Wilmington, city in northern Delaware, seat of New Castle County, a port on the Delaware River and its tributaries, the Christina River and Brandywine Creek. The largest city in the state, Wilmington is an important shipping, manufacturing, and commercial center, famous for its chemical industry. It has been the headquarters of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company since the company's founder, Eleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours, established a powder mill on Brandywine Creek in 1802 (the site is now an industrial museum). Other manufactures include transportation equipment, textiles, and processed food. The city contains Goldey-Beacom College (1886) and museums of art, history, and technology. Of historical interest are the Old Swedes (Holy Trinity) Church, in continuous use since 1698; the Old Town Hall (1798); the Hagley Museum; and the nearby Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, a mansion featuring early American decorative arts.
Christinahamn, founded here by Swedish colonists in 1638, was the capital of New Sweden from 1638 to 1643 and again in 1654 and was the site of Fort Christina. The settlement passed to the Dutch in 1655 and then to the English in 1664. William Penn took possession of the region in 1682, and members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) had the settlement platted in 1731. The community, then called Willingtown, became a borough in 1739 and was renamed for Spencer Compton, earl of Wilmington. It was incorporated as a city in 1832. According to the 1990 census, blacks constitute 52.4 percent of the city's population; whites, 42.1 percent; people of Asian background, 0.4 percent; and Native Americans, 0.2 percent. Hispanics, who may also be counted among other groups, make up 7.1 percent of the population. Population 70,195 (1980); 71,529 (1990); 71,678 (1998 estimate).
