Delcastle Farm



Aerial image of farm buildings at Delcastle

It's probably safe to say that anyone who is at all familiar with Mill Creek Hundred is at least aware of the Delcastle Recreation facility and Delcastle Golf Course on McKennans Church Road. What many enjoying a game of tennis, or softball, or a relaxing day on the course there might not be aware of is that for about half of the 20th century, the land beneath their feet was worked by scores of hardened criminals. OK, maybe not that hardened, but they were incarcerated. For starting in 1915, the land now occupied by Del Rec and the adjoining golf course was owned by the Board of Trustees of the New Castle County Workhouse, also known as the Greenbank Prison.

The NCC Workhouse opened in 1901 on Greenbank Road, on land also currently used for athletic fields. It was the culmination of years of hard work and lobbying by groups looking to modernize Delaware's prison system. As its name would imply, the inmates at the Workhouse were required to work -- both for rehabilitation and to make the prison as financially self-sustaining as possible. Early on, a farm adjacent to the prison was acquired and worked by the inmates. Very quickly, the prison's population grew and a new farm was needed. In 1915, farmland along McKennans Church Road was purchased and christened "Delcastle Farms". (I have been unable to find out from whom the land was purchased, but by looking at old maps, I would assume it was from one or more members of the McElwee family.)

The original mission of the Delcastle Farm was to teach new and progressive farming techniques to selected inmates, with the goal of preparing them for agricultural jobs on their release. Unfortunately, the previously mentioned problems of overcrowding and financial pressures prevailed, and the educational aspect of the farm was quickly abandoned. Presumably in the first few years, inmates working on the farm (mostly short-termers and those with minor offenses) "commuted" the two miles between the farm and the Workhouse. But with the prison's population growing rapidly, a 30-man bunkhouse was built on the farm in 1918. I believe it's the building that still stands just behind the barn and silo. This bunkhouse had sleeping quarters, a reading room, a dining room, a kitchen and a bath. In the basement, there was a storeroom, a carpenter's shop, and a forge. There was electric light and steam heat throughout.

The food grown at the farm was used both as food for the workhouse inmates and sold externally to generate income. Some of it was likely sold fresh, while the rest was packaged at a cannery staffed by female inmates at Greenbank. As the workhouse grew, so did the Delcastle Farm. In 1932, a new and larger dormitory was constructed, this one housing approximately 100 inmates. This newer dorm is the building that currently houses the golf course's pro shop, as well as the Delcastle Inn restaurant. By about 1940, there were 154 inmates living and working on the farm.


1932 Delcastle Farm Dormitory, now a clubhouse

Although I was able to find this information about the beginning and the operation of the Delcastle Farm, I have been less successful in finding out about its demise. It seems as if the farm was operated into the 50's and maybe the 60's, but I haven't yet learned when it was officially abandoned*. Aerial photographs from the early 1960's seem to show that the fields were worked, but whether it was by inmates or not I don't know. The only thing I can say for sure is that the farm was out of operation by 1970, because the golf course opened the following year. If anyone has any more information about the Delcastle Farm, please contact me. I'd love to gather some more information on what has to be one of the more interesting farms to have existed in Mill Creek Hundred.

For more information about the earlier history of the Delcastle property, see this post.

*Edit 12/16/10: As seen below, a reader who grew up in neighboring Sherwood Park II says the farm closed in 1968. That makes sense, since I doubt the county would have held on to vacant, unused land for too long.