Delaware Real Estate & Relocation Guide

Middletown, Delaware

Population: 6,161

Located in New Castle County

Middletown, Delaware, located about 24 miles south of Wilmington, is an early crossroads Town, one of the old Delaware Towns not on a navigable waterway. It was originally a tavern stop about half-way on the old cart road that extends across the peninsula between Appoquinimink Creek and Bohemia Landing on the eastern branch of the Bohemia River; thus the name, "Middletown."

Oxen pulled carts loaded with produce and materials between the ports of Cantwell's bridge (Odessa) and Bohemia Landing. This was the shortest route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Chesapeake Bay before the construction of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal.

In 1675, Adam Peterson took on warrants for the land which later became the Town of Middletown, the first survey being made in 1678. Later, his widow married David Witherspoon, a native of Londonderry, Ireland, and they settled upon the King's Highway at the crossroads, first known as Mrs. Blackston's Corner.

The Witherspoon's Tavern was built at this site in 1762. A fire destroyed the upper portion of the building on February 14, 1946, but the first floor remains. The cornerstone is still in the original part of the building.

Middletown was incorporated on February 12, 1861. The first Council decided the Town should be one mile square, commencing at the center of the crossroads and extending half a mile in each direction. Thus it was known as the "Diamond Town of the Diamond State." As the Town has grown, its boundaries have extended in each direction.

Among the old buildings is the Middletown Academy erected in 1826 and used as a private school until 1876. It is now owned by the Middletown Mayor and Council and is currently used as the Town offices. The flag pole in the front is dedicated to Mayor Thomas Newnam, who served from 1948 - 1955. The memorial in Cochran square (also known as the "Four Corners") was dedicated to in memory of those men killed in World War I. Today it honors all war heroes.