Wilmington

Wilmington, (1) the only large city and a port of Delaware, on the Delaware River and Brandywine and Christiana Creeks, 25 miles by rail SW. of Philadelphia. It is a handsome, regular town, built on the slopes of a hill (240 feet), and contains a granite custom-house, town-hall, large opera-house, the Wilmington Institute, the Old Swedes' Church (1698), &c. Its numerous manufactures include iron steamships, railway cars, engines, machinery, cottons, woollens, powder, leather, flour, matches, &c. Pop. (1880) 42,478; (1890) 61,431.—(2) The largest city and a port of North Carolina, capital of New Hanover county, on the left bank of Cape Fear River, 30 miles from its mouth and 207 miles by rail SSE. of Raleigh. It manufactures turpentine, rice, flour, and cottons, and exports lumber, tar, rosin, turpentine, &c. During the civil war it was one of the chief ports of the Confederacy, and was frequented by blockade-runners. Pop. (1880) 17,350; (1890) 20,056.