Hockessin Historical SocietyFebruary 2023 Newsletter
HHS and Local News from the Past Few Months-We met with Paul Nasca, the Curator of Archaeology for the DE Historical and Cultural Affairs on March 16 to discuss displaying the artifacts they have in storage from Tweed’s Tavern. He said they have about 26 or 27 boxes of mostly fragments of artifacts and we discussed the process of having them loaned to us for display in the museum. We also discussed obtaining display cases and more importantly how to get help with the many aspects of our museum like storing artifacts, public presentation, making professional displays, and networking with University of Delaware. -We would like to make a memorial park to honor the many local residents who dedicated much of their time to make Hockessin what it is today. It was suggested that we use the park at the corner of Yorklyn Road and Lancaster Pike as it already has park benches and a flag pole. We need input and suggestions from the public on selecting a location, naming a park, and how to display the names of those who deserve recognition. And some other details, like funding the project. -We are in the process of renewing our occupancy permit at the museum. The cost is minimal at $25, but requires the electrical panel, fire system, extinguishers, and emergency lights to be inspected which costs quite a bit. The annual fire system inspection is $200, the electrical panel costs $100 every 5 years, and the fire extinguisher inspection varies depending if the extinguishers need to be recharged but is typically a few hundred dollars also per year. -We have a dormant Paypal account which was never linked to a website, so we are planning on making use of it for membership dues and donations in the near future. -Darleen is interested in having educational bus tours of the local historic sites for schools, retirement communities, and other interested organizations. We have a list of over 30 significant sites and are working on a handout for the tours with photos of each building or person and a description of each. Darleen is also working on a monthly member get together of some type. -The parking lot of Lamborn is in need of a sealcoat and line stripping. The estimates range from $1000 to $2000 for the seal coating and $500 for line stripping. -We are working on simple security measures for our buildings including installing dusk-to-dawn LED lightbulbs. -The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road): No new updates. -Bulah Historic Marker: Project is on hold waiting for a new Historic Marker Coordinator.-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we have a few board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel. Future Events-Coffee with Mike Smith: March 23 at 8:30am at The Well 6949 Lancaster Pike. Visit Mike’s website and Facebook.-Greater Hockessin Area Development Association (GHADA) meetings: 3rd Monday of each month at 7pm (except July, August, and December) https://ghadaonline.com -Hockessin Business Association (HBA) meeting is March 21 at 7pm (6:30 social) at Lamborn Library 1041 Valley.-NCC Historic Review Board: March 21 at 5pm (Public Hearing - Zoom), April 4 at 5pm (Business Meeting - Zoom), April 18 at 5:00pm (Public Hearing - Zoom). Past and future meeting info: https://newcastlede.gov/313/Historic-Review-Board We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?Contact Us!-Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebook page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.-Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/ All our monthly updates are available here. Check out our Facebook and YouTube pages. Search for “Hockessin Historical Society”. -Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com-This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.-All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
HHS and Local News from the Past Few Months-We met with Paul Nasca, the Curator of Archaeology for the DE Historical and Cultural Affairs on March 16 to discuss displaying the artifacts they have in storage from Tweed’s Tavern. He said they have about 26 or 27 boxes of mostly fragments of artifacts and we discussed the process of having them loaned to us for display in the museum. We also discussed obtaining display cases and more importantly how to get help with the many aspects of our museum like storing artifacts, public presentation, making professional displays, and networking with University of Delaware. -We would like to make a memorial park to honor the many local residents who dedicated much of their time to make Hockessin what it is today. It was suggested that we use the park at the corner of Yorklyn Road and Lancaster Pike as it already has park benches and a flag pole. We need input and suggestions from the public on selecting a location, naming a park, and how to display the names of those who deserve recognition. And some other details, like funding the project. -We are in the process of renewing our occupancy permit at the museum. The cost is minimal at $25, but requires the electrical panel, fire system, extinguishers, and emergency lights to be inspected which costs quite a bit. The annual fire system inspection is $200, the electrical panel costs $100 every 5 years, and the fire extinguisher inspection varies depending if the extinguishers need to be recharged but is typically a few hundred dollars also per year. -We have a dormant Paypal account which was never linked to a website, so we are planning on making use of it for membership dues and donations in the near future. -Darleen is interested in having educational bus tours of the local historic sites for schools, retirement communities, and other interested organizations. We have a list of over 30 significant sites and are working on a handout for the tours with photos of each building or person and a description of each. Darleen is also working on a monthly member get together of some type. -The parking lot of Lamborn is in need of a sealcoat and line stripping. The estimates range from $1000 to $2000 for the seal coating and $500 for line stripping. -We are working on simple security measures for our buildings including installing dusk-to-dawn LED lightbulbs. -The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road): No new updates. -Bulah Historic Marker: Project is on hold waiting for a new Historic Marker Coordinator.-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we have a few board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel. Future Events-Coffee with Mike Smith: March 23 at 8:30am at The Well 6949 Lancaster Pike. Visit Mike’s website and Facebook.-Greater Hockessin Area Development Association (GHADA) meetings: 3rd Monday of each month at 7pm (except July, August, and December) https://ghadaonline.com -Hockessin Business Association (HBA) meeting is March 21 at 7pm (6:30 social) at Lamborn Library 1041 Valley.-NCC Historic Review Board: March 21 at 5pm (Public Hearing - Zoom), April 4 at 5pm (Business Meeting - Zoom), April 18 at 5:00pm (Public Hearing - Zoom). Past and future meeting info: https://newcastlede.gov/313/Historic-Review-Board We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?Contact Us!-Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebook page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.-Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/ All our monthly updates are available here. Check out our Facebook and YouTube pages. Search for “Hockessin Historical Society”. -Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com-This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.-All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
Hockessin Historical SocietyJanuary 2023 Newsletter
Happy New Year!HHS and Local News from the Past Few Months-Our Vice President, Darleen Amobi, hosted a well attended Black History Month program at the Hockessin Library on Feb 4 with guest speakers from the Dickinson plantation. The topic was finding the slave graves located on the property. Thanks to Darleen for her hard work setting up this event. Darleen also set up a display for Black History Month at the entrance to the Hockessin Library. -We are working on recognizing a second site on the Underground Railroad in Hockessin with the National Park Service Network To Freedom. This requires much research and this site should be approved within the next half a year. The location will be kept secret until it is officially accepted, but we do have permission from the property owner and we believe the evidence is strong for the site to be recognized. -GRANTS, GRANTS, GRANTS: We are still collecting estimates for work on Tweed’s relating to the DE Community Reinvestment grant. We should have it finalized and pick a contractor to complete the work shortly. -We switched to a new CPA who prepared and submitted our Form 990 to the IRS for half the cost of our previous accountant who refused to submit the forms to the IRS which may have led to our past problems with our void 501c3. The savings was due to our new treasurer filling in the account information in a spreadsheet by category. We have also hired our new accountant as our registered agent to simplify the other most important yearly fee which is paying the $25 DE corporation fee. This was also something which lapsed in the past and having one company handling both should help to prevent these problems in the future.-We have a dormant Paypal account which was never linked to a website, so we are planning on making use of it for membership dues and donations in the near future. It is now set up and we have access to it, but need to discuss linking this to a checking account the most secure way possible. -We continue to host many nonprofit groups each month in both our museum and Lamborn. -Darleen is interested in having educational bus tours of the local historic sites for schools, retirement communities, and other interested organizations. We have a list of over 30 significant sites and are working on a handout for the tours with photos of each building or person and a description of each. Darleen is also working on a monthly member get together of some type. -The parking lot of Lamborn is in need of a sealcoat and line stripping. The estimates range from $1000 to $2000 for the seal coating and $500 for line stripping. -HOCKESSIN MUSEUM: The building is heated with heat pumps which are incredibly inefficient in the winter months, so they are mostly left off. We have the water main closed inside the building, the toilet is drained and shut off, and antifreeze (not automotive) was added to the toilet to help prevent freezing. Even with the heaters working, there are no fans to circulate the warm air into the basement, so it is always cold downstairs. -COUNTRYSIDE GARDEN CLUB OF HOCKESSIN: They again decorated Tweed’s Tavern for the holiday season. Go see their creative and beautiful display. Many thanks to all their members for volunteering their time to decorate the historic tavern!-The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road): This was discussed at a recent NCC meeting and the conversation got a bit heated over saving the barn and spigot. The developer is still planning on saving the historic house, but is likely applying for a demolition permit for the barn structure. -How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we have a few board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel. Future Events-Morning Coffee Meeting with State Representative Mike Smith: Jan 10, 2023 8:30 – 9:30am @ Drip Café, Lantana Square HockessinJan 26, 2023 8:30 – 9:30am @ The Well, 6949 Lancaster Pike Hockessin-Greater Hockessin Development Association (GHADA): meetings 3rd Monday of each month at 7:00pm(except July, August, December) next meeting Feb 20 at 7:00pm Past and future meeting info: https://ghadaonline.com/ -Hockessin Business Association (HBA): meeting Tuesday 2/21 (must be member to attend) https://www.hockessinbusinessassociation.org/ -NCC Historic Review Board: Jan 17 at 5:00pm (Public Hearing - Zoom), Feb 7 at 5:00pm (Business Meeting - Zoom), Feb 21 at 5:00pm (Public Hearing – Zoom) Past and future meeting info: https://newcastlede.gov/313/Historic-Review-Board -NCC Department of Land Use: Jan 12 at 6:00pm (Board of Adjustment Public Hearing), Jan 17 at 9:00am (Planning Board Business Meeting), Jan 19 at 6:00pm (Board of Adjustment Public Hearing), Jan 25 at 9:30am (Resource Protection Area Technical Advisory Committee Public Hearing) https://www.newcastlede.gov/2420/Land-Use We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?Contact Us!-Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebook page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.-Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/ All our monthly updates are available here. Check out our Facebook and YouTube pages. Search for “Hockessin Historical Society”. -Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com-This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.-All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
Hockessin Historical SocietyUpdates for December 2022
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to make the public aware of our organization, allow those who are unable to attend events to view them, and share our local history. Also check out our Facebook page for events. -We now have over 70 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 70 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some members on our old mailing list. HHS and Local News from the Past Few Months-GRANTS, GRANTS, GRANTS: We recently submitted a Delaware Community Foundation FY2023 grant application requesting $20,000 for repairs to Tweed’s Tavern. We had a meeting with DCF on December 9th and they are not thrilled we are asking for grant funding for a building which is not handicapped accessible. Darleen is working on a Delaware General Assembly Grant-In-Aid for museum upgrades and school tours. She is becoming proficient with grant writing skills. Earlier this year, we were able to secure a NCC grant for $2,500 for our guest speaker events and also minor building repairs. Thanks to Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick, her staff, and New Castle County for the grant. We were also able to secure the FY2023 Delaware Community Reinvestment grant for $12,000 for security upgrades to Tweed’s Tavern and the Hockessin History Museum. Thanks to Representative Mike Smith for suggesting we apply for this grant. This will allow us to obtain more priceless artifacts to put on display for the public, such as local Native American artifacts dating back thousands of years. We are waiting on final details for the security system before proceeding with the work.-We are working on switching to a new CPA to prepare and submit our yearly 990 forms. I am patiently waiting for our yearly statements so we can have our 990 form prepared. The months are passing quickly and everyone is so busy. -THANKS TO OUR TREASURER: Even though she recently was elected treasurer, Stephanie has completed a monthly treasurers report for the entire year and more importantly, a spreadsheet for each checking account which should save our accountant much time and save us money. It also makes tracking income and expenses much easier from year to year. This is basically a new baseline, as we have not had these reports generated for the past 4 years.-We have a dormant Paypal account which was never linked to a website, so we are planning on making use of it for membership dues and donations in the near future. -We continue to host many nonprofit groups each month in both our museum and Lamborn. -Darleen is interested in having educational bus tours of the local historic sites for schools, retirement communities, and other interested organizations. We have a list of over 30 significant sites and are working on a handout for the tours with photos of each building or person and a description of each. Darleen is also working on a monthly member get together of some type. -We have a contract with a new snow plow contractor for Lamborn as our past company is no longer interested. -The parking lot of Lamborn is also in need of a sealcoat and line stripping. The estimates range from $1000 to $2000 for the seal coating and $500 for line stripping. -COULD THERE BE ANY MORE ISSUES WITH LAMBORN?: The electric hot water heater failed and needed to be replaced. It was 20 years old. -LAMBORN WATER MAIN BREAK: Just before Thanksgiving while doing routing maintenance on the boiler, I noticed the basement floor was wet. A call to Artesian confirmed the leak was on our side of the water main. Because we are a commercial customer, the residential Pipe Protection Plan (PPP) is not available to us, so we were responsible for paying for the repairs. I spent my Thanksgiving break getting repair estimates and hiring a plumber to complete the repairs. It was a time sensitive issue as we had only a week before Artesian was going to turn off the water until the leak was fixed. Pipe Pros fixed the pipe on December 5th. Our insurance company was notified as it could have caused major damage to the building. They found our policy did not cover the pipe repair and there is currently no damage inside the building. -HOCKESSIN MUSEUM: The building is heated with heat pumps which are incredibly inefficient in the winter months, so they are mostly left off. We have the water main closed inside the building, the toilet is drained and shut off, and antifreeze (not automotive) was added to the toilet to help prevent freezing. Even with the heaters working, there are no fans to circulate the warm air into the basement, so it is always cold downstairs. -COUNTRYSIDE GARDEN CLUB OF HOCKESSIN: They again decorated Tweed’s Tavern for the holiday season. Go see their creative and beautiful display. Many thanks to all their members for volunteering their time to decorate the historic tavern!-BARBARA MILLER DEDICATION: We planted a Boxwood variety ‘Fastigiata’ at Lamborn in memory of Barbara Miller and her dedication to the community. Her birthday is December 19th.-We are working on simple security measures for our buildings including installing dusk-to-dawn LED lightbulbs. -The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road): No new updates. -Local historian Scott Palmer completed an article on Tweed’s Tavern for his Mill Creek Hundred Blog.-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we have a few board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel. Future Events -Morning Coffee Meeting with State Representative Mike Smith: Jan 10, 2023 8:30 – 9:30am @ Drip Café, Lantana Square HockessinJan 26, 2023 8:30 – 9:30am @ The Well, 6949 Lancaster Pike Hockessin-Greater Hockessin Development Association (GHADA): meetings 3rd Monday of each month at 7:00pm(except July, August, December) next meeting Jan 16 at 7:00pm Past and future meeting info: https://ghadaonline.com/ -Hockessin Business Association (HBA): meeting? (must be member to attend) https://www.hockessinbusinessassociation.org/ -NCC Historic Review Board: Jan 17 at 5:00pm (Public Hearing - Zoom), Feb 7 at 5:00pm (Business Meeting - Zoom), Feb 21 at 5:00pm (Public Hearing – Zoom) Past and future meeting info: https://newcastlede.gov/313/Historic-Review-Board -NCC Department of Land Use: Jan 12 at 6:00pm (Board of Adjustment Public Hearing), Jan 17 at 9:00am (Planning Board Business Meeting), Jan 19 at 6:00pm (Board of Adjustment Public Hearing), Jan 25 at 9:30am (Resource Protection Area Technical Advisory Committee Public Hearing) https://www.newcastlede.gov/2420/Land-Use We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?Contact Us!-Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebook page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.-Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/ All our monthly updates are available here. Check out our Facebook and YouTube pages. Search for “Hockessin Historical Society”. -Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com-This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.-All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to make the public aware of our organization, allow those who are unable to attend events to view them, and share our local history. Also check out our Facebook page for events. -We now have over 70 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 70 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some members on our old mailing list. HHS and Local News from the Past Few Months-GRANTS, GRANTS, GRANTS: We recently submitted a Delaware Community Foundation FY2023 grant application requesting $20,000 for repairs to Tweed’s Tavern. We had a meeting with DCF on December 9th and they are not thrilled we are asking for grant funding for a building which is not handicapped accessible. Darleen is working on a Delaware General Assembly Grant-In-Aid for museum upgrades and school tours. She is becoming proficient with grant writing skills. Earlier this year, we were able to secure a NCC grant for $2,500 for our guest speaker events and also minor building repairs. Thanks to Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick, her staff, and New Castle County for the grant. We were also able to secure the FY2023 Delaware Community Reinvestment grant for $12,000 for security upgrades to Tweed’s Tavern and the Hockessin History Museum. Thanks to Representative Mike Smith for suggesting we apply for this grant. This will allow us to obtain more priceless artifacts to put on display for the public, such as local Native American artifacts dating back thousands of years. We are waiting on final details for the security system before proceeding with the work.-We are working on switching to a new CPA to prepare and submit our yearly 990 forms. I am patiently waiting for our yearly statements so we can have our 990 form prepared. The months are passing quickly and everyone is so busy. -THANKS TO OUR TREASURER: Even though she recently was elected treasurer, Stephanie has completed a monthly treasurers report for the entire year and more importantly, a spreadsheet for each checking account which should save our accountant much time and save us money. It also makes tracking income and expenses much easier from year to year. This is basically a new baseline, as we have not had these reports generated for the past 4 years.-We have a dormant Paypal account which was never linked to a website, so we are planning on making use of it for membership dues and donations in the near future. -We continue to host many nonprofit groups each month in both our museum and Lamborn. -Darleen is interested in having educational bus tours of the local historic sites for schools, retirement communities, and other interested organizations. We have a list of over 30 significant sites and are working on a handout for the tours with photos of each building or person and a description of each. Darleen is also working on a monthly member get together of some type. -We have a contract with a new snow plow contractor for Lamborn as our past company is no longer interested. -The parking lot of Lamborn is also in need of a sealcoat and line stripping. The estimates range from $1000 to $2000 for the seal coating and $500 for line stripping. -COULD THERE BE ANY MORE ISSUES WITH LAMBORN?: The electric hot water heater failed and needed to be replaced. It was 20 years old. -LAMBORN WATER MAIN BREAK: Just before Thanksgiving while doing routing maintenance on the boiler, I noticed the basement floor was wet. A call to Artesian confirmed the leak was on our side of the water main. Because we are a commercial customer, the residential Pipe Protection Plan (PPP) is not available to us, so we were responsible for paying for the repairs. I spent my Thanksgiving break getting repair estimates and hiring a plumber to complete the repairs. It was a time sensitive issue as we had only a week before Artesian was going to turn off the water until the leak was fixed. Pipe Pros fixed the pipe on December 5th. Our insurance company was notified as it could have caused major damage to the building. They found our policy did not cover the pipe repair and there is currently no damage inside the building. -HOCKESSIN MUSEUM: The building is heated with heat pumps which are incredibly inefficient in the winter months, so they are mostly left off. We have the water main closed inside the building, the toilet is drained and shut off, and antifreeze (not automotive) was added to the toilet to help prevent freezing. Even with the heaters working, there are no fans to circulate the warm air into the basement, so it is always cold downstairs. -COUNTRYSIDE GARDEN CLUB OF HOCKESSIN: They again decorated Tweed’s Tavern for the holiday season. Go see their creative and beautiful display. Many thanks to all their members for volunteering their time to decorate the historic tavern!-BARBARA MILLER DEDICATION: We planted a Boxwood variety ‘Fastigiata’ at Lamborn in memory of Barbara Miller and her dedication to the community. Her birthday is December 19th.-We are working on simple security measures for our buildings including installing dusk-to-dawn LED lightbulbs. -The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road): No new updates. -Local historian Scott Palmer completed an article on Tweed’s Tavern for his Mill Creek Hundred Blog.-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we have a few board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel. Future Events -Morning Coffee Meeting with State Representative Mike Smith: Jan 10, 2023 8:30 – 9:30am @ Drip Café, Lantana Square HockessinJan 26, 2023 8:30 – 9:30am @ The Well, 6949 Lancaster Pike Hockessin-Greater Hockessin Development Association (GHADA): meetings 3rd Monday of each month at 7:00pm(except July, August, December) next meeting Jan 16 at 7:00pm Past and future meeting info: https://ghadaonline.com/ -Hockessin Business Association (HBA): meeting? (must be member to attend) https://www.hockessinbusinessassociation.org/ -NCC Historic Review Board: Jan 17 at 5:00pm (Public Hearing - Zoom), Feb 7 at 5:00pm (Business Meeting - Zoom), Feb 21 at 5:00pm (Public Hearing – Zoom) Past and future meeting info: https://newcastlede.gov/313/Historic-Review-Board -NCC Department of Land Use: Jan 12 at 6:00pm (Board of Adjustment Public Hearing), Jan 17 at 9:00am (Planning Board Business Meeting), Jan 19 at 6:00pm (Board of Adjustment Public Hearing), Jan 25 at 9:30am (Resource Protection Area Technical Advisory Committee Public Hearing) https://www.newcastlede.gov/2420/Land-Use We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?Contact Us!-Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebook page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.-Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/ All our monthly updates are available here. Check out our Facebook and YouTube pages. Search for “Hockessin Historical Society”. -Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com-This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.-All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
Hockessin Historical SocietyUpdates for November 2022
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to make the public aware of our organization, allow those who are unable to attend events to view them, and share our local history. Also check out our Facebook page for events. -We now have over 70 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 70 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some members on our old mailing list. HHS and Local News from the Past Few Months-CORRECTION FROM SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER UPDATES: Our volunteer keeping track of the membership list on a spreadsheet, writing thank you letters to new members, and helping with other areas of membership interaction is AMY ZUNINO. I mistakenly had her name listed as Kim. Thanks to Amy for the correction! -BULAH HISTORIC MARKER UPDATE: The Historic Marker Program Coordinator for Delaware Public Archives has a new career and the installation of all historic markers in the state are now on hold until a new person is hired for this position. Being an entry level position, the past turnover has been frequent and unpredictable, and it may be months before a replacement is found. -CONGRATULATIONS TO HHS AND THE HOCKESSIN COMMUNITY: We now have our first local property listed on the National Park Service Network To Freedom. This program recognizes properties, people, or events relating to the Underground Railroad. The National Park Service lists and promotes these locations online on a map and having more sites listed locally can boost tourism in our area. The site which was approved is the Jacob Heald Farm, also know as the Cox-Phillips-Mitchell Agricultural Complex. Jacob Heald was a Quaker abolitionist and he helped freedom seekers from down south on the last part of their journey to freedom which was Pennsylvania, and was at the corner of Jacob Heald’s farm. Many people spent hundreds of hours studying and researching the topic. Filling out the application and compiling the over 25 sources of historic documentation took about 70 hours. The application process took a half year to approve and the park service themselves spends about 40 hours reviewing each application and meeting to discuss if the application should be accepted. In addition, we spent many hours on the phone and emailing the regional coordinators of the program. Now that this application has been approved on the first submission, we build up credibility with the coordinators and are more likely to have future acceptances on the many other sites and people relating to the Underground Railroad in the Hockessin area.-GRANTS, GRANTS, GRANTS: We recently submitted a Delaware Community Foundation FY2023 grant application requesting $20,000 for repairs to Tweed’s Tavern. Darleen is working on a Delaware General Assembly Grant-In-Aid for museum upgrades and school tours. Earlier this year, we were able to secure a NCC grant for $2,500 for our guest speaker events and also minor building repairs. Thanks to Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick, her staff, and New Castle County for the grant. We were also able to secure the FY2023 Delaware Community Reinvestment grant for $12,000 for security upgrades to Tweed’s Tavern and the Hockessin History Museum. Thanks to Representative Mike Smith for suggesting we apply for this grant. This will allow us to obtain more priceless artifacts to put on display for the public, such as local Native American artifacts dating back thousands of years. We are waiting on final details for the security system before proceeding with the work.-HALLOWEEN IN HOCKESSIN: Parents were not bringing their cash, so our 50/50 raffle income was not good, but we got some exposure and handed out many membership forms, free pens, pencils with sharpeners, and of course candy. Some businesses reported over 900 children, but we think the corner by Lamborn saw much less than that, but we were not counting. I would estimate 300.-We are working on switching to a new CPA to prepare and submit our yearly 990 forms. -THANKS TO OUR TREASURER: Even though she recently was elected treasurer, Stephanie has completed a monthly treasurers report for the entire year and more importantly, a spreadsheet for each checking account which should save our accountant much time and save us money. It also makes tracking income and expenses much easier from year to year. This is basically a new baseline, as we have not had these reports generated for the past 4 years.-We had an issue with the 2020 990 form being rejected by the IRS, even after our 501c3 status was reinstated. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with an IRS staff to work out the issues and he said the likely cause was their master computer system did not update our nonprofit status, so he made some changes in the system and recommended filing the form again in a few weeks. There were no errors in the form, our status was just not listed as nonprofit in their master computer system when the 2020 990 form was reviewed and rejected. After speaking with several CPAs, they all recommended doing what was suggested and said good luck dealing with the IRS. So, we still have our 501c3 designation even though the 2020 990 form was not accepted yet. UPDATE: The 2020 990 form was resubmitted and we should be good to go submitting our 2021 990 form.-We have a dormant Paypal account which was never linked to a website, so we are planning on making use of it for membership dues and donations in the near future. -We continue to host many nonprofit groups each month in both our museum and Lamborn. -Darleen is interested in having educational bus tours of the local historic sites for schools, retirement communities, and other interested organizations. We have a list of over 30 significant sites and are working on a handout for the tours with photos of each building or person and a description of each. Darleen is also working on a monthly member get together of some type. -We are working on a new snow plow contract for Lamborn as our past company is no longer interested. We are waiting on a few more estimates before making a decision.-The parking lot of Lamborn is also in need of a sealcoat and line stripping. The estimates range from $1000 to $2000 for the seal coating and $500 for line stripping. -COULD THERE BE ANY MORE ISSUES WITH LAMBORN?: The electric hot water heater failed and needed to be replaced. It was 20 years old.-COUNTRYSIDE GARDEN CLUB: They will again be decorating Tweed’s Tavern for the holiday season. Look forward to their creative and beautiful display. Many thanks to all their members for volunteering their time to decorate the historic tavern!-BARBARA MILLER DEDICATION: We planted a Boxwood variety ‘Fastigiata’ at Lamborn in memory of Barbara Miller and her dedication to the community. Her birthday is December 19th.-We are working on simple security measures for our buildings including installing dusk-to-dawn LED lightbulbs. -The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road): No new updates. -Local historian Scott Palmer completed an article on Tweed’s Tavern for his Mill Creek Hundred Blog.-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we have a few board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel. Future Events-Hockessin Business Association (HBA) meeting was 11/15/2022. There is no December meeting. -NCC Historic Review Board: Dec 6 at 5:00pm (Business Meeting - Zoom), Dec 20 at 5:00pm (Public Hearing - Zoom). Past and future meeting info: https://newcastlede.gov/313/Historic-Review-Board We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?Contact Us!-Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebook page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.-Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/ All our monthly updates are available here. Check out our Facebook and YouTube pages. Search for “Hockessin Historical Society”. -Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com-This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.-All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to make the public aware of our organization, allow those who are unable to attend events to view them, and share our local history. Also check out our Facebook page for events. -We now have over 70 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 70 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some members on our old mailing list. HHS and Local News from the Past Few Months-CORRECTION FROM SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER UPDATES: Our volunteer keeping track of the membership list on a spreadsheet, writing thank you letters to new members, and helping with other areas of membership interaction is AMY ZUNINO. I mistakenly had her name listed as Kim. Thanks to Amy for the correction! -BULAH HISTORIC MARKER UPDATE: The Historic Marker Program Coordinator for Delaware Public Archives has a new career and the installation of all historic markers in the state are now on hold until a new person is hired for this position. Being an entry level position, the past turnover has been frequent and unpredictable, and it may be months before a replacement is found. -CONGRATULATIONS TO HHS AND THE HOCKESSIN COMMUNITY: We now have our first local property listed on the National Park Service Network To Freedom. This program recognizes properties, people, or events relating to the Underground Railroad. The National Park Service lists and promotes these locations online on a map and having more sites listed locally can boost tourism in our area. The site which was approved is the Jacob Heald Farm, also know as the Cox-Phillips-Mitchell Agricultural Complex. Jacob Heald was a Quaker abolitionist and he helped freedom seekers from down south on the last part of their journey to freedom which was Pennsylvania, and was at the corner of Jacob Heald’s farm. Many people spent hundreds of hours studying and researching the topic. Filling out the application and compiling the over 25 sources of historic documentation took about 70 hours. The application process took a half year to approve and the park service themselves spends about 40 hours reviewing each application and meeting to discuss if the application should be accepted. In addition, we spent many hours on the phone and emailing the regional coordinators of the program. Now that this application has been approved on the first submission, we build up credibility with the coordinators and are more likely to have future acceptances on the many other sites and people relating to the Underground Railroad in the Hockessin area.-GRANTS, GRANTS, GRANTS: We recently submitted a Delaware Community Foundation FY2023 grant application requesting $20,000 for repairs to Tweed’s Tavern. Darleen is working on a Delaware General Assembly Grant-In-Aid for museum upgrades and school tours. Earlier this year, we were able to secure a NCC grant for $2,500 for our guest speaker events and also minor building repairs. Thanks to Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick, her staff, and New Castle County for the grant. We were also able to secure the FY2023 Delaware Community Reinvestment grant for $12,000 for security upgrades to Tweed’s Tavern and the Hockessin History Museum. Thanks to Representative Mike Smith for suggesting we apply for this grant. This will allow us to obtain more priceless artifacts to put on display for the public, such as local Native American artifacts dating back thousands of years. We are waiting on final details for the security system before proceeding with the work.-HALLOWEEN IN HOCKESSIN: Parents were not bringing their cash, so our 50/50 raffle income was not good, but we got some exposure and handed out many membership forms, free pens, pencils with sharpeners, and of course candy. Some businesses reported over 900 children, but we think the corner by Lamborn saw much less than that, but we were not counting. I would estimate 300.-We are working on switching to a new CPA to prepare and submit our yearly 990 forms. -THANKS TO OUR TREASURER: Even though she recently was elected treasurer, Stephanie has completed a monthly treasurers report for the entire year and more importantly, a spreadsheet for each checking account which should save our accountant much time and save us money. It also makes tracking income and expenses much easier from year to year. This is basically a new baseline, as we have not had these reports generated for the past 4 years.-We had an issue with the 2020 990 form being rejected by the IRS, even after our 501c3 status was reinstated. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with an IRS staff to work out the issues and he said the likely cause was their master computer system did not update our nonprofit status, so he made some changes in the system and recommended filing the form again in a few weeks. There were no errors in the form, our status was just not listed as nonprofit in their master computer system when the 2020 990 form was reviewed and rejected. After speaking with several CPAs, they all recommended doing what was suggested and said good luck dealing with the IRS. So, we still have our 501c3 designation even though the 2020 990 form was not accepted yet. UPDATE: The 2020 990 form was resubmitted and we should be good to go submitting our 2021 990 form.-We have a dormant Paypal account which was never linked to a website, so we are planning on making use of it for membership dues and donations in the near future. -We continue to host many nonprofit groups each month in both our museum and Lamborn. -Darleen is interested in having educational bus tours of the local historic sites for schools, retirement communities, and other interested organizations. We have a list of over 30 significant sites and are working on a handout for the tours with photos of each building or person and a description of each. Darleen is also working on a monthly member get together of some type. -We are working on a new snow plow contract for Lamborn as our past company is no longer interested. We are waiting on a few more estimates before making a decision.-The parking lot of Lamborn is also in need of a sealcoat and line stripping. The estimates range from $1000 to $2000 for the seal coating and $500 for line stripping. -COULD THERE BE ANY MORE ISSUES WITH LAMBORN?: The electric hot water heater failed and needed to be replaced. It was 20 years old.-COUNTRYSIDE GARDEN CLUB: They will again be decorating Tweed’s Tavern for the holiday season. Look forward to their creative and beautiful display. Many thanks to all their members for volunteering their time to decorate the historic tavern!-BARBARA MILLER DEDICATION: We planted a Boxwood variety ‘Fastigiata’ at Lamborn in memory of Barbara Miller and her dedication to the community. Her birthday is December 19th.-We are working on simple security measures for our buildings including installing dusk-to-dawn LED lightbulbs. -The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road): No new updates. -Local historian Scott Palmer completed an article on Tweed’s Tavern for his Mill Creek Hundred Blog.-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we have a few board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel. Future Events-Hockessin Business Association (HBA) meeting was 11/15/2022. There is no December meeting. -NCC Historic Review Board: Dec 6 at 5:00pm (Business Meeting - Zoom), Dec 20 at 5:00pm (Public Hearing - Zoom). Past and future meeting info: https://newcastlede.gov/313/Historic-Review-Board We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?Contact Us!-Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebook page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.-Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/ All our monthly updates are available here. Check out our Facebook and YouTube pages. Search for “Hockessin Historical Society”. -Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com-This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.-All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
Hockessin Historical SocietyUpdates for GHADA 10/17/2022 Meeting
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to advertise for our organization and share our local history with the general public. Also check out our Facebook page for events. -We now have over 70 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 70 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some members on our old mailing list. HHS and Local News from the Past Few Months-We are working on a new snow plow contract for Lamborn as our past company is no longer interested. We are waiting on a few more estimates before making a decision.-We also are working on switching to a new CPA to handle our yearly 990 forms. -We had an issue with the 2020 990 form being rejected by the IRS, even after our 501c3 status was reinstated. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with an IRS staff to work out the issues and he said the likely cause was their master computer system did not update our nonprofit status, so he made some changes in the system and recommended filing the form again in a few weeks. There were no errors in the form, our status was just not listed as nonprofit in their master computer system when the 2020 990 form was reviewed and rejected. After speaking with several CPAs, they all recommended doing what was suggested and said good luck dealing with the IRS. So, we still have our 501c3 designation even though the 2020 990 form was not accepted yet. -We continue to host many nonprofit groups each month in both our museum and Lamborn. -Darleen is interested in having educational bus tours of the local historic sites for schools, retirement communities, and other interested organizations. We have a list of over 30 significant sites and are working on a handout for the tours with photos of each building or person and a description of each. -With the cost of heating oil doubling in the last two years, we are working on making Lamborn Library as efficient as possible. Our tenant said the old windows are drafty, yet the storm windows are not closed. Lowering the storm windows is the best solution as the building is on the National Historic Register and we should not put in modern replacement windows. The windows are weighted and many of the sash cords for the window weights have broken and need to be replaced. Also, the many years of paint buildup is causing the windows to be difficult to open. -The parking lot of Lamborn is also in need of a sealcoat and line stripping. The estimates range from $1000 to $2000 for the seal coating and $500 for line stripping. -We are working on simple security measures for our buildings including installing dusk-to-dawn LED lightbulbs. -We have a new Treasurer who was voted in by our Board. We welcome Stephanie Wardell and expect to have more detailed Treasurer’s reports as she is making quarterly Excel financial reports to show our income and expenses by category so we can track them better by quarter and year. -We have a new volunteer member, Amy Zunino, maintaining our membership list and transferring the information to Excel. It is one thing to become a member, but when members request to volunteer, it is exactly what is needed for our public community organization. Many thanks Amy!-September was the end of our fiscal year. We had a good year and remain stable. We are keeping our expenses to a minimum and are not doing as many programs or having our museum open as much as we would like due to the ongoing covid issues. Thanks to Darleen for paying the bills for the past few years, keeping detailed financial records, and researching/questioning bills before paying them. Considering Joe Lake was doing all the work in the past, we had a very smooth transition. As of October, we just received our checking account statements and are in the process of compiling the Treasurers Reports and Excel Yearly Budget spreadsheet to forward to our accountant. -We are planning more guest speaker events and also more 50/50 raffles at events such as Hockessin Halloween. UPDATE: We have paid the fee to HBA to join Hockessin Halloween and plan on having our 50/50 raffle table at Lamborn Library. At this point, 50/50 raffles generate minimal income, but provide exposure to the public and attract new members who were not previously aware of our society. New members translate into more potential volunteer help. -We are working on listing some of the historically significant houses in the Hockessin area with the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. It basically involves filling out a long application and proving the historical documentation. We have many locations in Hockessin deserving the recognition for their active roles in the Underground Railroad. -The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road). No new updates. A yellow zoning billboard appeared last month and then disappeared. It was outdated and we have no updates from HRB or NCC. -The Shirley Bulah marker placement has been approved in Tweed’s Park. The text for the marker has been submitted and is awaiting approval. There is no date scheduled for the installation of the marker at this time. -Now that we have our 501(c)3 status reinstated, we are filling out grant applications for some of our future projects. We were able to secure a NCC grant for $2,500 for our guest speaker events and also minor building repairs. Thanks to Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick, her staff, and New Castle County for the grant. We were also able to secure the FY2023 Delaware Community Reinvestment grant for $12,000 for security upgrades to Tweed’s Tavern and the Hockessin History Museum. Thanks to Representative Mike Smith for suggesting we apply for this grant. This will allow us to obtain more priceless artifacts to put on display for the public, such as local Native American artifacts dating back thousands of years. We are waiting on final details for the security system before proceeding with the work. -The next grant application we are working on is a $50,000 grant available to small museums. UPDATE: We are not eligible as we were not staffing the museum open to the public for a minimum of 120 days last year. -Local historian Scott Palmer completed an article on Tweed’s Tavern for his Mill Creek Hundred Blog.-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we have a few board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel. Future Events-Mike Smith Coffee and Conversation: Tuesday October 18th Drip Café 8:30-9:30am-NCC Historic Review Board: October 18th at 5:00pm (Public Hearing – Zoom) https://newcastlede.gov/313/Historic-Review-Board -Hockessin Business Association (HBA) meeting: October 18th at 6:30pm (Social) Meeting starts at 7pm at Lamborn Library (Must be a HBA member to attend.)-Hockessin Halloween: Saturday, October 29th 11am-3pm -NCC Historic Review Board: November 1st at 5pm (Business Meeting – Zoom)-NCC Historic Review Board: November 15th at 5pm (Public Hearing – Zoom)We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebook page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/ All our monthly updates are available here. Check out our Facebook and YouTube pages. Search for “Hockessin Historical Society”.
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to advertise for our organization and share our local history with the general public. Also check out our Facebook page for events. -We now have over 70 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 70 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some members on our old mailing list. HHS and Local News from the Past Few Months-We are working on a new snow plow contract for Lamborn as our past company is no longer interested. We are waiting on a few more estimates before making a decision.-We also are working on switching to a new CPA to handle our yearly 990 forms. -We had an issue with the 2020 990 form being rejected by the IRS, even after our 501c3 status was reinstated. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with an IRS staff to work out the issues and he said the likely cause was their master computer system did not update our nonprofit status, so he made some changes in the system and recommended filing the form again in a few weeks. There were no errors in the form, our status was just not listed as nonprofit in their master computer system when the 2020 990 form was reviewed and rejected. After speaking with several CPAs, they all recommended doing what was suggested and said good luck dealing with the IRS. So, we still have our 501c3 designation even though the 2020 990 form was not accepted yet. -We continue to host many nonprofit groups each month in both our museum and Lamborn. -Darleen is interested in having educational bus tours of the local historic sites for schools, retirement communities, and other interested organizations. We have a list of over 30 significant sites and are working on a handout for the tours with photos of each building or person and a description of each. -With the cost of heating oil doubling in the last two years, we are working on making Lamborn Library as efficient as possible. Our tenant said the old windows are drafty, yet the storm windows are not closed. Lowering the storm windows is the best solution as the building is on the National Historic Register and we should not put in modern replacement windows. The windows are weighted and many of the sash cords for the window weights have broken and need to be replaced. Also, the many years of paint buildup is causing the windows to be difficult to open. -The parking lot of Lamborn is also in need of a sealcoat and line stripping. The estimates range from $1000 to $2000 for the seal coating and $500 for line stripping. -We are working on simple security measures for our buildings including installing dusk-to-dawn LED lightbulbs. -We have a new Treasurer who was voted in by our Board. We welcome Stephanie Wardell and expect to have more detailed Treasurer’s reports as she is making quarterly Excel financial reports to show our income and expenses by category so we can track them better by quarter and year. -We have a new volunteer member, Amy Zunino, maintaining our membership list and transferring the information to Excel. It is one thing to become a member, but when members request to volunteer, it is exactly what is needed for our public community organization. Many thanks Amy!-September was the end of our fiscal year. We had a good year and remain stable. We are keeping our expenses to a minimum and are not doing as many programs or having our museum open as much as we would like due to the ongoing covid issues. Thanks to Darleen for paying the bills for the past few years, keeping detailed financial records, and researching/questioning bills before paying them. Considering Joe Lake was doing all the work in the past, we had a very smooth transition. As of October, we just received our checking account statements and are in the process of compiling the Treasurers Reports and Excel Yearly Budget spreadsheet to forward to our accountant. -We are planning more guest speaker events and also more 50/50 raffles at events such as Hockessin Halloween. UPDATE: We have paid the fee to HBA to join Hockessin Halloween and plan on having our 50/50 raffle table at Lamborn Library. At this point, 50/50 raffles generate minimal income, but provide exposure to the public and attract new members who were not previously aware of our society. New members translate into more potential volunteer help. -We are working on listing some of the historically significant houses in the Hockessin area with the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. It basically involves filling out a long application and proving the historical documentation. We have many locations in Hockessin deserving the recognition for their active roles in the Underground Railroad. -The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road). No new updates. A yellow zoning billboard appeared last month and then disappeared. It was outdated and we have no updates from HRB or NCC. -The Shirley Bulah marker placement has been approved in Tweed’s Park. The text for the marker has been submitted and is awaiting approval. There is no date scheduled for the installation of the marker at this time. -Now that we have our 501(c)3 status reinstated, we are filling out grant applications for some of our future projects. We were able to secure a NCC grant for $2,500 for our guest speaker events and also minor building repairs. Thanks to Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick, her staff, and New Castle County for the grant. We were also able to secure the FY2023 Delaware Community Reinvestment grant for $12,000 for security upgrades to Tweed’s Tavern and the Hockessin History Museum. Thanks to Representative Mike Smith for suggesting we apply for this grant. This will allow us to obtain more priceless artifacts to put on display for the public, such as local Native American artifacts dating back thousands of years. We are waiting on final details for the security system before proceeding with the work. -The next grant application we are working on is a $50,000 grant available to small museums. UPDATE: We are not eligible as we were not staffing the museum open to the public for a minimum of 120 days last year. -Local historian Scott Palmer completed an article on Tweed’s Tavern for his Mill Creek Hundred Blog.-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we have a few board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel. Future Events-Mike Smith Coffee and Conversation: Tuesday October 18th Drip Café 8:30-9:30am-NCC Historic Review Board: October 18th at 5:00pm (Public Hearing – Zoom) https://newcastlede.gov/313/Historic-Review-Board -Hockessin Business Association (HBA) meeting: October 18th at 6:30pm (Social) Meeting starts at 7pm at Lamborn Library (Must be a HBA member to attend.)-Hockessin Halloween: Saturday, October 29th 11am-3pm -NCC Historic Review Board: November 1st at 5pm (Business Meeting – Zoom)-NCC Historic Review Board: November 15th at 5pm (Public Hearing – Zoom)We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebook page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/ All our monthly updates are available here. Check out our Facebook and YouTube pages. Search for “Hockessin Historical Society”.
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
Hockessin Historical SocietyUpdates for GHADA 9/19/2022 Meeting
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to advertise for our organization and share our local history with the general public. Also check out our Facebook page for events. -We now have over 70 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 70 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some people on our old mailing list.
HHS and Local News from the Past Few Months-We have a new Treasurer who was voted in by our Board. We welcome Stephanie Wardell and expect to have more detailed Treasurer’s reports as she is making quarterly Excel financial reports to show our income and expenses by category so we can track them better by quarter and year. -We have a new volunteer member, Amy Zunino, maintaining our membership list and transferring the information to Excel. It is one thing to become a member, but when members request to volunteer, it is exactly what is needed for our public community organization. Many thanks Amy!-This month is the end of our fiscal year. We had a good year and remain stable. We are keeping our expenses to a minimum and are not doing as many programs or having our museum open as much as we would like due to the ongoing covid issues. Thanks to Darleen for paying the bills for the past few years, keeping detailed financial records, and researching/questioning bills before paying them. Considering Joe Lake was doing all the work in the past, we had a very smooth transition. -Our yearly museum occupancy permit has been renewed. It required having the 5 year electrical panel inspection sticker applied to the circuit breaker. -Lamborn Library passed another physical exam. We had the yearly heating checkup completed and there were no issues found with the boiler. Earlier in the summer, the air conditioner unit failed. Both the fan motor and the capacitor needed to be replaced.-We are planning more guest speaker events and also more 50/50 raffles at events such as Hockessin Halloween.-We are working on listing some of the historically significant houses in the Hockessin area with the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. It basically involves filling out a long application and proving the historical documentation. We have many locations in Hockessin deserving the recognition for their active roles in the Underground Railroad. -Hockessin School 107C held a 101st anniversary ceremony at the school and it was an emotional gathering for the surviving students to be able to walk through the doors again into their newly renovated historic schoolhouse. A video of the event is available on the Hockessin Historical Society YouTube channel. The school is planning a grand opening soon. -The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road). No new updates. A yellow zoning billboard appeared last month and then disappeared. It was outdated and we have no updates from HRB or NCC. -The Shirley Bulah marker placement has been approved in Tweed’s Park. The text for the marker has been submitted and is awaiting approval. There is no date scheduled for the installation of the marker at this time. -Now that we have our 501(c)3 status reinstated, we are filling out grant applications for some of our future projects. One is with the Community Reinvestment Fund. We are requesting $14,000 for a special project. Another is a House Appropriations Committee Community Project Fund for $100,000 to create a visitor center at the Tweed’s Complex. UPDATE: We were denied the $100,000 grant, but were able to secure both a NCC grant for $2,500 for our guest speaker events and also minor building repairs. Thanks to Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick, her staff, and New Castle County for the grant. We were also able to secure the Delaware Community Reinvestment grant for $12,000 for security upgrades to Tweed’s Tavern and the Hockessin History Museum. Thanks to Representative Mike Smith for suggesting we apply for this grant. This will allow us to obtain more priceless artifacts to put on display for the public, such as local Native American artifacts dating back thousands of years. -The next grant application we are working on is a $50,000 grant available to small museums. -Dew Point Brewery and a few nearby residents had a long meeting with the Alcohol Control Board on August 23 at 4pm regarding the noise emitted by their outdoor concerts. Lawyers from both sides debated the noise meter readings and Dew Point even suggested there were other sources of the noise as they received complains about noise on a few occasions they were not having outdoor concert events. Some neighbors also questioned the walking path, it’s access during concerts, and if it is part of the park system. One resident said their grandchildren were not able to enjoy the wildlife in the park on the weekends while concerts were being held and other people showed videos of children dancing to the music in front of the stage. No decision was made and the Alcohol Control Board highly recommended that both parties come to an agreement over the sound level and number of outdoor concerts held each year. The deputy commissioner said neither side would be completely happy with their outcome if they have to rule on the outdoor concert situation. -Local historian Scott Palmer is writing an article on Tweed’s Tavern for his Mill Creek Hundred Blog.-An event was held at Claymont school (3301 Green Street) at 9am on September 16th to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Integration of Claymont High School. The event was attended by Senator Chris Coons.
-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we do have many board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel.
Future Events-NCC Historic Review Board: September 20th at 5:00pm (Public Hearing – Zoom)-HBA meeting: September 20th at 6:30pm (Social) Meeting starts at 7pm at Lamborn Library (Must be a HBA member to attend.)-DE Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs - National Historic Register Informational Forum: September 21st at 1-2pm and 6:30-7:30pm (Link: https://history.delaware.gov/2022/08/17/historic-preservation-forum-ud-sept-21-2022/ - Zoom)-NCC Historic Review Board: October 4th at 5pm (Business Meeting – Zoom)-NCC Historic Review Board: October 18th at 5pm (Public Hearing – Zoom)
We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebook page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/
Check out our Facebook and YouTube pages. Search for “Hockessin Historical Society”.
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to advertise for our organization and share our local history with the general public. Also check out our Facebook page for events. -We now have over 70 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 70 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some people on our old mailing list.
HHS and Local News from the Past Few Months-We have a new Treasurer who was voted in by our Board. We welcome Stephanie Wardell and expect to have more detailed Treasurer’s reports as she is making quarterly Excel financial reports to show our income and expenses by category so we can track them better by quarter and year. -We have a new volunteer member, Amy Zunino, maintaining our membership list and transferring the information to Excel. It is one thing to become a member, but when members request to volunteer, it is exactly what is needed for our public community organization. Many thanks Amy!-This month is the end of our fiscal year. We had a good year and remain stable. We are keeping our expenses to a minimum and are not doing as many programs or having our museum open as much as we would like due to the ongoing covid issues. Thanks to Darleen for paying the bills for the past few years, keeping detailed financial records, and researching/questioning bills before paying them. Considering Joe Lake was doing all the work in the past, we had a very smooth transition. -Our yearly museum occupancy permit has been renewed. It required having the 5 year electrical panel inspection sticker applied to the circuit breaker. -Lamborn Library passed another physical exam. We had the yearly heating checkup completed and there were no issues found with the boiler. Earlier in the summer, the air conditioner unit failed. Both the fan motor and the capacitor needed to be replaced.-We are planning more guest speaker events and also more 50/50 raffles at events such as Hockessin Halloween.-We are working on listing some of the historically significant houses in the Hockessin area with the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. It basically involves filling out a long application and proving the historical documentation. We have many locations in Hockessin deserving the recognition for their active roles in the Underground Railroad. -Hockessin School 107C held a 101st anniversary ceremony at the school and it was an emotional gathering for the surviving students to be able to walk through the doors again into their newly renovated historic schoolhouse. A video of the event is available on the Hockessin Historical Society YouTube channel. The school is planning a grand opening soon. -The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road). No new updates. A yellow zoning billboard appeared last month and then disappeared. It was outdated and we have no updates from HRB or NCC. -The Shirley Bulah marker placement has been approved in Tweed’s Park. The text for the marker has been submitted and is awaiting approval. There is no date scheduled for the installation of the marker at this time. -Now that we have our 501(c)3 status reinstated, we are filling out grant applications for some of our future projects. One is with the Community Reinvestment Fund. We are requesting $14,000 for a special project. Another is a House Appropriations Committee Community Project Fund for $100,000 to create a visitor center at the Tweed’s Complex. UPDATE: We were denied the $100,000 grant, but were able to secure both a NCC grant for $2,500 for our guest speaker events and also minor building repairs. Thanks to Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick, her staff, and New Castle County for the grant. We were also able to secure the Delaware Community Reinvestment grant for $12,000 for security upgrades to Tweed’s Tavern and the Hockessin History Museum. Thanks to Representative Mike Smith for suggesting we apply for this grant. This will allow us to obtain more priceless artifacts to put on display for the public, such as local Native American artifacts dating back thousands of years. -The next grant application we are working on is a $50,000 grant available to small museums. -Dew Point Brewery and a few nearby residents had a long meeting with the Alcohol Control Board on August 23 at 4pm regarding the noise emitted by their outdoor concerts. Lawyers from both sides debated the noise meter readings and Dew Point even suggested there were other sources of the noise as they received complains about noise on a few occasions they were not having outdoor concert events. Some neighbors also questioned the walking path, it’s access during concerts, and if it is part of the park system. One resident said their grandchildren were not able to enjoy the wildlife in the park on the weekends while concerts were being held and other people showed videos of children dancing to the music in front of the stage. No decision was made and the Alcohol Control Board highly recommended that both parties come to an agreement over the sound level and number of outdoor concerts held each year. The deputy commissioner said neither side would be completely happy with their outcome if they have to rule on the outdoor concert situation. -Local historian Scott Palmer is writing an article on Tweed’s Tavern for his Mill Creek Hundred Blog.-An event was held at Claymont school (3301 Green Street) at 9am on September 16th to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Integration of Claymont High School. The event was attended by Senator Chris Coons.
-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we do have many board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel.
Future Events-NCC Historic Review Board: September 20th at 5:00pm (Public Hearing – Zoom)-HBA meeting: September 20th at 6:30pm (Social) Meeting starts at 7pm at Lamborn Library (Must be a HBA member to attend.)-DE Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs - National Historic Register Informational Forum: September 21st at 1-2pm and 6:30-7:30pm (Link: https://history.delaware.gov/2022/08/17/historic-preservation-forum-ud-sept-21-2022/ - Zoom)-NCC Historic Review Board: October 4th at 5pm (Business Meeting – Zoom)-NCC Historic Review Board: October 18th at 5pm (Public Hearing – Zoom)
We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebook page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/
Check out our Facebook and YouTube pages. Search for “Hockessin Historical Society”.
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Hockessin Historical SocietyUpdates for GHADA 6/20/2022 Meeting
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation.
-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we do have many board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel.
-We are working with a long time Hockessin resident to secure a collection of Native American artifacts. The collection would fill a void in our museum as we currently have no artifacts of this type.-We are working on listing some of the historically significant houses in the Hockessin area with the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. It basically involves filling out a long application and proving the historical documentation. But these locations deserve the recognition. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to advertise for our organization and share our local history with the general public. -We now have over 50 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 50 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some people on our old mailing list.
Current and Future EventsMay-The Bert Robinson house located at 863 Valley Road was determined to be historically significant under sections B, C, and D at the NCC Historic Review Board business meeting on May 3rd. That meeting was not open for public comment, but their next meeting on Tuesday May 17th is a public hearing. The event will be virtual and can be found by a link within the meeting minutes. -We co-hosted an event at the Hockessin Public Library on May 7th and presented a movie relating to Hockessin’s rich history. Thanks to Darleen Amobi for arranging the event!-Now that we have our 501(c)3 status reinstated, we are filling out grant applications for some of our future projects. One is with the Community Reinvestment Fund. We are requesting $14,000 for a special project. Another is a House Appropriations Committee Community Project Fund for $100,000 to create a visitor center at the Tweed’s Complex.
June-UPDATE: The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road) was discussed at the NCC Historic Review Board meeting on 6/7/2022 and a final determination may be made at the next meeting on 6/21/2022. The significance has shifted from the house to the spigot where the children stopped to drink water on the way to school. So now the HRB would like the spigot saved along with the barn and have a sign prominently displayed to educate the public on the significance of the water spigot. They would also like a sign, but not a 12 inch square sign, or a 24 inch square sign, but a large informational sign in addition to leaving the area visually accessible to the public so everyone walking past the property can read the most important history of the water spigot. -We had our Juneteenth event on June 15th at 7:00pm at the Hockessin Memorial Hall (Fire Dept) with two guest speakers on a local topic relating to school 107C and Shirley Bulah. The guest speakers were Dr. Bradley Skelcher and Mr. James “Sonny” Knott. The video of the event can be found on our YouTube channel. Just search for Hockessin Historical Society on YouTube. -The Lake family is planning a special event to celebrate the life of Joe Lake. It will be held on his birthday, June 28th, at Hockessin Memorial Hall. The Lake family will be unveiling a special custom made gift which they are presenting to the entire community. (It is a secret, so don’t ask!) The event begins at 7pm and beer, wine, other refreshments, and snacks will be available.
We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum.
-Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.)
-New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebbok page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/
Check out our Facebook page and YouTube for recent updates: HockessinHistoricalSociety
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.
All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation.
-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we do have many board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel.
-We are working with a long time Hockessin resident to secure a collection of Native American artifacts. The collection would fill a void in our museum as we currently have no artifacts of this type.-We are working on listing some of the historically significant houses in the Hockessin area with the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. It basically involves filling out a long application and proving the historical documentation. But these locations deserve the recognition. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to advertise for our organization and share our local history with the general public. -We now have over 50 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 50 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some people on our old mailing list.
Current and Future EventsMay-The Bert Robinson house located at 863 Valley Road was determined to be historically significant under sections B, C, and D at the NCC Historic Review Board business meeting on May 3rd. That meeting was not open for public comment, but their next meeting on Tuesday May 17th is a public hearing. The event will be virtual and can be found by a link within the meeting minutes. -We co-hosted an event at the Hockessin Public Library on May 7th and presented a movie relating to Hockessin’s rich history. Thanks to Darleen Amobi for arranging the event!-Now that we have our 501(c)3 status reinstated, we are filling out grant applications for some of our future projects. One is with the Community Reinvestment Fund. We are requesting $14,000 for a special project. Another is a House Appropriations Committee Community Project Fund for $100,000 to create a visitor center at the Tweed’s Complex.
June-UPDATE: The Burt Robinson house (863 Valley Road) was discussed at the NCC Historic Review Board meeting on 6/7/2022 and a final determination may be made at the next meeting on 6/21/2022. The significance has shifted from the house to the spigot where the children stopped to drink water on the way to school. So now the HRB would like the spigot saved along with the barn and have a sign prominently displayed to educate the public on the significance of the water spigot. They would also like a sign, but not a 12 inch square sign, or a 24 inch square sign, but a large informational sign in addition to leaving the area visually accessible to the public so everyone walking past the property can read the most important history of the water spigot. -We had our Juneteenth event on June 15th at 7:00pm at the Hockessin Memorial Hall (Fire Dept) with two guest speakers on a local topic relating to school 107C and Shirley Bulah. The guest speakers were Dr. Bradley Skelcher and Mr. James “Sonny” Knott. The video of the event can be found on our YouTube channel. Just search for Hockessin Historical Society on YouTube. -The Lake family is planning a special event to celebrate the life of Joe Lake. It will be held on his birthday, June 28th, at Hockessin Memorial Hall. The Lake family will be unveiling a special custom made gift which they are presenting to the entire community. (It is a secret, so don’t ask!) The event begins at 7pm and beer, wine, other refreshments, and snacks will be available.
We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum.
-Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.)
-New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebbok page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/
Check out our Facebook page and YouTube for recent updates: HockessinHistoricalSociety
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.
All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Hockessin Historical SocietyUpdates for GHADA 5/16/2022 Meeting
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation.
-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we do have many board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel.
-We are working with a long time Hockessin resident to secure a collection of Native American artifacts. The collection would fill a void in our museum as we currently have no artifacts of this type.-We are working on listing some of the historically significant houses in the Hockessin area with the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. It basically involves filling out a long application and proving the historical documentation. But these locations deserve the recognition. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to advertise for our organization and share our local history with the general public. -We now have over 50 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 50 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some people on our old mailing list.
Current and Future EventsMay-The Countryside Garden Club is hosting an herb planting workshop at Tweed’s Tavern. Check our Facebook page for the date, time, and additional information. -The Bert Robinson house located at 863 Valley Road was determined to be historically significant under sections B, C, and D at the NCC Historic Review Board business meeting on May 3rd. That meeting was not open for public comment, but their next meeting on Tuesday May 17th is a public hearing. The event will be virtual and can be found by a link within the meeting minutes.-We co-hosted an event at the Hockessin Public Library on May 7th and presented a movie relating to Hockessin’s rich history. Thanks to Darleen Amobi for arranging the event!-Now that we have our 501(c)3 status reinstated, we are filling out grant applications for some of our future projects. One is with the Community Reinvestment Fund. We are requesting $14,000 for a special project. Another is a House Appropriations Committee Community Project Fund for $100,000 to create a visitor center at the Tweed’s Complex. -May is National Tavern month and we are planning a few open houses at Tweed’s Tavern to show the historic nature of an 1800’s style tavern and explain the importance of a tavern for commerce and transportation of goods from the farm country to the cities. (No alcohol will be served.) Like all of our public events, it will be open to the public and we are still deciding on if it should be free. If it is free or for a minimal fee (we have to discuss this at a meeting), more importantly, we invite you to become a member and help your local community! Donations will also be accepted to help fund the continual maintenance needed for this 1790’s style historic building. Visit our Facebook page for more information or call (302)239-2061. UPDATE: We still do not have a date planned, but we have to work around the Hockessin FC schedule as the fields are well used and we do not have reserved parking for our society at the Tweed’s complex.
June-We have a Juneteenth event planned for June 15th at 7:00pm at the Hockessin Memorial Hall (Fire Dept) with two guest speakers on a local topic relating to school 107C and Shirley Bulah. The guest speakers will be Dr. Bradley Skelcher and Mr. James “Sonny” Knott. -We are planning a special event to celebrate the life of Joe Lake. It will most likely be held close to or on his birthday, June 28th, but more details will be available in the future. We will be unveiling a special gift being custom made for and donated by the Lake family. (It is a secret, so don’t ask!We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum.
-Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.)
-New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebbok page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/
Check out our Facebook page and YouTube for recent updates: HockessinHistoricalSociety
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.
All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
-We can not be thrilled enough to announce our 501(c)3 has been reinstated! And better yet, it was reinstated retroactively back to 2014 when it was revoked. This is great news for anyone who made large contributions in the past and now allows us to apply for and receive grant funding which is available only to nonprofit organizations with the 501(c)3 designation.
-How about a new member meeting? Date not yet set, but we would like to have a meet and greet and show new members around the buildings before having a formal meeting. We would like to show anyone interested what is needed as far as volunteer support. We do not want to rush into things too quickly, but we do have many board member positions available and we would like to form focus groups in the areas of: 1) museum displays and organizing our artifact collection. 2) public event/guest speaker event organization.3) historic marker installation.4) public relations department to handle photos and videos of our events and historic places to add to our website and Facebook pages. Also looking to add videos of interviews of local long time Hockessin residents and our other programs to our YouTube channel.
-We are working with a long time Hockessin resident to secure a collection of Native American artifacts. The collection would fill a void in our museum as we currently have no artifacts of this type.-We are working on listing some of the historically significant houses in the Hockessin area with the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. It basically involves filling out a long application and proving the historical documentation. But these locations deserve the recognition. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to advertise for our organization and share our local history with the general public. -We now have over 50 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 50 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some people on our old mailing list.
Current and Future EventsMay-The Countryside Garden Club is hosting an herb planting workshop at Tweed’s Tavern. Check our Facebook page for the date, time, and additional information. -The Bert Robinson house located at 863 Valley Road was determined to be historically significant under sections B, C, and D at the NCC Historic Review Board business meeting on May 3rd. That meeting was not open for public comment, but their next meeting on Tuesday May 17th is a public hearing. The event will be virtual and can be found by a link within the meeting minutes.-We co-hosted an event at the Hockessin Public Library on May 7th and presented a movie relating to Hockessin’s rich history. Thanks to Darleen Amobi for arranging the event!-Now that we have our 501(c)3 status reinstated, we are filling out grant applications for some of our future projects. One is with the Community Reinvestment Fund. We are requesting $14,000 for a special project. Another is a House Appropriations Committee Community Project Fund for $100,000 to create a visitor center at the Tweed’s Complex. -May is National Tavern month and we are planning a few open houses at Tweed’s Tavern to show the historic nature of an 1800’s style tavern and explain the importance of a tavern for commerce and transportation of goods from the farm country to the cities. (No alcohol will be served.) Like all of our public events, it will be open to the public and we are still deciding on if it should be free. If it is free or for a minimal fee (we have to discuss this at a meeting), more importantly, we invite you to become a member and help your local community! Donations will also be accepted to help fund the continual maintenance needed for this 1790’s style historic building. Visit our Facebook page for more information or call (302)239-2061. UPDATE: We still do not have a date planned, but we have to work around the Hockessin FC schedule as the fields are well used and we do not have reserved parking for our society at the Tweed’s complex.
June-We have a Juneteenth event planned for June 15th at 7:00pm at the Hockessin Memorial Hall (Fire Dept) with two guest speakers on a local topic relating to school 107C and Shirley Bulah. The guest speakers will be Dr. Bradley Skelcher and Mr. James “Sonny” Knott. -We are planning a special event to celebrate the life of Joe Lake. It will most likely be held close to or on his birthday, June 28th, but more details will be available in the future. We will be unveiling a special gift being custom made for and donated by the Lake family. (It is a secret, so don’t ask!We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum.
-Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.)
-New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas?
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table and can be found on our website and Facebbok page. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/
Check out our Facebook page and YouTube for recent updates: HockessinHistoricalSociety
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.
All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Hockessin Historical SocietyUpdates for GHADA 4/18/2022 Meeting
Current and Future EventsApril-The Countryside Garden Club will be maintaining the plantings and planting new herbs at Tweed’s Tavern. We appreciate their time and dedication over the years to keeping Tweed’s looking sharp! We are trying to arrange an herb planting workshop with the garden club at our museum in the near future. UPDATE: The Countryside Garden Club mulched our flower beds and bushes around Tweed’s Tavern on April 12th. We thank them for both supplying the mulch and taking the time to keep our landscaping looking so beautiful. -We are working on finalizing the wording for the Shirley Bulah historic marker. Some other groups are not happy with the 650 character limit on the historic markers and are expressing their opinions to the Public Archives Marker Coordinator. Hopefully they can come to an agreement on the marker text. We are also assisting St. Mary of the Assumption with a historic marker for St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Yorklyn and their 250th anniversary celebration which includes the site of their first church which was on Valley Road. -The Greenbank Mills & Phillip’s Farm will have their annual member meeting on Tuesday April 12th from 7-8:30pm. You must be a member and rsvp in advance. info@greenbankmill.com UPDATE: The annual meeting was short which allowed extra time for them to provide us with a behind the scenes tour of their buildings. They are a very friendly and knowledgeable group and if you are looking for other local nonprofit history related groups to join, become a member and/or volunteer some time. -Representative Mike Smith and Century Engineering hosted an informational meeting on April 13th at the Chinese American Community Center to discuss the Valley Road Drainage Area Study. Many downstream neighbors expressed concern that the study was not comprehensive enough and focused only on a small area. It was explained that they do not have funding to solve all of the flooding issues in the entire watershed and this was just the first step in helping with some of the runoff issues from older neighborhoods which were built before more strict regulations were put in place. This was the first in a series of meetings, so look for more in the future. -Blenheim Homes will present the report on the historic Bert Robinson house located at 863 Valley Road to the NCC Historic Review Board on Tuesday, April 19th at 5PM. The meeting is open to the public and it will be virtual. They are planning on repairing the historic house, but the small barn is not safe and may not be saved. It is up to the HRB to determine if the house and/or barn are historically significant and that may be decided at their next meeting on May 3rd. Thanks to Blenheim Homes for having an extensive report done documenting the history of the house and property.-There is an event at Newark High School on April 30th for National History Day sponsored by The Friends of the John Dickinson Mansion. They are providing the winning student with a $250 scholarship for the best student paper or project on John Dickinson’s life, ideals, and achievements. Volunteers are welcome. More information is available at: https://dehistory.org/learn/national-history-day. -We are working with a long time Hockessin resident to secure a collection of Native American artifacts. The collection would fill a void in our museum as we currently have no artifacts of this type.-We are working on listing some of the historically significant houses in the Hockessin area with the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. It basically involves filling out a long application and proving the historical documentation. But these locations deserve the recognition. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to advertise for our organization and share our local history with the general public. -We now have close to 50 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 50 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some people on our old mailing list. May-May is National Tavern month and we are planning a few open houses at Tweed’s Tavern to show the historic nature of an 1800’s style tavern and explain the importance of a tavern for commerce and transportation of goods from the farm country to the cities. (No alcohol will be served.) Like all of our public events, it will be open to the public and we are still deciding on if it should be free. If it is free or for a minimal fee (we have to discuss this at a meeting), more importantly, we invite you to become a member and help your local community! Donations will also be accepted to help fund the continual maintenance needed for this 1790’s style historic building. Visit our Facebook page for more information or call (302)239-2061. UPDATE: We still do not have a date planned, but we have to work around the Hockessin FC schedule as the fields are well used and we do not have reserved parking for our society at the Tweed’s complex. -Darleen is planning a presentation at East Goshen Elementary School for 84 fourth grade students. We will try to make a video of the presentation, but the event will not be open to the public.
June-We have a Juneteenth event planned for June 15th at 7:00pm at the Hockessin Memorial Hall (Fire Dept) with two guest speakers on a local topic relating to school 107C and Shirley Bulah. The guest speakers will be Dr. Bradley Skelcher and Mr. James “Sonny” Knott. -We are planning a special event to celebrate the life of Joe Lake. It will most likely be held close to or on his birthday, June 28th, but more details will be available in the future. We will be unveiling a special gift being custom made for and donated by the Lake family. (It is a secret, so don’t ask!)
We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas? Past Business for the Current Year
January-While it was freezing cold, both inside our building and outside, we still had a few local nonprofit groups use our museum meeting space. We appreciate them using the space and are proud to be able to offer a clean, private, and modern building for them to conduct their business. We are working on correcting the heating issue in the basement of the museum. February-Darleen Amobi had a very nice display at the Hockessin Public Library for Black History Month.-HHS was invited to a meeting on Wednesday, February 16th regarding the School 107C project. The group is moving ahead with their plans to save the historic structure and convert it into a center for diversity and inclusion. They have installed the steel framework recently and expect to have the project completed in June. -We had several nonprofit groups use our museum meeting room for their member meetings. March-Darleen has an exhibit at the Hockessin Public Library for Women’s History Month on Jane Austen, her favorite author. -HHS was invited by Blenheim Homes to tour the historic Burt Robinson house and barn located at 863 Valley Road. (Near intersection of Valley & Evanson) The property was in the past considered to be historically irrelevant, but the developer hired the Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) at the University of Delaware to study the structures and CHAD found the buildings have historic significance. The property is likely going to be discussed at a future NCC Historic Review Board meeting. The next NCC HRB meeting (for business) is Tuesday April 5th at 5pm. The following NCC HRB meeting (for public comment) is Tuesday March 19th at 5pm. NCC HRB then has a future meeting scheduled for Tuesday May 3rd at 5pm. The public is encouraged to attend these meetings to learn about the local historic buildings in New Castle County. They will most likely be virtual meetings. -We were mailed a letter from DelDOT regarding repairs to the bridge on Old Lancaster Pike in front of House of William and Merry. On March 14th I contacted Mike Haddad, the DelDOT Project Manager for this project, and he said they were still studying the condition of the bridge and do not know yet if the bridge needs to be fixed or replaced. I informed him that the best way to notify the community of the project was through GHADA. It does not affect our business at Lamborn Library, but could affect business for House of William and Merry. I told Mike that many patrons use the Swift Bicentennial Park parking lot on the other side of the bridge for the restaurant’s parking. He also notified me of potential issues with a historic bridge, Bridge #1-617, located near the intersection of Old Lancaster Pike and Brackenville Road. This bridge was mentioned by Joe Lake as being historically significant. -March 15th was the one year anniversary of Joe Lake’s death. We provided some primrose flowers for Joe’s gravesite. Photos are posted on our Facebook page. He did so much for this community and the Hockessin Historical Society and we are grateful for his dedication and service. -The Shirley Bulah historic marker text has been submitted. The Delaware Public Archives is having issues as their director had a weather related injury, but we are in contact with the Historic Marker Coordinator on a regular basis regarding this marker and other future markers. -Work is progressing on our 501(c)(3) status. All the necessary documentation has been forwarded to a specialist with knowledge of the process to coordinate the application with the IRS. -We are working with the National Park Service on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom (NTF) program to have local properties relating to the Underground Railroad recognized. There are many in the Hockessin area, but finding the documentation and proof necessary to generate a proper report may be difficult for some. We recently had a meeting online with the regional coordinators of the program for guidance and support. -Schoolhouse 107C update: I stopped by today (March 21st) to take some photos and I spoke with a few of the contractors. They have installed the steel beams and are expecting to finish the framing next week. Then utilities need to be installed, but I believe they are still on schedule. It is nice to see the building finally being repaired and eventually available for public use.
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/
Check out our Facebook page and YouTube for recent updates: HockessinHistoricalSociety
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.
All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Current and Future EventsApril-The Countryside Garden Club will be maintaining the plantings and planting new herbs at Tweed’s Tavern. We appreciate their time and dedication over the years to keeping Tweed’s looking sharp! We are trying to arrange an herb planting workshop with the garden club at our museum in the near future. UPDATE: The Countryside Garden Club mulched our flower beds and bushes around Tweed’s Tavern on April 12th. We thank them for both supplying the mulch and taking the time to keep our landscaping looking so beautiful. -We are working on finalizing the wording for the Shirley Bulah historic marker. Some other groups are not happy with the 650 character limit on the historic markers and are expressing their opinions to the Public Archives Marker Coordinator. Hopefully they can come to an agreement on the marker text. We are also assisting St. Mary of the Assumption with a historic marker for St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Yorklyn and their 250th anniversary celebration which includes the site of their first church which was on Valley Road. -The Greenbank Mills & Phillip’s Farm will have their annual member meeting on Tuesday April 12th from 7-8:30pm. You must be a member and rsvp in advance. info@greenbankmill.com UPDATE: The annual meeting was short which allowed extra time for them to provide us with a behind the scenes tour of their buildings. They are a very friendly and knowledgeable group and if you are looking for other local nonprofit history related groups to join, become a member and/or volunteer some time. -Representative Mike Smith and Century Engineering hosted an informational meeting on April 13th at the Chinese American Community Center to discuss the Valley Road Drainage Area Study. Many downstream neighbors expressed concern that the study was not comprehensive enough and focused only on a small area. It was explained that they do not have funding to solve all of the flooding issues in the entire watershed and this was just the first step in helping with some of the runoff issues from older neighborhoods which were built before more strict regulations were put in place. This was the first in a series of meetings, so look for more in the future. -Blenheim Homes will present the report on the historic Bert Robinson house located at 863 Valley Road to the NCC Historic Review Board on Tuesday, April 19th at 5PM. The meeting is open to the public and it will be virtual. They are planning on repairing the historic house, but the small barn is not safe and may not be saved. It is up to the HRB to determine if the house and/or barn are historically significant and that may be decided at their next meeting on May 3rd. Thanks to Blenheim Homes for having an extensive report done documenting the history of the house and property.-There is an event at Newark High School on April 30th for National History Day sponsored by The Friends of the John Dickinson Mansion. They are providing the winning student with a $250 scholarship for the best student paper or project on John Dickinson’s life, ideals, and achievements. Volunteers are welcome. More information is available at: https://dehistory.org/learn/national-history-day. -We are working with a long time Hockessin resident to secure a collection of Native American artifacts. The collection would fill a void in our museum as we currently have no artifacts of this type.-We are working on listing some of the historically significant houses in the Hockessin area with the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. It basically involves filling out a long application and proving the historical documentation. But these locations deserve the recognition. -We now have a YouTube channel! It will take time to produce and present quality videos, but it is one more social media platform we are using to advertise for our organization and share our local history with the general public. -We now have close to 50 members! Thank you all for your support! These are mostly new members and in the past, member dues were not being taken, so we went from zero active members to 50 in the past 2 years. We owe all the members an in-person meeting and tour of our buildings, which we will schedule and announce soon. We also need to continue our newsletter, The Hockessin Holler, which also has not been distributed in the past year. We are working to make the newsletter digital. It was previously mailed out through the post office. There will be a transition as we do not have email addresses for some people on our old mailing list. May-May is National Tavern month and we are planning a few open houses at Tweed’s Tavern to show the historic nature of an 1800’s style tavern and explain the importance of a tavern for commerce and transportation of goods from the farm country to the cities. (No alcohol will be served.) Like all of our public events, it will be open to the public and we are still deciding on if it should be free. If it is free or for a minimal fee (we have to discuss this at a meeting), more importantly, we invite you to become a member and help your local community! Donations will also be accepted to help fund the continual maintenance needed for this 1790’s style historic building. Visit our Facebook page for more information or call (302)239-2061. UPDATE: We still do not have a date planned, but we have to work around the Hockessin FC schedule as the fields are well used and we do not have reserved parking for our society at the Tweed’s complex. -Darleen is planning a presentation at East Goshen Elementary School for 84 fourth grade students. We will try to make a video of the presentation, but the event will not be open to the public.
June-We have a Juneteenth event planned for June 15th at 7:00pm at the Hockessin Memorial Hall (Fire Dept) with two guest speakers on a local topic relating to school 107C and Shirley Bulah. The guest speakers will be Dr. Bradley Skelcher and Mr. James “Sonny” Knott. -We are planning a special event to celebrate the life of Joe Lake. It will most likely be held close to or on his birthday, June 28th, but more details will be available in the future. We will be unveiling a special gift being custom made for and donated by the Lake family. (It is a secret, so don’t ask!)
We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas? Past Business for the Current Year
January-While it was freezing cold, both inside our building and outside, we still had a few local nonprofit groups use our museum meeting space. We appreciate them using the space and are proud to be able to offer a clean, private, and modern building for them to conduct their business. We are working on correcting the heating issue in the basement of the museum. February-Darleen Amobi had a very nice display at the Hockessin Public Library for Black History Month.-HHS was invited to a meeting on Wednesday, February 16th regarding the School 107C project. The group is moving ahead with their plans to save the historic structure and convert it into a center for diversity and inclusion. They have installed the steel framework recently and expect to have the project completed in June. -We had several nonprofit groups use our museum meeting room for their member meetings. March-Darleen has an exhibit at the Hockessin Public Library for Women’s History Month on Jane Austen, her favorite author. -HHS was invited by Blenheim Homes to tour the historic Burt Robinson house and barn located at 863 Valley Road. (Near intersection of Valley & Evanson) The property was in the past considered to be historically irrelevant, but the developer hired the Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) at the University of Delaware to study the structures and CHAD found the buildings have historic significance. The property is likely going to be discussed at a future NCC Historic Review Board meeting. The next NCC HRB meeting (for business) is Tuesday April 5th at 5pm. The following NCC HRB meeting (for public comment) is Tuesday March 19th at 5pm. NCC HRB then has a future meeting scheduled for Tuesday May 3rd at 5pm. The public is encouraged to attend these meetings to learn about the local historic buildings in New Castle County. They will most likely be virtual meetings. -We were mailed a letter from DelDOT regarding repairs to the bridge on Old Lancaster Pike in front of House of William and Merry. On March 14th I contacted Mike Haddad, the DelDOT Project Manager for this project, and he said they were still studying the condition of the bridge and do not know yet if the bridge needs to be fixed or replaced. I informed him that the best way to notify the community of the project was through GHADA. It does not affect our business at Lamborn Library, but could affect business for House of William and Merry. I told Mike that many patrons use the Swift Bicentennial Park parking lot on the other side of the bridge for the restaurant’s parking. He also notified me of potential issues with a historic bridge, Bridge #1-617, located near the intersection of Old Lancaster Pike and Brackenville Road. This bridge was mentioned by Joe Lake as being historically significant. -March 15th was the one year anniversary of Joe Lake’s death. We provided some primrose flowers for Joe’s gravesite. Photos are posted on our Facebook page. He did so much for this community and the Hockessin Historical Society and we are grateful for his dedication and service. -The Shirley Bulah historic marker text has been submitted. The Delaware Public Archives is having issues as their director had a weather related injury, but we are in contact with the Historic Marker Coordinator on a regular basis regarding this marker and other future markers. -Work is progressing on our 501(c)(3) status. All the necessary documentation has been forwarded to a specialist with knowledge of the process to coordinate the application with the IRS. -We are working with the National Park Service on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom (NTF) program to have local properties relating to the Underground Railroad recognized. There are many in the Hockessin area, but finding the documentation and proof necessary to generate a proper report may be difficult for some. We recently had a meeting online with the regional coordinators of the program for guidance and support. -Schoolhouse 107C update: I stopped by today (March 21st) to take some photos and I spoke with a few of the contractors. They have installed the steel beams and are expecting to finish the framing next week. Then utilities need to be installed, but I believe they are still on schedule. It is nice to see the building finally being repaired and eventually available for public use.
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/
Check out our Facebook page and YouTube for recent updates: HockessinHistoricalSociety
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736
This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.
All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Hockessin Historical SocietyUpdates for GHADA 3/21/2022 Meeting
Current and Future EventsMarch-Darleen has an exhibit at the Hockessin Public Library for Women’s History Month on Jane Austen, her favorite author. -HHS was invited by Blenheim Homes to tour the historic Burt Robinson house and barn located at 863 Valley Road. (Near intersection of Valley & Evanson) The property was in the past considered to be historically irrelevant, but the developer hired the Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) at the University of Delaware to study the structures and CHAD found the buildings have historic significance. The property is likely going to be discussed at a future NCC Historic Review Board meeting. The next NCC HRB meeting (for business) is Tuesday April 5th at 5pm. The following NCC HRB meeting (for public comment) is Tuesday March 19th at 5pm. NCC HRB then has a future meeting scheduled for Tuesday May 3rd at 5pm. The public is encouraged to attend these meetings to learn about the local historic buildings in New Castle County. They will most likely be virtual meetings. -We were mailed a letter from DelDOT regarding repairs to the bridge on Old Lancaster Pike in front of House of William and Merry. On March 14th I contacted Mike Haddad, the DelDOT Project Manager for this project, and he said they were still studying the condition of the bridge and do not know yet if the bridge needs to be fixed or replaced. I informed him that the best way to notify the community of the project was through GHADA. It does not affect our business at Lamborn Library, but could affect business for House of William and Merry. I told Mike that many patrons use the Swift Bicentennial Park parking lot on the other side of the bridge for the restaurant’s parking. He also notified me of potential issues with a historic bridge, Bridge #1-617, located near the intersection of Old Lancaster Pike and Brackenville Road. This bridge was mentioned by Joe Lake as being historically significant. -March 15th was the one year anniversary of Joe Lake’s death. We provided some primrose flowers for Joe’s gravesite. Photos are posted on our Facebook page. He did so much for this community and the Hockessin Historical Society and we are grateful for his dedication and service. -The Shirley Bulah historic marker text has been submitted. The Delaware Public Archives is having issues as their director had a weather related injury, but we are in contact with the Historic Marker Coordinator on a regular basis regarding this marker and other future markers. -Work is progressing on our 501(c)(3) status. All the necessary documentation has been forwarded to a specialist with knowledge of the process to coordinate the application with the IRS. -We are working with the National Park Service on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom (NTF) program to have local properties relating to the Underground Railroad recognized. There are many in the Hockessin area, but finding the documentation and proof necessary to generate a proper report may be difficult for some. We recently had a meeting online with the regional coordinators of the program for guidance and support. -Schoolhouse 107C update: I stopped by today (March 21st) to take some photos and I spoke with a few of the contractors. They have installed the steel beams and are expecting to finish the framing next week. Then utilities need to be installed, but I believe they are still on schedule. It is nice to see the building finally being repaired and eventually available for public use. April-The Countryside Garden Club will be maintaining the plantings and planting new herbs at Tweed’s Tavern. We appreciate their time and dedication over the years to keeping Tweed’s looking sharp! We are trying to arrange an herb planting workshop with the garden club at our museum in the near future. -The Greenbank Mills & Phillip’s Farm will have their annual member meeting on Tuesday April 12th from 7-8:30pm. You must be a member and rsvp in advance. info@greenbankmill.com-There is an event at Newark High School on April 30th for National History Day sponsored by The Friends of the John Dickinson Mansion. They are providing the winning student with a $250 scholarship for the best student paper or project on John Dickinson’s life, ideals, and achievements. Volunteers are welcome. More information is available at: https://dehistory.org/learn/national-history-day.May-May is National Tavern month and we are planning a few open houses at Tweed’s Tavern to show the historic nature of an 1800’s style tavern and explain the importance of a tavern for commerce and transportation of goods from the farm country to the cities. (No alcohol will be served.) Like all of our public events, it will be open to the public and we are still deciding on if it should be free. If it is free or for a minimal fee (we have to discuss this at a meeting), more importantly, we invite you to become a member and help your local community! Donations will also be accepted to help fund the continual maintenance needed for this 1790’s style historic building. Visit our Facebook page for more information or call (302)239-2061. We will provide updates in the near future. June-We have a Juneteenth event planned for June 15th at 7:00pm at the Hockessin Memorial Hall (Fire Dept) with two guest speakers on a local topic relating to school 107C and Shirley Bulah. The guest speakers will be Dr. Bradley Skelcher and Mr. James “Sonny” Knott. -We are planning a special event to celebrate the life of Joe Lake. It will most likely be held close to or on his birthday, June 28th, but more details will be available in the future. We will be unveiling a special gift being custom made for and donated by the Lake family. (It is a secret, so don’t ask!) We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas? Past Business for the Current YearJanuary-While it was freezing cold, both inside our building and outside, we still had a few local nonprofit groups use our museum meeting space. We appreciate them using the space and are proud to be able to offer a clean, private, and modern building for them to conduct their business. We are working on correcting the heating issue in the basement of the museum. February-Darleen Amobi had a very nice display at the Hockessin Public Library for Black History Month.-HHS was invited to a meeting on Wednesday, February 16th regarding the School 107C project. The group is moving ahead with their plans to save the historic structure and convert it into a center for diversity and inclusion. They have installed the steel framework recently and expect to have the project completed in June. -We had several nonprofit groups use our museum meeting room for their member meetings.
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/
Check out our Facebook page for recent updates: HockessinHistoricalSociety
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736 This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.
All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!
Current and Future EventsMarch-Darleen has an exhibit at the Hockessin Public Library for Women’s History Month on Jane Austen, her favorite author. -HHS was invited by Blenheim Homes to tour the historic Burt Robinson house and barn located at 863 Valley Road. (Near intersection of Valley & Evanson) The property was in the past considered to be historically irrelevant, but the developer hired the Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) at the University of Delaware to study the structures and CHAD found the buildings have historic significance. The property is likely going to be discussed at a future NCC Historic Review Board meeting. The next NCC HRB meeting (for business) is Tuesday April 5th at 5pm. The following NCC HRB meeting (for public comment) is Tuesday March 19th at 5pm. NCC HRB then has a future meeting scheduled for Tuesday May 3rd at 5pm. The public is encouraged to attend these meetings to learn about the local historic buildings in New Castle County. They will most likely be virtual meetings. -We were mailed a letter from DelDOT regarding repairs to the bridge on Old Lancaster Pike in front of House of William and Merry. On March 14th I contacted Mike Haddad, the DelDOT Project Manager for this project, and he said they were still studying the condition of the bridge and do not know yet if the bridge needs to be fixed or replaced. I informed him that the best way to notify the community of the project was through GHADA. It does not affect our business at Lamborn Library, but could affect business for House of William and Merry. I told Mike that many patrons use the Swift Bicentennial Park parking lot on the other side of the bridge for the restaurant’s parking. He also notified me of potential issues with a historic bridge, Bridge #1-617, located near the intersection of Old Lancaster Pike and Brackenville Road. This bridge was mentioned by Joe Lake as being historically significant. -March 15th was the one year anniversary of Joe Lake’s death. We provided some primrose flowers for Joe’s gravesite. Photos are posted on our Facebook page. He did so much for this community and the Hockessin Historical Society and we are grateful for his dedication and service. -The Shirley Bulah historic marker text has been submitted. The Delaware Public Archives is having issues as their director had a weather related injury, but we are in contact with the Historic Marker Coordinator on a regular basis regarding this marker and other future markers. -Work is progressing on our 501(c)(3) status. All the necessary documentation has been forwarded to a specialist with knowledge of the process to coordinate the application with the IRS. -We are working with the National Park Service on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom (NTF) program to have local properties relating to the Underground Railroad recognized. There are many in the Hockessin area, but finding the documentation and proof necessary to generate a proper report may be difficult for some. We recently had a meeting online with the regional coordinators of the program for guidance and support. -Schoolhouse 107C update: I stopped by today (March 21st) to take some photos and I spoke with a few of the contractors. They have installed the steel beams and are expecting to finish the framing next week. Then utilities need to be installed, but I believe they are still on schedule. It is nice to see the building finally being repaired and eventually available for public use. April-The Countryside Garden Club will be maintaining the plantings and planting new herbs at Tweed’s Tavern. We appreciate their time and dedication over the years to keeping Tweed’s looking sharp! We are trying to arrange an herb planting workshop with the garden club at our museum in the near future. -The Greenbank Mills & Phillip’s Farm will have their annual member meeting on Tuesday April 12th from 7-8:30pm. You must be a member and rsvp in advance. info@greenbankmill.com-There is an event at Newark High School on April 30th for National History Day sponsored by The Friends of the John Dickinson Mansion. They are providing the winning student with a $250 scholarship for the best student paper or project on John Dickinson’s life, ideals, and achievements. Volunteers are welcome. More information is available at: https://dehistory.org/learn/national-history-day.May-May is National Tavern month and we are planning a few open houses at Tweed’s Tavern to show the historic nature of an 1800’s style tavern and explain the importance of a tavern for commerce and transportation of goods from the farm country to the cities. (No alcohol will be served.) Like all of our public events, it will be open to the public and we are still deciding on if it should be free. If it is free or for a minimal fee (we have to discuss this at a meeting), more importantly, we invite you to become a member and help your local community! Donations will also be accepted to help fund the continual maintenance needed for this 1790’s style historic building. Visit our Facebook page for more information or call (302)239-2061. We will provide updates in the near future. June-We have a Juneteenth event planned for June 15th at 7:00pm at the Hockessin Memorial Hall (Fire Dept) with two guest speakers on a local topic relating to school 107C and Shirley Bulah. The guest speakers will be Dr. Bradley Skelcher and Mr. James “Sonny” Knott. -We are planning a special event to celebrate the life of Joe Lake. It will most likely be held close to or on his birthday, June 28th, but more details will be available in the future. We will be unveiling a special gift being custom made for and donated by the Lake family. (It is a secret, so don’t ask!) We Are Always in Need Of:-Artifacts relevant to the Hockessin area. If you are unsure of the significance, please let us know what you would like to donate and we will see if it would be worthy of displaying in our museum. -Volunteers to help with research, historic marker application writing and ceremonies, maintaining our buildings, and setting up for events. We also need professional help with museum displays. -Photographers, videographers, and drone operators to take photos and videos of our events. We will offer volunteer credits to school students and a letter of recommendation for colleges. We also need help taking photos of all the historic markers in the area and writing a short summary of them to post on our website. It is an easy way to earn volunteer credit while also learning about history and attending community meetings where you will have the opportunity to meet local politicians, business owners, and other prominent people. (Please note: We will not provide the equipment.) -New Members and local residents willing to be Board Members. Specifically a Secretary position and/or someone with accounting skills. We have quarterly meetings and the workload is minimal. -Suggestions for buildings, people, or events in Hockessin worthy of a historic marker or being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a few more in the works! Ideas? Past Business for the Current YearJanuary-While it was freezing cold, both inside our building and outside, we still had a few local nonprofit groups use our museum meeting space. We appreciate them using the space and are proud to be able to offer a clean, private, and modern building for them to conduct their business. We are working on correcting the heating issue in the basement of the museum. February-Darleen Amobi had a very nice display at the Hockessin Public Library for Black History Month.-HHS was invited to a meeting on Wednesday, February 16th regarding the School 107C project. The group is moving ahead with their plans to save the historic structure and convert it into a center for diversity and inclusion. They have installed the steel framework recently and expect to have the project completed in June. -We had several nonprofit groups use our museum meeting room for their member meetings.
Contact Us!Member forms, brochures, and return envelopes are on the back table. Please join and support YOUR local historical organization and museum. We are working to make the historical society family and student friendly and we have no age restrictions on membership.
Visit our website: http://hockessinhistoricalsociety.org/
Check out our Facebook page for recent updates: HockessinHistoricalSociety
Email us: HockessinHistory@gmail.com
Send membership forms and other correspondence to: Hockessin Historical SocietyP.O. Box 362Yorklyn, DE 19736 This report was prepared by Pete Seely and please forward any questions, ideas, or edits to the above email.
All our staff and board members are volunteers and we appreciate the support from our local community! Thank you!