The story
Read it all →How Edgemoor came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Edgemoor.
Edgemoor was originally developed as a village by the Edgemoor Iron Company in 1871.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
BHistory
History · Edgemoor
Edgemoor’s post office opened in 1884, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #16 of 37 in Delaware. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Marcus Hook Range Rear Light. Below: maps from 1984 on and the census since 1980.
1884first post office
1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Edgemoor began
When was Edgemoor founded?
1884
The Edgemoor post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 7,397 in 19802020 census: 6,635142 years
How historic is Edgemoor?
B
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Edgemoor post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Edgemoor’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Edgemoor is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #16 of 37 in Delaware. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Edgemoor’s overall grade.
Founding era1884, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194023.2% of homes (±7.5) · typical DE town 5.9% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 3.2 per 10,000 residents · typical DE town 29.4 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 56%
NewerOlder
Delaware towns of 2,500+ (37)Ahead of 58%
Delaware towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Delaware town has 29.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Edgemoor’s 3.2 sits near the middle of its state (36% of Delaware towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Edgemoor’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Edgemoor’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Edgemoor’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices and old corners
Edgemoor had its own post office from 1884 to 1950.
Edgemoor
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BellefonteClifton Park ManorDuponts LandingEdgemoor GardensEdgemoor TerraceEdgewood HillsGordon HeightsHillcrestPenn RosePennyhill TerracePhillips Heights
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Edgemoor, 1884 to 1984
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Edgemoor, decade by decade
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008On the map
Edgemoor on the map in 1984
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Edgemoor.
1984Wilmington sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Edgemoor.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Edgemoor
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Marcus Hook Range Rear Light
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Lighthouse1
Colonial Revival1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Edgemoor, census by census
Between 5,677 and 7,397 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Edgemoor’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Edgemoor’s history
What year was Edgemoor founded?
The Edgemoor post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Edgemoor rank for history?
Edgemoor is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #16 of 37 in Delaware. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Edgemoor?
One place: the Marcus Hook Range Rear Light (listed 1989).
How old are the homes in Edgemoor?
23% of Edgemoor’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Delaware town; the median home was built in 1959.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.