Christiana Hundred

Christiana Hundred is the name of an unincorporated subdivision of New Castle County, Delaware. Hundreds were once used as a basis for representation in the Delaware General Assembly, and while their names still appear on all real estate transactions, they presently have no meaningful use or purpose except as a geographical point of reference.

Boundaries and Formation

Christiana Hundred is that portion of New Castle County that lies north of the Christiana River and White Clay Creek, west of the Brandywine Creek and east of the Red Clay Creek, excepting that portion in the southeast included in Wilmington Hundred. Its northern boundary follows a portion of the 12 mile arc drawn around the town of New Castle. It was one of the original hundreds in Delaware created in 1682 and was named for the Christiana River that flows along its southern boundary. When created it included the some of the area now in Mill Creek Hundred, White Clay Hundred, and Pencader Hundred, all of which were split off in 1710. It also included much of the area now in Wilmington Hundred, which was split off 1833.

Development

While the northern half of the hundred remains the wooded and semi-rural “Chateaux country” of country estates and expensive developments, the southern half is completely urban and suburban with almost continuous industrial, commercial and residential development. The southeastern portion was built out early in the twentieth century with the remainder in the decades following World War II. The towns of Elsmere and Newport, and Greenville Census Designated Places (CDP), and the community of Centreville are in Christiana Hundred.

Geography

Important geographical features, in addition to the Christiana River, White Clay Creek, Red Clay Creek, and Brandywine Creek, include the Hoopes Reservoir. It is mostly in the piedmont region, but the southern portion is below the eastern fall line and on the coastal plain.

Transportation

Important roads include portions of Interstate 95, Centre Road (Delaware Route 141), Kennett Pike (Delaware Route 52), Montchanin Road (Delaware Route 100), Lancaster Pike (Delaware Route 48), the Kirkwood Highway (Delaware Route 2), and the old main highway between Wilmington and Baltimore, now Maryland Avenue and its extension, Newport-Stanton Pike (Delaware Route 4). A portion of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, subsequently the main north-south line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, now Amtrak, crosses through Newport, and a portion of the old Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, now CSX Transportation crosses through Elsmere. The Penn Eastern Railroad runs from Elsmere generally along Montchanin Road and the Wilmington and Western Railroad runs along Red Clay Creek.

Municipalities and communities of New Castle County, Delaware, United States County seat: Wilmington Cities Delaware City New Castle Newark Wilmington Towns Bellefonte Clayton‡ Elsmere Middletown Newport Odessa Smyrna‡ Townsend Villages Arden Ardencroft Ardentown CDPs Bear Brookside Claymont Edgemoor Glasgow Greenville Hockessin North Star Pike Creek Pike Creek Valley Wilmington Manor Unincorporated communities Ashland Augustine Beach Basin Corner Belvidere Biddles Corner Blackbird Boyds Corner Christiana Collins Beach Collins Park Corner Ketch Faulkland Farnhurst Flemings Landing Granogue Greenbank Hares Corner Henry Clay Holloway Terrace Kirkwood Landenberg Junction Marshallton Mathews Corners Milford Crossroads Mill Creek Minquadale Mockingbird Hills Montchanin Mount Cuba Mount Pleasant Ogletown Pleasantville Port Penn Prices Corner Red Lion Rockland St. Georges Silverbrook Silview Southwood Stanton State Road Summit Bridge Talleyville Taylors Bridge Tybouts Corner Williamsburg Winterthur Wooddale Wrangle Hill Yorklyn Hundreds Appoquinimink Blackbird Brandywine Christiana Mill Creek New Castle Pencader Red Lion St. George's White Clay Wilmington Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

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