Taken by an unidentified photographer, the photographs exhibited here show what Delaware looked like during the spring and summer of 1976.  Combined, they give us a glimpse of the First State as it celebrated the Bicentennial of the American Revolution.  We thought you might enjoy an historic “fly over” of the state some twenty-five years ago.

Twenty-five years pass quickly—not much longer than the click of the camera’s shutter.  Some of the small, rural towns shown here have hardly changed at all.  Other photographs portray dramatic development.  It’s easy to see the changes that 25 years have wrought at Delaware’s beaches.  Not yet visible along Rehoboth Avenue are the shops and restaurants that characterize this busy street today.  The views of Wilmington show similar changes.  Missing are large office buildings, even the high-rise building at 10^th and Jefferson streets.  Large old homes and apartment buildings still dot the busy roads that today sweep us into downtown.  The view of Route 141 under construction gives us reason to pause, and consider what it would be like to travel from New Castle to Hockessin without the roads’ ease and availability.  Taken together, images like these are testimony to the fact that nothing remains the same for very long. 

If you enjoy the views on display on this page we invite you to come downtown to the Delaware History Center to see the others currently on display in Willingtown Square.