Hagley Museum and Library

Hagley Museum and Library occupies the original site of the DuPont black powder mills along Brandywine Creek in the Brandywine Valley, five miles north of Wilmington, Delaware. Founded by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont in 1802, the powder works grew over a century into one of the largest industrial complexes in early American history and the foundation of the DuPont chemical empire. Today the 235-acre site preserves the millrace, stone mill buildings, workers' community, and the restored Eleutherian Mills — the first du Pont family residence in America — in a setting of exceptional natural beauty along the tree-lined Brandywine Creek.

Visitors begin at the Henry Clay Mill reception building with an introductory exhibit tracing the history of American industry and the du Pont family. A jitney tram shuttles guests along the creek path to the main mill complex, where the restored powder yard includes reconstructed roll mills, an edge-runner mill, and a cooperage. Costumed demonstrators work the machinery and explain the dangerous, labor-intensive black powder production process. The Belin House workers' cottage and the Sunday school building illustrate the lives of the immigrant mill families who lived on the property. The Eleutherian Mills homestead at the top of the site offers guided tours of its period-furnished rooms and restored garden.

The library component — one of the premier research facilities for American business and industrial history — holds the original du Pont family papers but is accessible by appointment only for scholars. Plan for a minimum of two hours; a thorough visit covering all areas of the site takes three to four hours. The forested Brandywine Creek setting is particularly striking in autumn when the creek-side foliage turns. Free parking is available on-site and the museum is a five-mile drive north of Wilmington city center on Route 141.