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Searching for that special place for your next event? Fort DuPont has a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces that can accommodate meetings, parties, sporting events, weddings, even a circus! Conveniently located to all major transportation routes, with ample parking, you’ll find Fort DuPont has much to offer to make your next event a memorable one.
The Parade Ground – 18 acres of open space that currently hosts sporting events, dog shows, military re-enactments, crabfests and a circus, and can easily support festivals, concerts, school events, family reunions and more!
The Chapel – Build in 1943 to meet the spiritual needs of the service men and their families stationed at Fort DuPont, this unpretentious historic space can accommodate up to 250 people for weddings, meeting events.
Fort DuPont and Delaware City, less than 30 minutes south of Wilmington and the Delaware Memorial Bridge, is a riverside town with a concentration of stores and houses dating from the 1800’s when it was the busy eastern end of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. Today it is a popular destination for birders, boaters, dining, recreation and history enthusiasts.
The original C&D Canal forms the southern edge of town. Just a few feet across the Branch Canal, Fort DuPont is the location of a planned community.
A small-town style mixture of new and renovated vintage buildings is centered on a 17-acre parade ground. Parkland, including a large boat ramp, surrounds the former Army base and provides easy access to the Delaware River and canal, which is well known for fishing and boating.
From Wilmington take I-95 south to DE Route 1 south toward Dover. Take exit 152 for Delaware City and Route 72. Turn left on Route 72 and follow into Delaware City. Go through the traffic light at Clinton Street and continue over the Branch Canal Bridge. Take your first left, which will put you onto Old Elm Ave and into Fort DuPont. Follow Old Elm Ave along the parade ground (on your right) to the first building on the right, 260 Old Elm Ave. From Dover take DE Route 1 north to exit 152 for Delaware City and Route 72. Turn left on Route 72 and follow into Delaware City. Go through the traffic light at Clinton Street and continue over the Branch Canal Bridge. Take your first left, which will put you onto Old Elm Ave and into Fort DuPont. Follow Old Elm Ave along the parade ground (on your right) to the first building on the right, 260 Old Elm Ave.
Battery Park in Delaware City, on the river at the head of Clinton Street, is the jumping-off point for the ferry to Pea Patch Island and Fort Delaware State Park. The island fort was built to defend Philadelphia. In the Civil War, it was a prison camp that swelled to the size of a small city.
Bicyclists can start at Battery Park, cross Fifth Street and travel along the C&D Canal’s Mike Castle Trail to Chesapeake City, Maryland, and back. Or park along the trail and pedal east to town. The Castle Trail is open for walking, biking, and horseback riding.
The Rural two-lane Route 9, or Fifth Street, which runs south through the marshes to Odessa, Leipsic, and Dover, is also a popular bicycling route.
Just across the modern canal from the fort, Delaware’s coastal marshes begin at the Augustine Wildlife Area and the Thousand-Acre Marsh. The marsh is an ecologically important wetland popular with birders. Herons roost on the northern end of Pea Patch Island. Osprey and Bald Eagles fish the waters. The American Birding Association has also made Delaware City its North American home, complete with visitors center and museum.
It’s a short walk from Battery Park, past the marina, to the small bridge over the Branch Canal. Transient boaters find the Delaware City Marina a convenient stop and the state maintains a modern launching ramp on the canal’s south bank.
The marina and boat ramp is popular with boaters who fish the Delaware or pass through the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal to the upper Chesapeake Bay, about 15 miles west.
Named for a Civil War U.S. Naval hero, Fort DuPont was built to protect port cities along the Delaware River, like Wilmington and Philadelphia from enemy ships. When its weaponry became obsolete after World War I, Fort DuPont’s role switched primarily to training. The backbone of Fort DuPont’s coastal defense included its rifle, mortar and rapid-fire batteries that can still be seen today. A theater built in the 1930s still stands on the property, as well. The Riverview Trail is a prime spot to watch wading birds fly between Pea Patch Island and the mainland. Visitors can also see ospreys dive for fish in the river during the summer months, a variety of waterfowl in winter and bald eagles year-round
Welcome to a community blessed with a rich history and architectural heritage still evident in the homes and buildings along the wide tree-lined streets of Delaware City. Structures date back to the town’s earliest days in the 1820’s and help tell the story of its economic development. The Delaware City Historic District is one of the largest in the State of Delaware with more than 250 contributing structures.
Delaware City traces its origins to 1801 when the Newbold family from New Jersey purchased a tract of land that became known as Newbold’s Landing. The Newbolds drew plans for the town in 1826, with the expectation that it would eventually grow to rival Philadelphia as a Delaware River port and commercial center. Its location at the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in 1829 caused Delaware City to become both an operating base and a way station for a number of significant shipping-related activities.
From Wilmington take I-95 south to DE Route 1 south toward Dover. Take exit 152 for Delaware City and Route 72. Turn left on Route 72 and follow into Delaware City. Go through the traffic light at Clinton Street and continue over the Branch Canal Bridge. Take your first left, which will put you onto Old Elm Ave and into Fort DuPont. Follow Old Elm Ave along the parade ground (on your right) to the first building on the right, 260 Old Elm Ave.
Fort DuPont is a lifestyle-based community designed around the water and great outdoors.
A place where bicycling, boating, walking, hiking, and birding are the norm and not the exception.