Reminiscences of Wilmington

This manuscript consists of M.C.L. (Miriam C. Lamborn) Worrell’s reminiscences about Wilmington, Delaware, in the 1810s-1820s. The notes were recorded by Worrell in the 1880s-1890s.

In these reminiscences, Worrell created a detailed sketch of Wilmington, Delaware, as it appeared in the 1810s and 1820s. Worrell moved block by block through the city and its outskirts, recording information about the architecture of buildings, infrastructure, street plans, and past and current residents. Using Market Street and the Christina and Brandywine Rivers as her reference points, Worrell described wharves, craft shops, hotels, private residences, and a variety of specialty stores. She made brief reference to the sections of town inhabited primarily by African American residents, including Chicken Alley. Worrell described Arthur Murphey’s “groggery” on Front and Shipley Streets as the location “where all the lower class of drunkards were made.”