Wilmington, Delaware: Rockford Tower
Resembling the keep of a medieval castle, the Rockford Tower is built on the highest point in Wilmington.
- Address:
- Lookout Drive, Wilmington, DE
- Directions:
- Rockford Park. From Pennsylvania Ave. turn north (no stoplight), just east of the Tower High School pedestrian overpass, onto Tower Rd. Follow it into the park, then loop around. When you reach the T intersection, turn left and follow the road until you reach the tower.
- Hours:
- Observation deck open Su 1-5
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In 1895 Theodore Leisen, Wilmington Board of Park Commissioners engineer, proposed a large pavilion and observatory at Mount Salem Hill in Rockford Park, the city's highest point (330 feet above sea level). At the same time the city Board of Water Commissioners determined that the neighborhood needed a new water source. The two boards merged to construct Rockford Tower in 1899-1902. Built of natural field stone in Italian Renaissance Revival style, the tower holds 500,000 gallons of water. From a 57-loot diameter base, the tower rises 115 feet to the observatory.
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The tower's observation deck is open on Sunday afternoons.