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| Not numbered. | New Castle County | Visited: December 21, 2017 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | A blue and yellow plaque in historic New Castle! |
| What makes it historical? | THE PLAQUE SAYS: Laid out by Petrus Stuyvesant, Dutch Governor, 1655. On this Green stood the old jail and gallows. Here were held the great fairs and weekly markets from early times.
OTHER TIDBITS: The Dutch and Swedish colonists had lived in peace for many years until Petrus Stuyvesant took over as director-general of New Netherland in 1647. At that time, the Dutch and Swedish were trying to outmaneuver each other for position along the Delaware River. The Swedish had Fort Cristina, and the Dutch had Fort Nassau. When Mr. Stuyvesant arrived, he set about building a new, bigger fort, called Fort Casimir, which Swedish forces captured and renamed Fort Trinity. That led Mr. Stuyvesant to lead a large force up the Delaware and bring a complete end to New Sweden! He renamed the area surrounding Fort Casimir “New Amstel,” and legend has it that he measured out this first town square using his own wooden leg! The British would later come to steal New Netherland from the Dutch, and Mr. Stuyvesant gave up that battle without a fight. For generations, he would be blamed for giving up without a fight, but in truth, no one else in the Dutch colonies wanted to take on the world’s mightiest navy either! New Amsterdam became New York, and New Amstel became New Castle! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| How do I find it? | Listed Directions: New Castle. Corner of The Green at Third and Delaware Streets Annotations: From Dover: ~45mi (73km) — 0.8hrs |
| When should I go? | Whenever the mood strikes you! |