Take a 15-minute walk through history: Wilmington’s Market Street comes alive with new self-guided audio tour

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

On Market Street, the rhythm of downtown Wilmington is constant. Cyclists zip up and down the strip, cars hum past crosswalks and people weave through the sidewalks, some heading to work, others walking their dogs or heading into corner cafés and restaurants.

Amid the bustle, the city is inviting residents and visitors alike to slow down with a new self-guided audio tour highlighting history, stories and architectural gems along the corridor.

“It starts at the Queen theater and then there are about 15 different stops divided out into nine blocks, and then it takes you all the way up to the JPMorgan Chase building, which is the tallest building in Wilmington at 23 stories,” said Jennifer Boes, executive director of the Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It takes about 15 minutes to do the tour, not including stops.”

The walk becomes a lens into Wilmington’s story, with older structures mingling alongside newer developments.

“The part after the Hotel Du Pont is a newer developed part of the city, and the lower part of Market Street is more the older development of Wilmington,” Boes said. “One of the modern buildings past the Hotel Du Pont was designed by I.M. Pei, and that’s on the tour, and a lot of people don’t realize that I.M. Pei is the same person that designed the pyramid at the Louvre in France.”

Much of the tour, however, is about appreciating what’s been preserved.

“The buildings on Market Street have a lot of architectural value that even residents don’t tend to notice if they don’t stop and look. So the purpose of this tour is to get you to stop and look and appreciate the buildings that we have there, and also learn a little bit about the history of Wilmington and the history of those buildings.”

Stops include the Wilmington Public Library, where carved owls decorate the facade, and the Grand Opera House — a cast-iron landmark that opened in 1871 and once hosted legends like actress Ethel Barrymore and showman Buffalo Bill Cody. Before that structure, the site was home to a Revolutionary War hospital that treated soldiers from both sides.

“I love the Wilmington Public Library. That’s also on the tour. I love the owls … that are around the perimeter of that library. That’s one of the Beaux-Arts architectural-style buildings that we have,” Boes said. “The other thing I love about this tour is I learned a lot that I didn’t know about Wilmington. For example, Rodney Square used to be a reservoir a long time ago. I did not know that. ”

For Boes, that’s the beauty of the tour — the chance to learn something new.

“I think the variety of architecture that we have in downtown Wilmington is something that can really be appreciated through this tour and the fact that so much has been preserved of the original architecture of the city,” she said.

While the walk itself only takes 15 minutes, not counting the time it takes to pause and take everything in, the hope is that people will linger for lunch, shopping or an evening downtown. As Market Street continues to welcome new restaurants and retailers, city leaders see the tour as a way to honor Wilmington’s past while highlighting its potential for growth.

You can find the audio to accompany your downtown Wilmington walk at the Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau website.