line just north of Wilmington. The elevation falls from about 160 feet above sea level in Chadds Ford, to just a few feet above sea level in Wilmington. The steep descent provided waterpower to many early industrial activities, including flour milling and the original DuPont gunpowder mills. The nearness of the fall line along the Brandywine to the Delaware river and Delaware Bay, allowed manufacturers to use high powered machinery before the use of the steam engine, and to load ocean-going ships from the same location.

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,⁷ and Thomas Canby were important in establishing the village and its supporting flour mills. By 1743 Thomas's son, Oliver Canby owned 3 mill sites. A dam and a millrace south of the creek had been built.

Prominent Quaker millers, including the Canbys, Leas, and Tatnalls, built their stone homes along Market Street, and the built the Brandywine Academy building in 1798. A cupola was added to the academy in 1820, and it rang as the Marquis de Lafayette visited on October 6, 1824.^{8 9}

"Gilpin's Mill on the Brandywine" attributed to Thomas Doughty circa 1827.

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. His first design for a fully integrated automatic flour mill was built on nearby Red Clay Creek in 1783, and gradually gained acceptance from Brandywine millers. The grain was unloaded on the ground floor and raised to the top floor by waterpower. Gravity moved the grain through the stages of cleaning, drying, grinding, spreading, and cooling, in a continuous manufacturing process.¹⁰

In 1795, Jacob Broom built the first cotton mill on the Brandywine.⁸ By 1796, the village contained twelve mills with a capacity for grinding 400,000 bushels of grain per year. By 1815 several toll roads connected the village with Pennsylvania's grain growing regions, including the Lancaster, Kennett and Concord Pikes.⁵ These roads later became Delaware Route 41, Delaware Route 52, and parts of US 202 combined with Delaware Route 202.

The millers cooperated in maintaining quality and branding the flour. "Brandywine Superfine" flour was shipped all along the Atlantic coast and to the West Indies before the American Revolution.

The first paper mill in Delaware, Gilpin's mill in north Wilmington, opened 1787. This site was later used by one of the largest textile mills in the world, Bancroft Mills which is now closed.⁸

The DuPont powder mills may be viewed at the Hagley Museum and Library. A mill race once used to provide water power is still in working condition in Brandywine Park near downtown Wilmington. This park was designed in the 1890s by Frederick Law Olmsted.

Historic preservation

These places near the Brandywine are on the National Register of Historic Places:¹¹

About 1905, looking downstream toward Van Buren Street Bridge, Wilmington. Note the mill race on the right.

DuPont gunpowder mills on the Brandywine, on a postcard dated 1905. These mills were still working at the time. Note the handwritten "These blow up occasionally, and then?"

Brandywine Village from the Market Street Bridge from a postcard dated 1906.

Brandywine Creek in Wilmington in 2006

Other names

Brandywine Creek (Christina River) has also been known as:¹ Bainwend Kill, Brande Wine Creek, Brandewyn Kill, Brandewyne Creek, Brandywine Kill, Brandywine River, Fiske Creek, Fiskiekijlen, Suspecough, Trancocopanican, Wawaset, Wawasiungh, Wawassan, Brandiwine Creek, Brandy Wine, Brandy Wine Creek, and Brandy-wine River.

References

The Brandywine and its East Branch from Thomas Holme's 1687 map of Pennsylvania

Further reading

• Henry Seidel Canby (1941). The Brandywine, illustrated by Andrew Wyeth, Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA. ISBN 09168380604
• Mowday, Bruce Edward (2001). Along the Brandywine River, Postcard History Series. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 128 pages. ISBN 073850940X. http://books.google.com/books?id=m5B9c1kNtcoC. 

See also

• Bancroft Mills
• Brandywine Battlefield Park
• Brandywine Valley Railroad
• East Branch Brandywine Creek
• Eleutherian Mills
• Preston Lea
• William Lea
• West Branch Brandywine Creek
• Wilmington State Parks

• List of Delaware rivers
• List of Pennsylvania rivers

External links

• U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stations
• Brandywine Conservancy
• Brandywine School (art review)
• Brandywine Valley Association
• Chadds Ford History
• Lower Brandywine Scenic River Corridor
• Scenic Corridor and tributary streams

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