At the dawn of the automobile age, Delaware had few paved
roads. Travelers found most of Kent and Sussex counties impassable during bad weather. In
1908 T. Coleman du Pont, a visionary engineer, offered to build a modern highway the
length of the state and donate it to Delaware’s citizens. He envisioned a grand
boulevard with separate north- and southbound lanes, trolley lines, and pathways for
horse-drawn vehicles. Although only a two-lane road as finally completed in 1924, the Du
Pont Highway pioneered modern roadway construction. Farmers and merchants in southern
Delaware benefited most from the new highway that directly linked them to northern
markets. Encouraged by the highway’s success, the newly formed State
Highway
Department began paving other roads throughout the state and by the 1930s Delaware led
the nation in highway construction. In 1933 the State Highway Department widened the Du
Pont Highway, making it the world’s first divided highway.
