First Broiler House

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = First Broiler House

| nrhp_type =

| image = First Broiler House - front view.jpg

| caption =

| location = University of Delaware Experimental Station, Georgetown, Delaware

| coordinates = {{coord|38|38|9|N|75|27|16|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Delaware#USA

| mapframe = yes

| mapframe-marker = building

| mapframe-zoom = 12

|mapframe-caption = Interactive map showing the location for the First Broiler House

| built = 1923

| added = July 3, 1974

| area = {{convert|0|acre}}

| refnum = 74000607{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

}}

The First Broiler House, also known as Mrs. Wilmer Steele's Broiler House, is preserved at the University of Delaware Agricultural Experiment Station near Georgetown, Delaware as an example of a chicken house that was widely used to raise broiler chickens in Delaware during the 1920s. An example of an individual-colony house, the {{convert|16|ft|m|adj=on}} square wood-frame building housed 500 chickens. It was provided with a coal stove.{{cite web|last=Gordy|first=J. Frank|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: First Broiler House|url={{NRHP url|id=74000607}}|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=25 October 2011|date=August 31, 1972}} and {{NRHP url|id=74000607|title=Accompanying photos|photos=y}}

Cecile Steele of Ocean View, Delaware was the first person in Delaware to raise chickens specifically for meat production, separately from her laying flock that was primarily meant to produce eggs.{{cite web |last1=Torrella |first1=Kenny |title=How a shipping error 100 years ago launched the $30 billion chicken industry |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/2/10/23589333/cecile-steele-chicken-meat-poultry-eggs-delaware |website=Vox |access-date=21 February 2023 |language=en |date=10 February 2023}}{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Steven |authorlink=Steven Johnson (author) |title=Extra Life |publisher=Riverhead Books |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-525-53885-1 |edition=1st |pages=208–209 |language=en}} The wife of a Coast Guardsman stationed at the Bethany Beach Lifesaving Station,{{cite web|title=Celia Steele and the Broiler Industry|url=http://www.sussexcountyde.gov/about/history/events.cfm?action=broiler|work=History of Sussex County|publisher=Sussex County, Delaware|accessdate=25 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014082746/http://www.sussexcountyde.gov/about/history/events.cfm?action=broiler|archive-date=14 October 2011|url-status=dead}} she raised her first flock of 500 in 1923, selling 387 two-pound chickens for 67 cents per pound. She ordered 50, but was accidentally shipped 500 which she decided to keep and sell at a discount. Her business model was profitable. In 1924 she doubled to 1,000 chickens, and in 1925 leaped to 10,000. By 1973, 50 years later, the industry processed 3 billion chickens per year.

The broiler house has been moved from its original site at the Steele farm and has been repaired. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 3, 1974.