Redden, Delaware
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Redden, Delaware
|settlement_type = Unincorporated community
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|pushpin_label=Redden
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = United States
|subdivision_type1 = State
|subdivision_name1 = Delaware
|subdivision_type2 = County
|subdivision_name2 = Sussex
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|timezone = Eastern (EST)
|utc_offset = -5
|timezone_DST = EDT
|utc_offset_DST = -4
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|elevation_ft = 46
|coordinates = {{coord|38|44|29|N|75|25|02|W|region:US-DE|display=inline,title}}
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|area_code = 302
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|blank_info = 216191{{Cite web |date=2007-10-25 |title=US Board on Geographic Names |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/ |access-date=2008-01-31 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |archive-date=February 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204035720/http://geonames.usgs.gov/ |url-status=live }}
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Redden is an unincorporated community in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. The community became an important railroad center on the Junction and Breakwater Railroad in the 1800s. The site of a historic 19th-century church and a World War II mess hall, Redden lost its post office and school in the 1930s.
Geography
Redden is located along U.S. Route 113 in the Georgetown Hundred, north of Georgetown, amidst tracts which comprise the Redden State Forest.
History
=1800s=
The original McColley's Chapel, a Methodist church in Redden, was built sometime after the land was donated, in 1857.{{Cite web |title=US Route 113 North/South Study: Evaluation of NR Eligibility for Architectural Properties - Ellendale Study Area |url=http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/us113_dual/pdf/n-s_ellendale/5-crs_prop_evals2.pdf |access-date=2021-08-08 |publisher=Delaware Department of Transportation |archive-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224071605/https://deldot.gov/archaeology/us113_dual/pdf/n-s_ellendale/5-crs_prop_evals2.pdf |url-status=live }} The original building was replaced with the current chapel in 1898.
Redden was originally known as Carey. It was renamed in honor of Col. William O. Redden, who had prominent role in Sussex County in the mid-19th century.{{Citation |last=Miller |first=Richard F. |title=States at War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VeE7BgAAQBAJ&q=Redden+Delaware+name&pg=PA223 |volume=4 A Reference Guide for Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey in the Civil War |year=2015 |publisher=University Press of New England |isbn=9781611686210 |access-date=August 9, 2021 |archive-date=February 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214204853/https://books.google.com/books?id=VeE7BgAAQBAJ&q=Redden+Delaware+name&pg=PA223#v=snippet&q=Redden%20Delaware%20name&f=false |url-status=live }} The Redden post office began operation in 1868.{{Cite web |title=Post Offices - Redden |url=https://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&searchtext=Redden&state=DE&county=&searchtype=word |access-date=2021-08-08 |website=www.postalhistory.com |archive-date=August 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808132927/https://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&searchtext=Redden&state=DE&county=&searchtype=word |url-status=live }}
In 1874, Redden was described as a post station on the Junction and Breakwater Railroad.{{Citation |last=Boyd |first=William Henry |title=The Delaware State Directory and Gazetteer for 1874-1875 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vhwlAAAAMAAJ&q=A+Gazetteer+of+Delaware&pg=PA9 |year=1874 |publisher=Commercial printing Company |access-date=August 9, 2021 |archive-date=February 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214204832/https://books.google.com/books?id=vhwlAAAAMAAJ&q=A+Gazetteer+of+Delaware&pg=PA9#v=snippet&q=A%20Gazetteer%20of%20Delaware&f=false |url-status=live }}
=1900s=
The population of Redden had grown slightly to 57 in 1900.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AzrWecxN1wC |title=Cram's Modern Atlas: The New Unrivaled New Census Edition |date=1902 |publisher=J. R. Gray & Company |page=84 |language=en |access-date=August 5, 2021 |archive-date=December 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229210727/https://books.google.com/books?id=9AzrWecxN1wC |url-status=live }} In 1904, Redden was described as a post village on the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad.{{Citation |last=Gannett |first=Henry |title=A Gazetteer of Delaware (Issue 230 of Geological Survey bulletin) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xif5aF6LszUC&q=Queen+Anne%27s+Railroad+overbrook&pg=PA13 |year=1904 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=August 7, 2021 |archive-date=December 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229233954/https://books.google.com/books?id=xif5aF6LszUC&q=Queen+Anne%27s+Railroad+overbrook&pg=PA13#v=snippet&q=Queen%20Anne's%20Railroad%20overbrook&f=false |url-status=live }} The right-of-way is used for freight transport operated by the auspices of Delmarva Central Railroad.
The Redden School, numbered 180, was still in operation in 1928,{{Cite news |title=The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware on May 26, 1928 |language=en |page=6 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/159613468/ |access-date=2021-08-08 |archive-date=August 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808125730/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/159613468/ |url-status=live }} but by 1930, a recommendation was made by the Delaware State Board of Education to close the Redden School.{{Cite book |last1=Instruction |first1=Delaware Department of Public |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H8QWAAAAIAAJ |title=Annual Report of the Department of Public Instruction for the Year Ending ... |last2=Education |first2=Delaware State Board of |date=1930 |publisher=State Board of Education |page=180 |language=en |access-date=August 8, 2021 |archive-date=August 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808142600/https://books.google.com/books?id=H8QWAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}
Redden Community Hall, used as a mess hall during World War II, is "a rare surviving example of an intact Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp facility in Delaware".{{Cite web |year=1990 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form |url=https://deldot.gov/environmental/archaeology/us113_dual/pdf/n-s_ellendale/appd/US113_DOE_ECWMess_S-12179.pdf |access-date=August 8, 2021 |archive-date=August 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808132356/https://deldot.gov/environmental/archaeology/us113_dual/pdf/n-s_ellendale/appd/US113_DOE_ECWMess_S-12179.pdf |url-status=live }} Around this time, the Redden post office closed; it ceased operations in 1933.
=2000s=
McColley's Chapel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 30, 2011.{{Cite web |title=National Register of Historic Places Listings: December 9, 2011 |url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20111209.htm |access-date=2021-08-08 |publisher=National Park Service |archive-date=June 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130611000616/http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20111209.htm |url-status=live }} The church is still in operation and is under the Peninsula-Delaware Conference of the United Methodist Church.{{Cite web |title=McColley's Chapel United Methodist Church |url=http://www.pen-del.org/churches/detail/20 |access-date=2021-08-08 |publisher=Peninsula-Delaware Conference UMC |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094952/http://www.pen-del.org/churches/detail/20 |url-status=live }}
Redden Community Hall is still used as a polling location.{{Cite news |date=2008-09-05 |title=Sussex County Polling Locations |page=9 |work=Cape Gazette |url=http://cpg.stparchive.com/Archive/CPG/CPG09052008p009.php |access-date=2021-08-08 |archive-date=August 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808144025/http://cpg.stparchive.com/Archive/CPG/CPG09052008p009.php |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=State of Delaware List of Polling Places |url=https://elections.delaware.gov/maps/pollingplaces/lists/20200915%20Primary/List_Of_Polling_Places_Primary_20200915_SC.pdf |access-date=2021-08-08 |website=Department of Elections - Sussex County Office |archive-date=September 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930141727/https://elections.delaware.gov/maps/pollingplaces/lists/20200915%20Primary/List_Of_Polling_Places_Primary_20200915_SC.pdf |url-status=live }}
See also
References
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{{Sussex County, Delaware}}
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Category:Unincorporated communities in Sussex County, Delaware