Baynard Boulevard City Historic District | Established 1985

The Baynard Boulevard City Historic District consists of an eclectic mix of Victorian and Colonial Revival style homes primarily located along “the Boulevard,” a wide, tree-lined street constructed in 1906. It was renamed in 1925 after Samuel H. Baynard, president of the North Side Development Company. Late 19th-century row houses along the 1700 block of Washington Street complement the larger, early 20th-century homes and churches along Baynard Boulevard.

Cool Spring/Tilton Park City Historic District | Established 1996

The Cool Spring/Tilton Park City Historic District features a spectrum of late 19th- and early 20th-century residential architecture representing Queen Anne, Italianate, Colonial Revival and Second Empire styles. A significant portion of the district was developed between 1885 and 1900 on Caesar A. Rodney’s 23-acre estate, known as “Cool Spring.” The district is also significant due to the construction of the 37-million-gallon Cool Spring Reservoir in the early 1870s, in response to sanitary sewer innovations, as well as the establishment of Tilton and Cool Spring Parks as urban amenities.

Delaware Avenue City Historic District | Established 1979

The Delaware Avenue City Historic District began as an early suburb of Wilmington when Joshua T. Heald developed the first horse-drawn trolley line out of the City along Delaware Avenue in 1864. The horse barns and trolley depot were once located on the site of the Trolley Square shopping center. The Victorian houses in this district reflect the new wealth of entrepreneurs who benefited from the industrial demands of the Civil War and post-war rebuilding. The resulting buildings are generally large and highly stylized, reflecting the major late 19th-century architectural fashions, including Italianate, Second Empire, and Queen Anne. The area is currently a mixture of owner- and renter-occupied buildings as a result of population increases during the two World Wars.

East Side/St. Mary's/Old Swedes City Historic District | Established 1987

The East Side, St. Mary’s and Old Swedes City Historic Districts all feature brick rowhouses dating to Wilmington’s period of intense industrial growth from 1830-1910. The districts also contain notable structures reflecting major events in Wilmington’s history.

The East Side City Historic District is a neighborhood of continuous brick rowhouses with corner commercial structures. The houses feature a variety of roof lines, window treatments, cornice trim and decorative porches.

The Saint Mary’s City Historic District is named for Saint Mary’s church and school, built in 1858 and 1866, respectively, to address the needs of Irish immigrants and industrial workers of the mid-to-late 1800s.

The Old Swedes City Historic District is named for Old Swedes (Holy Trinity) Church, built in 1698 at 7th and Church Streets. The district honors the location of Wilmington’s first Swedish settlement in 1638, known as Christinaham.

Kentmere Parkway City Historic District | Established 1979

The Kentmere Parkway City Historic District includes a highly stylized mix of late 19th century and early 20th century homes built along a curvilinear parkway, which originated in 1885 as a 100-foot-wide easement through the property of William and Jennie Field. In 1891, William P. Bancroft, industrialist, philanthropist and founding member of the City Parks Commission, collaborated with John C. Olmsted, nephew of famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and a member of the influential firm, to develop this link between the Brandywine and Rockford Parks.

Market Street City Historic District | Established 1975
Lower Market Street City Historic District | Established 1998

The Market Street and Lower Market Street City Historic Districts contain a significant collection of commercial and public buildings reflecting Wilmington’s growth from a mid-18th-century governmental and market center to a late 19th-century and early 20th-century commercial district. Millennium redevelopment activity between 2nd and 4th Streets combined modern residential floorplans and ground floor retail uses. Market Street was reopened in 2002-08 to two-way traffic after being utilized as a pedestrian mall for two decades.

Quaker Hill City Historic District | Established 1986

The Quaker Hill City Historic District centers around the Friends Meeting House built in 1816 at Fourth and West Streets. The early Quaker settlement on this rise of land grew into a compact neighborhood of substantial three-story row houses. More elaborate, detached houses were developed in the mid-19th century and several churches were built in response to the growing City population. The area is notable for its wide range of architectural styles, building materials, and varying degrees of ornamentation.

Rockford Park City Historic District | Established 1987

The Rockford Park City Historic District includes houses along Red Oak Road and Willard Street, just below Rockford Park’s southern border. Both the neighborhood and the park are a result of the vision of William Bancroft, the major proponent of Wilmington’s park system. Land adjacent to Rockford Park extending southward was purchased by his Woodlawn Company, who installed utilities and then sold the parcels with deed restrictions for development based upon the then-popular “garden city” model communities. Affluent owners retained architects to design their houses in Colonial Revival, Shingle, Tudor, and other styles between approximately 1905-1910. The setbacks and spacious lots further help to define the Rockford Park City Historic District.

Trinity Vicinity City Historic District | Established 2003

Designated in January 2003, Trinity Vicinity City Historic District includes a mixture of row- houses and semi-detached homes dating from the 1870s to the early part of the 20th century. The neighborhood was built over the top of Shipley Run, a stream enclosed as part of the City’s early sanitary sewer system. Architectural styles in the district include Italianate, French Second Empire and Neo-Classical Revival. The district includes the Church of the Sacred Heart, built during a ten-year period between 1873 and 1883, and nearby Trinity Episcopal Church, designed in 1889 by Philadelphia architect Theophilus Parsons Chandler.

Forty Acres Neighborhood Conservation District | Established 2004

In 2004, Wilmington’s first Neighborhood Conservation District was established in the 8th District neighborhood of Forty Acres. The name “Forty Acres” was derived after the Lovering Family’s 18th century, 94-acre “Hope Farm” was subdivided in June 1864, and 40 acres of land was sold to Joshua Heald and William Tatnall for the purpose of offering building lots in June of 1864. Today, Forty Acres is a compact neighborhood that could be considered an early “streetcar suburb” of Wilmington. The Wilmington Passenger Railway’s station and car barns [1864], and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad’s Middle Depot [1884] were important landmarks of the neighborhood, as is the Logan House hotel [1865] that is still in operation. Two- and three-story red brick rowhouses and semi-detached twin homes predominate the neighborhood.