About Fort DuPont State Park
Fort DuPont State Park preserves part of a former U.S. Army post on the Delaware River near the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Defensive use of the site began during the Civil War, and the post later developed into an important component of the Harbor Defenses of the Delaware, with late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century batteries positioned to protect the river approach to Wilmington and Philadelphia. The military reservation remained active in different roles through World War II.
Today the park is best explored on foot, where trails and interpretive waysides connect surviving military landscapes and coastal-defense remnants such as Battery Read and Gibson and Battery Elder. The riverfront setting also helps visitors understand how Fort DuPont worked with Fort Delaware and Fort Mott as a coordinated defensive system. Unlike a traditional museum, the park’s appeal is the opportunity to walk through the surviving terrain of a long-lived military post while also enjoying views of the Delaware River.
