Farnhurst is an unincorporated community in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The site of two historic hospitals (one now gone) and a number of cemeteries, the community once had a post office, school, and rail station.
Farnhurst is the site of the Delaware State Hospital, a psychiatric institution, originally opened in 1889, and often called Farnhurst.[3] The New Castle County Almshouse/Hospital also operated in Farnhurst from 1884 to 1933; these two large institutions were on adjoining plots.[4]
A post office opened at Farnhurst on January 15, 1890. According to historian Harvey Cochran Bounds, the 1890 opening of the post office in Farnhurst "had more than a little to do" with the closure of the nearby Hares Corner post office. The Farnhurst post office was moved to the psychiatric hospital grounds in the 1930s.[5]
In 1898, a stagecoach line ran three times per week between Wilmington and Farnhurst; a trolley system connecting Farnhurst to Wilmington was proposed in the Wilmington Evening Journal.[6] At that time, a round-trip coach between Farnhurst and Wilmington cost twenty cents.[7]
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Farnhurst Asylum had its own baseball team, which played against teams such as the Wilmington Actives.[8][9]
Early 1900s
Farnhurst in northern New Castle County, Delaware, in 1902
In 1901, newspapers announced the creation of a village at Farnhurst. This village housed workmen on the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad. The 25 new buildings, at that time described as sheds, were built overnight.[10] That same year, the P.B.& W. rail line in Farnhurst was altered, easing the curves of the railroad and leveling the steep grade; there was also a beautification project, with rail workers adding flower beds and landscaping to the rail station.[11]
In 1904, Farnhurst was described as a post village on the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad.[12] The station opened largely to service the hospital and the nearby almshouse.[13]
In 1912, Delaware courts ruled that the old soldiers living in the Farnhurst almshouse would be allowed to vote. The Wilmington Journal reported that "the court decided the old soldiers have a right to vote and the people will see that the men get their votes in the box and are counted."[14]
In 1920, Farnhurst's population was 332.[15] Around this time, the population of the State Hospital was 541,[16] and the New Castle County Almshouse's population was 220.[17]
In 1934, Gracelawn Memorial Park, a cemetery, opened across the highway from the two hospitals.[18]
In 1939, a new chapel was completed at the State Hospital. A project of the Works Progress Administration, the building was completed in September of that year.[19] In 1940, Farnhurst's population was 250.[20]
Late 1900s
The older cemetery on the grounds of the hospital and almshouse, which served as a potters field for New Castle County, was mostly obliterated in the 1950s/1960s by highway construction of the Farnhurst interchange providing access to the Delaware Memorial Bridge.[21][22][3][23][24]
The Farnhurst post office closed in 1958.[25] In 1961, the hospital/almshouse, renamed the New Castle Building after its 1933 closure, burned to the ground.[4]
^Bounds, Harvey Cochran (1938). A Postal History of Delaware. Press of Kells. p. 51. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
^"A Trolly to Farnhurst". Wilmington Evening Journal. October 6, 1898. p. 5. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
^"Hack to Farnhurst". Wilmington Daily Republican. June 3, 1898. p. 4. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
^"Abolition of the Farnhurst Grade". Wilmington Delaware Gazette And State Journal. October 24, 1901. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 22, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
^"State Hospital Report". Wilmington Evening Journal. February 1, 1923. p. 14. Archived from the original on August 22, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
^Bureau, Public Roads; Library, United States Public Roads Administration (August 18, 1950). "Highways, Current Literature". Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2021 – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
^"Post Offices". www.postalhistory.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
^World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. D. Field Enterprises Corporation. 1960. p. 88.
^Names, Geological Survey (U S.) Branch of Geographic (1980). Delaware Geographic Names. U.S.G.S. Topographic Division, Office of Research & Technical Standards, National Center. p. 12. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
