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What was and where was Delaware Park?  In the 1890s, it was an amusement park and a bathing beach located on the eastern bank of the Nottoway River at the Village of Delaware, near where the present-day Route 671 crosses the river.  And near where the boat landing and clubhouse are now situated.  The CSX Railroad crosses a bit downriver. The Hercules Powder Co. plant was built on part of the property in 1956.  The plant is now known as SOLENIS – EASTMAN – ARKEMA.  

(In the 1890s, access to Delaware Park was by way of the railroad or the river; by way of a pathway – now called Shady Brook Trail – from the Courtland Road; or, from Franklin, by way of a farm path that paralleled the Seaboard Railroad.  Armory Drive and General Thomas Highway (Route 671) did not exist back then; at that time, woods and farmland took up that space.)      

The VILLAGE of Delaware was started soon after the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad was built through the area in 1837. Delaware, originally known as Nottoway, was renamed in honor of Delaware Webb, a man who ran a general store and was postmaster and railway agent there. The village also consisted of several warehouses and residences; it was a stopping point on the Nottoway River.    

Originally, the land, now known as the Delaware area, was part of a land grant given to the three Edwards Brothers by the King of England.  Those brothers emigrated from Wales and settled in Virginia.  One of them was an ancestor of Roscoe Edwards, of Courtland, now deceased, who said in a 1968 interview that the property was bought in the late 1800s by Captain I. C. Wills, a Confederate veteran, who with the help of the adjoining Seaboard Airline Railway, developed Delaware Park around 1890.  The Seaboard ran excursions from Norfolk and North Carolina to Delaware Park every week.  

Edwards’ memories were quite vivid since his childhood home was only a few miles from the park.  On the property, there was a large spring where the clear, sparkling artesian water bubbled high, and around which was built a small pool flanked by a picket fence.  The water was believed to contain healthful minerals; people would come with large jugs and buckets and carry the water home for drinking.

The park was landscaped with rustic bridges that spanned numerous runs and nooks. A rustic fence enclosed the entire park, and attractive entrances were located within it.

Edwards told of the keeper of the park, Mr. Covington, an Englishman.  “He kept colorful flower beds, mounds, and borders of annually blooming flowers and shrubs – during the summers, in the English manner.  He resided in a small house located on the grounds.”

According to Edwards, Mr. Covington was an interesting and industrious gentleman. He always had four men working in the gardens.

There was a small hotel with a dining room operated by Covington and his wife. Guests came to partake of the fresh country air, enjoy the home cooking, and drink bubbling artesian water.   

Delaware Park was a treat for children, as the main attraction was a small zoo. The cages housed several monkeys, an elephant, a lion, two rattlesnakes, a fox, a bear, and two Cuban white owls. Butler Pretlow of Franklin brought the owls home from Cuba upon his return from the Spanish-American War.

One of the zoo’s strange curiosities, of particular interest to young boys, was a dog derived from a timber wolf that had escaped from a sideshow in North Carlina and a hound dog. 

There was a large merry-go-round operated by steam power, wood-fired by lightwood knots.

The bathing beach was not a huge success. The river was dredged deep on one side and made shallow on the other, but at that time, few people could swim, so this venture was not very popular. Also, a small pond was created for some alligators that were brought in from down south. Unfortunately, during a heavy rainstorm, a severe freshet carried them to the river downstream—probably to North Carolina.

Also, the park had a bowling alley, a tower, a dance pavilion, huge swings, and a lunch counter.   Another attraction was the homemade ice cream that an elderly man named “Fenton” had for sale on excursion days and holidays.

It is thought that the cannon on the courthouse lawn at Courtland was once an attraction at Delaware Park. It was shot on holidays and special occasions. The cannon was found near a Civil War battleground and brought to Delaware Park by the Seaboard Airline Railway on a flat car.

During the early 1900s, during the summertime, the Franklin Brass Band journeyed to Delaware Park to play at the park’s dance pavilion – on Sunday afternoons, following church. 

Incidentally, Paul D. Camp and James L. Camp operated a lumber mill in Delaware in the mid-1880s before the establishment, in 1887, of Camp Manufacturing Co. at Franklin on the Blackwater River.

CLYDE PARKER is a retired human resources manager for the former Franklin Equipment Co. and a member of the Southampton County Historical Society. His email address is magnolia101@charter.net.