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Blue Ball Barn

Alapocas Run State Park

1914 West Park Drive, Wilmington, DE 19803
Phone: (302) 761-6952
Fax: (302) 761-4685
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Property History

This extraordinary structure is named after the Blue Ball Tavern, an inn and meetinghouse that was once located near the barn property. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, innkeepers along stagecoach routes in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Ohio raised a pole with a blue ball attached when passengers needed to be picked up.

In 1914, Alfred I. duPont built the concrete and steel Blue Ball Barn for his new dairy farm. After duPont's death, the dairy farm changed hands several times and was abandoned in 1977. The Blue Ball Barn is one of the few structures that remained when the State of Delaware purchased the property in 1999 and began renovations in 2004. The Blue Ball Barn was opened to the public in 2007.

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