page_title: Delaware Route 52
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Delaware Route 52 / History
caption_attribution_description: Northbound Delaware Route 52 (Kennett Pike) approaching the intersection with Sunnyside Road near Greenville, Delaware
context_page_description: Delaware Route 52 is a state highway in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from U.S. Route 13 Business in downtown Wilmington north to Pennsylvania Route 52 at the Pennsylvania border near Centerville. DE 52 runs through the city of Wilmington and passes through areas of the Brandywine Valley north of Wilmington. DE 52 intersects Interstate 95 /US 202 and DE 2 in Wilmington and DE 100/DE 141 and DE 82 in Greenville. The entire route is designated as part of the Brandywine Valley National Scenic Byway, a National Scenic Byway and Delaware Byway while most of the route is also designated as part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway of the Delaware Byways system. The road was built as the Kennett Pike, a turnpike, between 1811 and 1813. The Kennett Pike was bought by Pierre S. du Pont in 1919 and was widened and paved before being sold to the State of Delaware for $1. The road received the DE 52 designation by 1936.
context_section_description: On January 21, 1811, the Wilmington and Kennett Turnpike Company was incorporated by the Delaware State Legislature to build a turnpike from Wilmington to the Pennsylvania border at Centreville. The turnpike was intended to provide a connection between Wilmington, which was a growing industrial city, and nearby areas in southeastern Pennsylvania, where it would connect to other turnpikes leading to western Pennsylvania. The road was built between 1811 and 1813 at a cost of $30,000. The Kennett Pike was built was built with a 100-foot (30 m) wide right-of-way, with a 20-foot (6.1 m) travel surface. The charter of the turnpike gave Christiana Hundred the option to purchase the road in 1820 and remove the tolls. The Kennett Pike had two toll gates north of Wilmington. Tolls along the turnpike were charged based on the type of carriage or vehicle and the amount and type of cargo being carried. People who used the roadway to travel between different parts of their property, along with people traveling to a house of worship or funeral, were not charged tolls.
  In the 20th century, the automobile rose to prominence and travelers demanded better roads. The alignment of Kennett Pike became home to the estates of many executives from the DuPont Company and other corporations in the early part of the century. Among the executives was DuPont Company secretary and treasurer Pierre S. du Pont, who came up with a plan to modernize Kennett Pike. In 1916, du Pont's plan to modernize the road would widen the turnpike to the same width as Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilmington, eliminate hazards such as narrow bridges, widen culverts, build a bridge near Brecks Lane in Wilmington, widen it to an improved road between 18 feet (5.5 m) and 25 feet (7.6 m), and grade the roadway to make it smooth and safe.  Pierre S. du Pont's cousin, Colonel Henry A. du Pont, owned half the shares of the Wilmington and Kennett Turnpike Company and sold his shares to Pierre S. du Pont; he encouraged other shareholders to do so. Work on improving the highway would be delayed by World War I. By April 1919, Pierre S. du Pont owned nearly all the shares of the turnpike company. As a result of the acquisition of the road by du Pont, the toll gates were removed.
  Following the acquisition of the turnpike company, du Pont would begin widening and resurfacing the road. The engineering department of the DuPont Company would lay out and design the roadway while subcontractors would construct the road. Work on improving the Kennett Pike began just north of the Pyles Ford Road intersection near Winterthur. By July 1919, 2,700 feet (820 m) of concrete had been poured along the road while right-of-way acquisition took place in Centerville. Grading of the northern section of the roadway from Winterthur to Centerville occurred by August of that year. By the end of September, excavation was almost finished and homes began to be moved for paving along the northern portion of the Kennett Pike. Also at this time, plans were made for the bridge at Brecks Lane and land acquisition took place along the road in Greenville. In the later part of 1919, final grading occurred in Centerville while excavation commenced in Greenville. On December 13, 1919, construction paused for the winter. Work on improving the Kennett Pike resumed in April 1920, with the sides of the road between Greenville and the Pennsylvania border dressed. By the end of the spring, nearly all the right-of-way had been acquired and paving of the roadway was being finished. The Kennett Pike opened partially to vehicles on June 12, 1920; the road would be fully opened by the end of July. The widening and paving of Kennett Pike cost $764,000. The roadway was 24 feet (7.3 m) wide and had a 3-foot (0.91 m) wide macadam shoulder. Following the completion of the project, du Pont sold the Kennett Pike to the Delaware State Highway Department for $1. In addition to improving Kennett Pike, du Pont also widened Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilmington, which connected the end of Kennett Pike at Greenhill Avenue to Delaware Avenue, which led t
caption: DE 52 northbound north of Greenville
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