Old New Castle was the focus of a tour on Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, state, and Small Business Administration officials.
The event is aimed at highlighting local holiday and year-round shopping as well as the debut of the ‘Byway Bucks’ Program (a coupon voucher program offering dining, shopping and admissions deals along the state’s ‘Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway in Delaware).
Click here for details on the Byway Bucks program.
The event featured remarks on the steps of the First State National Historic Park’s New Castle Courthouse Museum, the site of the fugitive slave trials. Transcripts from those trials were used in mapping the byway route.
“‘Tubman Byway’ can re-trace Harriet Tubman’s perilous Civil-War-era journey through the First State, ferrying fugitive slaves to freedom in the North. And, now, thanks to the ‘Byway Bucks’ Program, the ‘Tubman Byway maps out a whole new journey along its route – a discounted shopping, dining and leisure trail cutting through the heart of some of Delaware’s most character-filled towns,” said John Fleming, who heads the Delaware SBA Office.
The Tubman Byway traverses Maryland from the eastern shore region northward, entering the First State from Maryland at Kent County’s Sandtown, DE, continuing north through Kent and New Castle Counties, and exiting into Pennsylvania where Del. Route 52 crosses the Pennsylvania state line.
Currently, the ‘Byway Bucks’ Program includes: Wilmington (Boney Barber Shop; Ms. Bonnie’s Savvor the Flavvor Seefood Restaurant; Harvest Christian Retail Stores; Rock Solid Contracting; Sepia Pre-Paid Dry Cleaning; Southbridge Farmers Market; and the Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Society); New Castle (2nd Act Antiques; Blue Heron Gallery; Bridgewater Jewelers; Caroline’s Restaurant; Cobblestones Gifts; Fresh Faced Skin Care; Hedge Apple Antiques; Jessop’s Tavern & Colonial Restaurant; the New Castle Historical Society & Arsenal Gift Shop at the First State National Historic Park; Penn’s Place & Traders Cove Coffee Shop @ Penn’s Place; and Port-Fino Pizza & Restaurant); and Camden and Wyoming, Del. (The Camden-Wyoming Market (formerly Witt Brothers); The Corner Apothecary; Delaware Bay Trading Company & General Lockwood’s Coffee House; Delaware Guitar School; Knight’s Fine Jewelry; Hall’s Family Restaurant; Simply Charming & Simply Charming at the Mill; Tre Sorrelle Dolce; and Yarn & Bone Pet Supply Company). WSFS supports the ‘Byway Bucks’ Program statewide.
