May Historic Homes E-Newsletter

DELAWARE EVENTS

Come kickoff the 300th Birthday celebration at the 84th Annual Dover Days Festival May 5-6, 2017 in Kent County. One of Delaware’s largest and longest-running free events is entirely dedicated to promoting the state’s heritage and culture.  With easily the biggest parade in Kent County, expect close to 4,500 participants and  9,000 spectators, as well as Delaware’s governor serving as Grand Marshal. It will feature the state’s history and heritage, traditional Maypole Dancing , vintage automobile rides, colonial artisans’ village and historic re-enactment groups for the Revolutionary War, WW II and the Civil War.

Join speaker Denise Clemons for a "A Culinary History of Southern Delaware" on Friday, May 19, at 7:30pm at the Lewes Public Library (right) at 111 Adams Avenue, Lewes, Delaware 19958.  Admission is free and no reservations are required. For more information, call 302-645-7670. (Hope it's not stewed muskrat!)

"General Daniel Morgan: One of the Most Important American Revolutionary War Generals"  will be discussed Saturday, May 13, from     7:30PM - 9:30PM in a program at the Hale-Byrnes House  (left) sponsored by the
American Revolution Round Table of Northern Delaware. The speaker will be Bob Sheridan, Prof Emeritus, Rutgers University (Former Professor, University of Delaware, Dept of Geology) . $5 at the door includes coffee & dessert.

If you have not seen "Treasures on Trial" at Winterthur (right), make sure you visit this interesting exhibit open until January 7, 2018.  I really had no idea of what a Hermes Birkin bag was (not that I would have run across one)! Learn about it on May 9 at 6 p.m. in a talk by Michael Tonello. Also offered is a lecture, "A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley," by Harvard historian Jane Kamensky on May 6 at 2 p.m. It explores the relationships between liberty, slavery, duty and ambition--the tensions that shaped Copley's America. 

New Castle: The Read House and Gardens invite you to observe and talk with archaeology students about work they are doing at the Read House this spring on May 5, 6, 12 and 13 from 11-3 p.m.

And if you still have time on your hands, the annual A Day in Old New Castle is keeping up a 93 year tradition of a home and garden tour that includes the Read House and Gardens (right).

PENNSYLVANIA EVENTS

The Chadds Ford Historical Society has 2 interesting happenings in May including a shopping day at Talbots in Glen Mills, where 10% of proceeds will be donated to the society. From 1-4 p.m. the CFHS President will be present to greet you. If you are not into shopping and maybe into drinking, Tavern Talks will ask "Would you have survived as a spy during the Revolutionary War?" On Thursday, May 18th from 7-9 p.m., join the gang at the Barns-Brinton house in Chadds Ford  to decipher codes, solve riddles, and decode puzzles. Guests will be able to try a variety of spycraft techniques used during the Revolutionary War to receive clues to solve one main puzzle for the evening.  Guest participant for the event is living historian Noah Lewis (portraying soldier Ned Hector). Get tickets online. 

The Mill at Anselma will present a talk on "The Surprising Martha Washington," on May 4 from 6:30-8 p.m. in Bell Hall at the Montgomery School, 1141 Kimberton Rd., Chester Springs. Known as a spiffy dresser, assertive, and a woman of independent means, you will learn about her activities during the Revolutionary War and through the presidential years. 

East Bradford Township will present "Not Your Ordinary History:Oral History Video Night." The free program will be on May 5 at 7 p.m. at the East Bradford Township Building, 666 Copeland School Rd., West Chester. For information, call 610-436-5108.

Turning the tides of war: the French Alliance," will be presented by the Valley Forge Park Alliance on May 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This free program will include a noon ribbon cutting and cake to dedicate the grand opening of Fort John Moore Redoubt.

A special Town Tours and Village Walks featured lecture, "March to the Brandywine-The British Army's Route from September 8 to September 10, 1777" will present new research by Walk Chiquoine on May 11 from 7-9 p.m. at the Kennett Township Building, 801 Burrows Run Rd., Chadds Ford. Info call 610-388-1300.

Local restoration architect John Milner will speak on the 1979-82 restoration of the Square Tavern in Newtown Square May 17 from 7-8 p.m at the Newtown Square Historical Society. This free talk will be held at the Dunwoody Village Auditorium, 3500 West Chester Pike in Newtown Square.

Need information about historic home sales? Contact Carolyn Roland, Your Older and Historic Homes Resource in Delaware and Southern Chester County, Pennsylvania.  And don't forget the fabulous Queen Anne Victorian Chambers Mansion in North Wilmington!