History

In 1802, French immigrant Eleuthère Irénée du Pont ( short bio ) started a black powder factory on this site. The location had all the ingredients necessary for success: the Brandywine’s water power; a ready supply of timber to make the charcoal required for superior black powder; proximity to the Delaware River for shipping raw materials in and finished products out; and granite that could be quarried for building materials.


		The Birkenhead Mills at Hagley, built in 1822-1824, are typical of the more than twenty stone buildings which appear much as they did when the powder yard was in operation.

E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company’s black powder manufactory went on to become the largest in the world, spawning a business dynasty that continues to this day. DuPont expanded and diversified, building many factories, laboratories, and offices nearby.

By the time World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, DuPont had mastered the art and science of making smokeless powder. The factory’s maximum output was about seven hundred thousand pounds per month. Over the next four years, the Allies placed such extensive orders that the company had to—and could afford to—add more capacity. By 1918, DuPont was making thirty-eight million pounds of powder a month.

The company’s success had a downside. During the last third of the nineteenth century, DuPont purchased competitors’ operations, completely dominating the explosives industry. The U.S. Justice Department filed and won an antitrust suit in 1907, and DuPont was forced to divest Hercules and Atlas.


		The whistle from the Steam Engine at Hagley signals that the coal-fired boiler is in operation. The colorful red and green wheel turns under steam power providing visitors with another opportunity to see what kept the mills in production.

DuPont overcame this temporary setback. As it had since the days of its founder, the company continued to strive for technological discoveries and improvements. Management applied the same approach to diversification. One of the ingredients in their smokeless powder, nitrocellulose, is also the basis of celluloid, an early plastic. Scientists developed peacetime uses for nitrocellulose, many of which were used by the burgeoning automobile industry. From household items to satellite materials, DuPont products have changed the way people live and work.

Although the mills closed in 1921, Hagley was not forgotten. When the DuPont Company celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1952, plans for the site were made. Hagley Museum was dedicated in May 1957 with the opening of the Henry Clay Mill building. The Millwright Shop followed in 1962, then Eleutherian Mills in 1964. In 1966, Hagley was designated a National Historic Landmark.

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Reading List:

Hagley Museum and Library, Jill Mackenzie, ed. Impressions of Hagley. Wilmington, DE: Hagley Museum and Library, 1991.

Complete reading list

For information on Wilmington, Delaware, contact our tourism partner, the Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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