Auburn Valley State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Auburn Valley State Park |
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Israel Marshall's Home, Auburn Heights
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 Auburn Valley State Park
Location in Delaware
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| Location | New Castle, Delaware, United States |
| Area | 360 acres (150 ha) |
| Named for | Auburn Heights Mansion |
| Governing body | Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control |
| Website | https://destateparks.com/History/AuburnHeights |
Auburn Valley State Park is a cool state park in Yorklyn, Delaware, United States. It used to be called Auburn Heights Preserve. This park is about 360 acres big. It protects the old home and land of the Marshall family. You can also see parts of their old mills next to the Red Clay Creek.
The park has many miles of trails. You can walk, bike, or even see antique cars on them. The state also helps protect another 160 acres of nearby private land. This helps keep the park's natural, rural feel.
Auburn Valley State Park is home to the world's largest collection of working steam cars. It also has a small, coal-powered train. This train runs on tracks around the old family estate. The main house, mills, and steam museum are important historical places. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Park History
People living near the Red Clay Creek first asked the state to protect this land in 2000. A company nearby, National Vulcanized Fiber, was getting smaller. This seemed like a good chance to save the land. Tom Marshall, who owned a large estate there, started giving parts of his land away. He gave it to the Delaware Nature Society to help protect it.
The state started buying land for the park in 2002. They bought 104 acres from the company for $3 million. They also bought 65 acres of Marshall's old land from the Delaware Nature Society for $2.3 million.
More land was bought in 2005. This added 19 acres, making the park almost 200 acres in total. It officially became a state park in 2008.
Later, the state bought 42 more acres from the company. This made the main part of the park 234 acres. The state also made agreements to protect much of the remaining land. They worked with developers to keep open spaces. They also planned trails through the valley. This helped make the old mill town lively again.
On November 9, 2018, Auburn Heights Preserve got a new name. It became Auburn Valley State Park. Important people like Governor John Carney and Senator Tom Carper were there for the special ceremony.
Auburn Heights Mansion
The Auburn Heights Mansion was built in 1897. Israel Marshall, a member of a farming family, built it. His family had come to the United States a long time ago. In 1890, Israel and his brother, T. Elwood Marshall, bought the nearby mill.
The house is built in a Victorian style. It sits on a big hill. From there, it looks down over the mill buildings and the town of Yorklyn. Tom Marshall, Israel Marshall's grandson, gave the house and 4 acres of land to the state in 2008. The house was fully furnished. The park now offers tours. Visitors can learn about the Marshall family and the area's industrial past.
Oversee Farm
The Oversee Farm is another part of the park. It is close by but not directly connected to the main area. This farm used to belong to Eleanor Marshall Reynolds. She was Tom Marshall's cousin. Reynolds bought the farm in 1945. She wanted to make sure it would be protected for the future.
The farm has forests, freshwater marshes, and open fields. It also has great views of Red Clay Creek. After she passed away in 2003, her son Warren sold the 125-acre farm. He sold it to The Nature Conservancy to keep it safe. The conservancy then worked with the state. They helped the state's parks department take over the farm.
There are plans to connect the farm to the main park. This will happen through the park's trail system. The trails will go through private land that the state helps protect.
Marshall Steam Museum
T. Clarence Marshall was Israel Marshall's youngest son. He was also Tom Marshall's father. He loved the steam power that ran his family's mills. He became a seller for the Stanley Motor Carriage Company. He started collecting steam cars.
His collection was first shown to the public in the 1970s. Tom Marshall gave the collection to a group in 2008. This group is called the Friends of Auburn Heights Preserve. They work with the state to run the park. The collection is kept in the Auburn Heights carriage house. Volunteers work hard to keep the vehicles running. The collection includes 15 Stanley cars. It also has other steam and electric cars. The museum also has a small steam train. It runs on tracks around the estate. It's called the Auburn Valley Railroad.
Visitors can see the collection. On certain days, you can even ride the cars and trains! The park also has field trips for students. Kids can learn about how transportation and steam power have changed over time.
