Hale-Byrnes House


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On 23 November, 1749, millwright Warwick Hale left his property on the south-west bank of the White Clay Creek to his son, Samuel. David Finney of New Castle soon purchased the land from Samuel. Whether the existing c 1750 house was built by Samuel Hale or by David Finney is unclear. An exterior brick on the second story back wall is, however, inscribed "A. Finney."

Daniel Byrnes, a Quaker preacher and miller from Brandywine Village and his wife Dinah Hicklin Byrnes, purchased the property from David Finney on 16 January 1773. The Byrnes's family added the two-story service wing with its large walk-in fireplace.

During the Philadelphia Campaign of 1777, the Byrnes family were pinned between British and American encampments.

On September 6, 1777, three days after the Battle of Cooch's Bridge, General George Washington held a war council at the Hale-Byrnes House. George Washington, Nathaniel Greene, Henry Knox, the Marquis de Lafayette and other Continental Army officers attended. Their goal was to plan the defense of Philadelphia.

For more information on the Revolutionary War and the general history of this part of northern Delaware, please click on the links to the right of this screen.

The Historic Hale-Byrnes House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; is the southern anchor of the federally-designated Wild and Scenic White Clay Creek; and is a site on the nine-state Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail. Hale-Byrnes House is on old Route 7 just south of Stanton, Delaware, near the intersection of Route 4 East and Route 7 North. The street address is 606 Stanton-Christiana Road. Map

Video Presentations at the Hale Byrnes House

American Revolution Round Table of Northern Delaware