This past weekend Sarah and I went on a trip to the Brandywine Valley. We had been there last year, to visit the two major attractions, Longwood Gardens and Winterthur. Both of these were owned by members of the DuPont family. This past weekend, we got to see a little more about how the DuPont’s made their money. I’m not good with names, but I did learn that Longwood and Winterthur were owned by DuPont’s two generations after DuPont that laid the foundation and made all of the money.
We visited Hagley museum, which is the site of the old DuPont powder mill. The DuPont’s were French, and back during the 1800’s the French were really good at making gun powder, and America didn’t have any quality powder makers. The DuPont’s came over and basically setup this operation and cornered the powder market. Their powder was much higher quality than any other maker. At Hagley Museum, we were able to learn about how gun powder is made, view a working machine shop, and a steam engine. We also took a tour of the DuPont household, which was more of a mansion then a house.
It gave us a good look as to how the DuPont’s lived, and how they made their fortune. The whole area in the Brandywine Valley is full of history, and I always find it enjoyable to learn more about how our country was made into what we have now. We are blessed that all of this is so nearby, and that we are able to learn about history by going to the places where it took place, instead of just reading about it in a book or on TV.