The latest volume in the Society of Architectural Historians'
prestigious Buildings of the United States series, Buildings
of Delaware is the first book to document the state's architectural
history from all periods. Extensively illustrated with photographs
and maps, and supplemented by a glossary and bibliography, the
volume covers buildings of many styles, types, and materials,
from grand mansions to vernacular structures, and from urban to
rural settings. The noted architectural historian W. Barksdale
Maynard spent much of 2002 through 2004 canvassing the rich cultural
heritage of the state and investigating its relationship to the
built environment--from an ancient Dutch dike of 1660 to a cutting-edge
cable-stay bridge recently completed, from colonial smokehouses
in the countryside of Kent County to a rare, intact, International
Style 1940s elementary school in the city of Wilmington. Among
the architectural forms discussed are industrial and agricultural
buildings and structures that characterize the state's rivers,
canals, and shoreline, from gristmills to bridges and lighthouses.
Major cities such as Newark and Wilmington are considered at length,
with entries on homes, churches, schools, and government buildings,
and the state's natural landscape, parks, and such renowned gardens
as Winterthur are also described. Buildings of Delaware
will provide scholars with valuable information on the architecture
of the state, and will spark the imagination of general readers
and local historians as well.
A volume in the Buildings of the United States series of
the Society of Architectural Historians
W. Barksdale Maynard, Lecturer in the art
history departments at Johns Hopkins and Princeton, is the author
of Walden Pond: A History, Architecture in the United States,
1800-1850
and Woodrow Wilson: The Battle of Princeton and
the Making of an American President.
