Catching Up and Some Odds and Ends

Old Capitol Trail and Newport Gap Pike, 1965

As you may have noticed, the blogging here has been a bit light the past month. Ok, more than light. Non-existent. I apologize for the hiatus to anyone who looks forward to these posts, but my real life has been busy and hectic the past few weeks. Things are finally starting to calm down a bit now, and beginning to get back to whatever passes for normal these days. For whatever it's worth to whoever might care, I'm hoping to get back to a more regular posting schedule this week.

Now that that's out of the way, I have a few little things that, for lack of a better idea, I'm just going to throw all together in one post here:

• I missed this one last month, but a new local history book has been released. Sometime last year (I think it was), I briefly had a post up asking if anyone had old pictures of Kirkwood Highway. This was a request from William Francis, who was working on a book on the subject. As of a month ago, the book is out! I believe it can be found in local bookstores and the usual places that have these sort of books. It can also be ordered here, among other places. The book has about 200 wonderful pictures in it, but I'm going to point out one in particular, because it gives a little more information on a post topic from a couple of years ago. The photo at the top is of the intersection of Newport Gap Pike and Old Capitol Trail in 1965, looking west. If you look at the bottom left corner of the intersection, you'll see the Lang and Sturgis Store. It had likely ceased to be that by then, but what stood out to me was that as of 1965 it still had it's original roofline and orientation. I can't tell if the porch is still there, but at least this narrows down when the building was reconfigured.

• Now the first of two requests for help. I was contacted recently by someone researching the area of Tuxedo Park, just west of Newport, right before the bowling alley. Can anyone recall hearing any stories about any sort of grisly crime committed there? It might have been sometime around World War II, maybe earlier.

• The second request is for me, and comes mostly from my advanced state of disorganization at the moment. I know that I read somewhere about an old toll house (I think on the Wilmington & Christiana Turnpike (Rt. 4)) that was moved nearby after the toll gates were taken out. I believe it was in one of the books I have, but I can't seem to find it now. I know some of you have some of these books, so maybe someone will remember seeing it, too. The list of possible suspects includes Delaware: A Guide to the First State (Federal Writers Guide), Weslager's Delaware's Forgotten River, and Cooch's Little Known History of Newark Delaware and Its Environs. I can't be sure it's in one of these books, but something makes me think it is. I don't think it was much more than an off-handed mention, but I know I did read it somewhere.

As I said, life is beginning to return to normal, along with my time to work on the blog. If there's anyone who has emailed me recently who I haven't responded to, I'll try to get to you as soon as I can. If anyone has any ideas for future posts, as always, feel free to send it my way. Thanks for your patience, and let's get back to history!