In 1906, Quaker industrialist William Bancroft began buying land outside Wilmington to keep it open for the public; more than a century later, 1,359 acres became the largest unit of First State National Historical Park

In 1906, William Poole Bancroft began buying land in Delaware’s Brandywine Valley to hold it in reserve for the public’s health and well-being. He eventually acquired more than 1,300 acres. Parts of the land were later donated to the National Park Service, wi…