Block House (Delaware)
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The Block House is a 17th-century historic building located off Naamans Road in
Claymont, Delaware Claymont is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population of Claymont was 9,895. History The community now known as Claymont started on the banks of Naamans Creek where i ...
. The Block House is believed to be the only structure remaining of original Swedish colonial settlement on
Naamans Creek Naamans Creek (spelled Naaman Creek on federal maps) is a tributary of the Delaware River that is located in northeast New Castle County, Delaware and southeast Delaware County, Pennsylvania. History and geography This creek is believed to be na ...
.


History

The Block House is believed to have been constructed in 1654 under instruction of
Johan Risingh Johan Classon Risingh (1617–1672) was a Swedish politician who was the last governor of New Sweden, the Swedish colony in North America. Biography Risingh was born in 1617 in Risinge, Östergötland, Sweden. His father was a pastor named Rever ...
, who was the last Governor of the Colony of
New Sweden New Sweden () was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a g ...
. Chief Peminacka of the Minqua tribe had deeded the large tract of land along Naaman's Creek to John Risingh on behalf of the Swedish colony. The structure was originally designed for defense. During September 1655, the Block House was taken by the
Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...
under
Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...
at the same time that Dutch forces captured
Fort Christina Fort Christina, also called Fort Altena, was the first Sweden, Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony. Built in 1638 and named after Christina, Queen of Sweden, it was located approximately 1&nb ...
. In 1671, the Block House was attacked by Native Americans. It was captured by the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
in 1777 during the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
. The Block House consists of one room with a lower and upper level. Inside is a relatively large fireplace and the former living quarters for the Robinson House cook. That 18th-century house was built in 1723 on nearby land. The date of construction of the Block House has been disputed. Some scholars say the Block House was not built until later, possibly around the time the Robinson House was built in 1723.


See also

*
List of the oldest buildings in Delaware This article attempts to list the oldest extant buildings surviving in the state of Delaware in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in Delaware and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate and based upon de ...


References


Other sources

* Johnson, Amandus ''Johan Classon Rising: The Last Governor of New Sweden'' (Philadelphia: The Swedish Colonial Society, 1915) * Ward, Christopher. ''Dutch and Swedes on the Delaware, 1609 - 1664'' (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1930)


External links


Delaware FortsLandmarks of the United StatesNew Castle County Markers
Pre-statehood history of Delaware Houses in New Castle County, Delaware New Sweden Swedish-American culture in Delaware 1654 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies Blockhouses Claymont, Delaware {{Delaware-struct-stub