Brandywine Creek (also called the Brandywine River) is a tributary of the Christina River in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware in the United States. The Lower Brandywine (the main stem) is long and is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River with several tributary streams. The East Branch and West Branch of the creek originate within 2 miles (3 km) of each other on the slopes of Welsh Mountain in Honey Brook Township, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of their confluence.

The mouth of the creek on the Christina River in present-day Wilmington, Delaware, is the site of the New Sweden colony, where colonists first landed on March 29, 1638. The Battle of Brandywine was fought around the creek near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 1777, during the American Revolution. Water-powered gristmills in Brandywine Village, near the creek mouth, and the nearby DuPont gunpowder mill were important in developing American industry before the introduction of steam power.

Course

thumb|upright|left|The Brandywine and its East Branch from [[Thomas Holme's 1687 map of Pennsylvania]]

The headwaters of both the East Branch and West Branch of Brandywine Creek are in western Chester County, Pennsylvania, near Honey Brook. The East Branch and West Branch flow southeast for and , respectively, Delaware County, Pennsylvania then enters the state of Delaware about north of Wilmington.

The creek continues south through First State National Historical Park and Brandywine Creek State Park, into Wilmington, where it flows through Brandywine Park near the city center. Brandywine Creek joins the Christina River east of downtown Wilmington and about upstream from the mouth of the Christina, which also includes flows from the White Clay Creek and Red Clay Creek basins, and finally discharges into the Delaware River estuary. The confluence of the Christina and Delaware rivers is the approximate dividing point between the freshwater Delaware River and the saltwater Delaware Bay.

In Pennsylvania, Chadds Ford, Elam, Downingtown, Unionville, and parts of West Chester, are all in the Brandywine Valley, as well as the Delaware towns of Centreville, Greenville, Montchanin, Hockessin, and Yorklyn. Nearby Avondale (in the White Clay Creek basin) and Kennett Square, Pennsylvania (in the Red Clay Creek basin) are often considered part of the Brandywine Valley.

The first European settlement on the Brandywine was Swedish. On March 29, 1638, Peter Minuit, who had earlier explored the area for the Dutch, founded the colony of New Sweden near the confluence of the Christina and Brandywine, at Fort Christina, in present-day Wilmington. About 600 Swedes, Finns, and Dutch settled in New Sweden. They tended to settle along the Delaware River rather than move inland along the Brandywine and are credited with introducing the log cabin into America. The name might also derive from an early mill owner, Andreas Brainwende or Brantwyn. Thomas Holme's 1687 map of Pennsylvania gives the name as simply Brandy Wine and shows it flowing into Christian Creek and then the Delaware River.

The Swedes, Dutch and English disputed possession of the area until 1674, when the English gained control. William Penn was granted a charter for Pennsylvania in 1681 and gained control over the "lower three counties," as Delaware was then known, soon thereafter. By 1687, a Swedish colonist, Tyman Stidham, opened the first mill on the Brandywine, near Wilmington. Holme's 1687 map shows only five land claims along the Brandywine, all near present-day Chadds Ford. Land claims of the earlier Swedish and Dutch colonists were not noted on this map.

Hannah Freeman (1730–1802), believed to be the last Lenape to have lived in Chester County, is buried in Embreeville, near the forks of the creek.

thumb|220px|Nation Makers depicts a scene from the [[Battle of Brandywine, by Howard Pyle, a summer resident of Chadds Ford. The painting is displayed in the Brandywine River Museum.]]

The valley was settled by Quakers, and other dissident Protestants, following Penn's Charter. Their activities were mainly farming and milling. Quaker influence is still felt with over 16 Quaker Meetings and several Quaker schools operating in the area.

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

A base point for surveying the Mason-Dixon line, known as the Stargazers' Stone, was established in Embreeville west of Philadelphia and north of the Maryland-Pennsylvania border by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in 1764. They used the adjoining John Harlan house as their center of operations until 1768.

The creek lends its name to the 1777 Battle of Brandywine of the American Revolutionary War. General William Howe, commanding the British forces, was marching north on Baltimore Pike (now U.S. Route 1) toward Philadelphia and needed to ford the Brandywine near Chadds Ford. General George Washington, massed most of his American forces on the banks of the creek near Chadds Ford, and protected other fords as far as north and south. The Brandywine Battlefield Park covers only , but during the battle British troops marched about north, fording the creek above the forks, to outflank Washington's forces.

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. The poet Bayard Taylor wrote of the battle and the creek:<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">

And once thy peaceful tide

Was filled with life-blood from bold hearts and brave;

and heroes on thy verdant margin died,

The land they loved, to save.

These vales, so calm and still,

Once saw the foeman's charge,—the bayonet's gleam;

And heard the thunders roll from hill to hill

From morn till sunset's beam.</poem>

Early paper mills were located along the creek, during the Revolution. They supplied Benjamin Franklin's print shop and also supplied the paper to print Continental currency and the Declaration of Independence.

The Conestoga wagon was first built to haul grain from the Conestoga Valley to Brandywine flour mills.

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.

Brandywine Village and early industrialization

The Brandywine crosses the Fall Line just north of Wilmington. The elevation falls from about above sea level in Chadds Ford, to just a few feet above sea level in Wilmington. The steep descent powered many early industrial activities, including flour milling and the original DuPont gunpowder mills, while the navigable channel to the Delaware River and Delaware Bay allowed manufacturers to load ocean-going ships from near their mills.

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,

and Thomas Canby were important in establishing the village and its supporting flour mills. By 1743, a dam and a millrace south of the creek had been built.

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.

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

In 1795, Jacob Broom built the first cotton mill on the Brandywine, a few miles north of the village, but it burned down two years later.

In 1802, Broom sold the site, complete with a working dam and millrace, to Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, who paid $6,740 for the . Gunpowder mills, known as the Eleutherian Mills, operated on the site from 1802, and by 1810, the site was the largest gunpowder producer in the country. During the Civil War alone, over 4 million barrels of gunpowder were produced here. The mills, which operated until 1921, are now part of the Hagley Museum and Library.

By 1815, several toll roads connected the village with Pennsylvania's grain-growing regions, including the Lancaster, Kennett and Concord Pikes.

Milltown was the halfway point on the journey between Philadelphia and Lancaster, so several inns served travelers, including the Ship Inn (c. 1730), the King-in-Armes or Washington Inn (1761), the Half-Way House (1790), and the Swan Hotel (1800).

Coatesville on the west branch became famous for producing iron goods as early as 1810, and later, rolling steel plate.

Lukens Steel Company has dominated the economy of the town since 1810; today, Cleveland Cliffs continues to make steel there.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">

File:Oliver Evans - Automated mill.jpg|Oliver Evans's design for automated flour milling

File:BrandywineAcadHABS1934.jpg|The Brandywine Academy building

File:Gilpins Mill.jpg|Gilpin's Mill on the Brandywine, attributed to Thomas Doughty c. 1827

File:BrandywineFlour Mills1840.jpg|Brandywine flour mills about 1840, painted by Bass Otis. The north bank (to the right) is Brandywine Village.

</gallery>

Historic preservation

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

{| class = "wikitable"

|-

! Site

! Address

! Listed

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Fort Christina

| style="text-align:left;"| E. 7th Street, Wilmington, Delaware <br> Near mouth of creek

| style="text-align:left;"| 1961, 1966

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Old Swedes Church

| style="text-align:left;"| E. 7th Street at Church Street <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1961, 1966

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Dr. John A. Brown House

| style="text-align:left;"| 4 7th Ave <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1966

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Howard High School

| style="text-align:left;"| 13th Street at Poplar Street <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1985

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Brandywine Village

| style="text-align:left;"| North and east of Market Street Bridge <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1971, 1976

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Baynard Boulevard Historic District

| style="text-align:left;"| Baynard Blvd. between 18th St. and Concord Ave <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1979

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Brandywine Park

| style="text-align:left;"| North of Market Street Bridge to Augustine Bridge <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1976

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Old First Presbyterian Church of Wilmington

| style="text-align:left;"| West Street at Brandywine Park Drive <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1972

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Continental Army Encampment Site

| style="text-align:left;"| Lovering Avenue, near Broom Street <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1972

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Augustine Paper Mill

| style="text-align:left;"| N. Brandywine Park Dr. <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1978

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Bancroft Mills

| style="text-align:left;"| Rockford Road at the Brandywine <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1984

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Rockford Park

| style="text-align:left;"| West of Rockford Road, south of creek <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1978

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Brandywine Manufacturers Sunday School

| style="text-align:left;"| North of Wilmington on Hagley Rd. <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1972

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Eleutherian Mills

| style="text-align:left;"| Rt. 141 at Brandywine Creek Bridge <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1966

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Brandywine Powder Mills District

| style="text-align:left;"| Rt. 141 at the Brandywine <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1984

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Breck's Mill Area

| style="text-align:left;"| Breck's Lane and Creek Rd.<br/>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1971

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Rockland Historic District

| style="text-align:left;"| Murphy Rd. near Creek Road, <br> Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1979

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Chadds Ford Historic District

| style="text-align:left;"| U.S. Route 1 at Creek Road, <br> Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1971

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Brandywine Battlefield

| style="text-align:left;"| U.S. Route 1 east of Brandywine Creek, <br> Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1966

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Brinton's Mill

| style="text-align:left;"| Creek Road, north of Chadds Ford <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1971

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Lenape Bridge

| style="text-align:left;"| Rt 52 at Creek Road, Lenape <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1982

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Gibson's Covered Bridge

| style="text-align:left;"| East Branch <br>US 322 and Harmony Hill Rd, west of West Chester <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1971

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Downingtown Log House

| style="text-align:left;"| 15 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, Pennsylvania <br> on East Branch Brandywine Creek <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1979

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Roger Hunt Mill

| style="text-align:left;"| Race Street, Downingtown, PA <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1979

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Embreeville Historic District

| style="text-align:left;"| West Branch <br>Rt. 162 at Cannery Rd. <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1985

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Coatesville Historic District

| style="text-align:left;"| 1st–6th Streets and East Lincoln Highway <br> at West Branch Brandywine Creek, <br> Coatesville, Pennsylvania <br>

| style="text-align:left;"| 1987

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| Brandywine Building and Loan Assoc. Rowhouses

| style="text-align:left;"| Hephzibah Hill Rd, Coatesville, PA <br>

| style="text-align:left;"|

|}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="150">

File:BrandywinePostcardPreWW1.jpg|About 1905, looking downstream toward Van Buren Street Bridge, Wilmington. Note the mill race on the right.

File:Brandywine Creek Wilmington.jpg|Brandywine Creek in Wilmington in 2006

File:Lea1901MktBVHABs.jpg|William Lea house in Brandywine Village

File:BVillage1906.jpg|Brandywine Village from the Market Street Bridge from a postcard dated 1906

File:North Market St Bridge Wilmington.JPG|Market Street Bridge, looking downstream, with Brandywine Village on the left, and the Wilmington Pumping Station on the right. The bridge marks the approximate high level of tidewater on the Brandywine.

File:1905DuPontGunpowderMill.jpg|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?"

File:SMITH'S COVERED BRIDGE, NEW CASTLE COUNTY, DELAWARE.jpg|Smith's Covered Bridge

</gallery>

Ecology

Several dams block passage to American shad (Alosa sapidissima) spawning runs which cannot access the Pennsylvania reaches of the river. The first of eight dams on Brandywine Creek was removed in 2019, enabling shad to migrate further up the river. The plan to remove all eight dams is known as "Brandywine Shad 2020" and has been led by Professor Jerry Kauffman of the University of Delaware Water Resources Center.

See also

  • Bancroft Mills
  • Brandywine Battlefield
  • Brandywine Valley Railroad
  • Chaddsford Winery
  • East Branch Brandywine Creek
  • Eleutherian Mills
  • Forks of the Brandywine Presbyterian Church
  • Longwood Gardens
  • Nemours Mansion and Gardens
  • Preston Lea
  • Rockland, Delaware
  • William Lea
  • West Branch Brandywine Creek
  • Wilmington State Parks
  • List of Delaware rivers
  • List of rivers of Pennsylvania

References

Further reading

  • Badertscher, Vera Marie, "Brandywine Valley, Pennsylvania and Delaware", in National Geographic Traveler. Accessed 24 August 2021
  • Henry Seidel Canby (1941). The Brandywine, illustrated by Andrew Wyeth, Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA. .
  • Maynard, W. Barksdale. The Brandywine: An Intimate Portrait (University of Pennsylvania Press; 2014) 253 pages; Traces the history of the Delaware and Pennsylvania region around the Brandywine River since first European settlement.
  • Bruce Mowday. (2001). Along the Brandywine River, Postcard History Series. Arcadia Publishing.
  • U.S. Geological Survey: PA Continuous Streamflow Gaging Stations
  • Brandywine Conservancy
  • Brandywine School (art review)
  • Brandywine Valley Association
  • Chadds Ford History
  • 11 LIFE Photographs by Walker Evans of the DuPont gunpowder mills, 1957
  • Pennsylvania Scenic Rivers website
  • The Historic Christina Basin
  • Historic images of the Brandywine from the Hagley Digital Archives
  • Delaware's Industrial Brandywine
  • Brandywine Shad 2020 web page at the University of Delaware Water Resources Center