Hagley Museum, Delaware

Historical museum and former explosives plant, and the original base for the DuPont family and their chemical empire. The grounds of the old explosives plant along the Brandywine are sublime, pastoral, and post-dramatic. Many of the family and their workers were killed in accidents in the early days, dating back to 1804, when this was the largest explosives facility in America, and the source of most of the bullets and bombs used in America’s early wars, like the War of 1812. The grounds are preserved, the museum is interesting, their archives deep, and there is an active DuPont chemical plant looming above it, across the creek.