How the Battery Became Battery Park

An aerial photo of Battery Park in 1995.

Courtesy of the New Castle Historical Society.

Battery Park has been open to the public as a city park since 1939, but use of the land looked very different before that time. When a village began to grow around Fort Casimir {link to Ft. Casimir}, much of the land along the river outside of the village was marshy or was home to stables, tanneries, and pastureland.

As the town grew, the colonial Assembly placed a fortified cannon battery near the river to protect the town, as well as Wilmington and Philadelphia farther upriver, from invaders coming by water {link to Battery Hist page}. Aside from the battery, little development occurred here due to the presence of the marshes.

Over time, however, people drained some of the marshland, and in 1832, the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad Company built their railyard {NCFT RR link}. Industrial sites soon sprang up nearby. Some of the land along the river was also used recreationally, first as a park run by the railroad company, and later as Deemer’s Beach amusement park {link to Deemer’s Beach page}.

A man and a women ice skate on the Delaware River in 1914.

Courtesy of the New Castle Historical Society.

In the early 1930s, the Battery was owned by the railroad and ferry company {link Ferries page}. The land that now comprises Battery Park was obtained piece by piece through various purchases by the Trustees of New Castle Common {link to Trustees page}. Railroad sidings, abandoned structures, and some of the wharves were removed, and in 1939 the Trustees deeded the land to the City of New Castle for the purpose of forming Battery Park.

By an act of the State Legislature, the Trustees of New Castle Common made the Park Board for the City of New Castle and tasked them with supervising all the city’s parks in 1941. Around this time, the Delaware Society for the Preservation of Antiquities hired a landscape development firm to draw up a plan for the park that included a playground. Work was halted shortly after due to the United States’ entering into World War II.

The Arasapha Garden Club later assisted the Trustees in the park’s development. New Castle historian and newspaper columnist Nicholas McIntire reported that residents had used the area as a park even before its official designation. He recalled the presence of “a fenced baseball park and grandstand,” as well as another field that became popular slightly later.

“Bleachers extended along the right and left field sides of the diamond. It was a good ball park, though not enclosed. A belt into McDonough’s yard or up Third Street was good for a home run. Toner’s stable-barn in the area of the tennis courts-fire hall housed cows and they sometimes grazed on the edge of the battery. This was an extra hazard for the outfielder.”McIntire reported that games on Saturday evenings “attracted crowds of several thousand to Battery Park.”

Today, Battery Park remains a popular spot for people to relax, explore and have fun with recreational activities such as bird watching, sports, and water access or town sponsored programs and festivals.

This article is part of a series titled Historic Benchmarks: New Castle and the Making of a Nation which was created in partnership with the Delaware250, New Castle Historical Society, Old New Castle Outdoor Recreation Coalition, the City of New Castle, and The Trustees of the New Common.

References:

Arnold, H. (1994). The Tides Led the Town: A Recent History of the Waterfront, New Castle, Delaware. New Castle, Delaware: New Castle Historical Society.

Benson, B. E., & Hoffecker, C. E. (2021). New Castle, Delaware: A Walk Through Time. New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press.

Bylaws of the Trustees of the New Castle Common. (Revised February 2025). Retrieved June 18, 2025 from Trustees of New Castle Common: https://www.trusteesncc.org/documents

Higgins, A. (Ed.). (1973). New Castle on the Delaware (Third ed.). New Castle, Delaware: New Castle Historical Society.

Holcolmb, C. P. (Ed.). (1940, May 30). Battery Work Approved by WPA Officials, and Will Begin on Monday. New Castle Gazette, p. 1.

McIntire, N. (Ed.). (1948, September 17). Same Old Battery But, Not the Diamond. New Castle Gazette, p. 6.

McIntire, N. (1952, March 21). Behind the Times. New Castle Gazette, pp. Reprinted in "Selected Columns of Nicholas S. McIntire," p.108.

McIntire, N. (1952, July 27). Behind the Times. New Castle Gazette, pp. Reprinted in "Selected Columns of Nicholas S. McIntire," p.109.

McIntire, N. (Ed.). (1952, May 30). Garden Club To Hear Mrs. Samuel Homsey. New Castle Gazette, p. 3.

McIntire, N. (1980, August 20). Behind the Times. New Castle Gazette, pp. Reprinted in "Selected Columns of Nicholas S. McIntire," p.113.

New Castle Common ("Blue Book"). (1944). Retrieved June 18, 2025 from Trustees of New Castle Common: https://www.trusteesncc.org/documents