Low and Mid-Rise Buildings

Market Street has been the traditional shopping street for nearly all of Wilmington's history.  This continues today, however most storefronts above 7th Street are devoted to food service for the lunchtime crowds.  There has been a reemergence of retail on lower Market as part of the Ships Tavern redevelopment project headed by Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse.

A former Woolworth's Department Store (note the "W" on the corner), this building has an Aztec Art Deco facade on its Market Street side.  The 9th Street and Shipley Street sides are tan brick.  There are three floors on the Shipley Street side, two floors on the Market Street side, and a basement level with escalators in the center of the sales floor.  The escalators are still in place, but are not in use.  The basement, I assume, is used for storage.

A former Reynolds Candy store has housed Cavanaugh's restaurant for a number of years.  The building is five stories in height, and stretches the width of the block to Shipley Street behind the building.

Another Woolworth's department store on Market Street, this one between 5th and 6th Streets.  The fact that there were two of the same chain of department stores within three blocks of each other speaks volumes of the former retail strength of Wilmington (this was in addition to the other local department stores!).  This building has the same Aztec Deco facade on its Market Street side.  The Historical Society has restored the original stainless steel and red signage in the spirit of the original Five and Dime's (an original Five and Dime can still be found in Newark, DE about 15 miles to the west).  The King Street side of this building is four floors, but has not retained its original facade.

Looking up 5th Street from King Street.  To the right is the Queen Theater.  The Coke ad has fascinated me; a lost art.  This lot is soon to be put to use again, as a new 13-story office building and garage break ground in the spring of 2005.

The Queen Theater is one of the great old buildings still left largely intact and with all its original details.  Built in 1916, this was one of the many movie houses in Wilmington.  It has sat largely vacant since its last film, "House on Haunted Hill," played in 1959.  However, a developer has recently purchased the building and has plans for offices, and a restuarant on the ground floor.  The iron facade (one of the few I've spotted in Wilmington) will be refurbished.

One of the commercial buildings in the old furniture district.  This one is on Third Street (this section is only two blocks long due to the Bank One Complex and Delaware Technical College).  There were at least seven furniture retailers within the 200 and 300 blocks of King and Market Streets.  The area is now part of the Ships Tavern District revitalization effort (and my neighborhood).

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Happy Harry's, Cavanaugh's, and Delaware History photos were supplied by www.roadsidenut.com

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