Fort Delaware State Park

Fort Delaware State Park

Parks Directory of the United States / State Parks / Delaware

Location: On Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River between DE and NJ, 20 miles south of Wilmington. Access is by ferry located on Clinton Street in Delaware City; Delaware City is on the north side of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal off Rte 9.
Facilities: Civil War sites and exhibits, picnic area (é), nature trails, concession stand, restrooms (é), bird observation platform.
Activities: Interpretive programs, picnicking, birdwatching.
Special Features: Originally built in 1859 to protect the ports of Wilmington and Philadelphia, Fort Delaware served as a makeshift prison for 32,300 Confederate soldiers and Union deserters during the Civil War. Disease, malnutrition, and exposure killed more than 2,400 prisoners; many were buried across the river at what is now Finn's Point National Cemetery. (Fort Delaware closed in 2006 for historic preservation but is expected to reopen in the Spring of 2007.)
Address: PO Box 170
Delaware City, DE 19706
Phone: 302-834-7941;
Fax: 302-836-2539;
Web: www.destateparks.com/fdsp
Size: 288 acres.

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See other parks in Delaware.