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About FOBS
Friends of Brandywine Springs
The Friends of Brandywine Springs (FOBS) is a nonprofit, all volunteer organization dedicated to the improvement and historical restoration of the Brandywine Springs Amusement Park. New Castle County Special Services Department now manages Brandywine Springs Park, located at Newport Gap Pike and Faulkland Road.
The Friends of Brandywine Springs do not intend to rebuild the amusement park. Our plan is to create a historical nature walk. We want to make a clear, safe trail for visitors to stroll through the park and learn a little Delaware history while enjoying the natural surroundings. The following are some of our primary goals:
- A handicapped accessible mulched trail along the path of the old trolley line and down the old boardwalk.
- Footbridges across Hyde Run to create a continuous walking path.
- Signs with photographs to explain what once stood at sites where foundations are visible. (Some are already up!)
- Preserve and protect the historical foundations, which remain today.
- Restore the lake. If not feasible, the lakebed could be cleared of brush. Then attractive grasses and water plants could be planted which would give the illusion of water, absorb excess water, and attract wild life.
- At various places in the park, control multiflora rose and honeysuckle. Plants which would attract wild life then could be introduced.
- Plant wildflowers on the hillside to help control erosion.
- Create a natural barrier of plants, trees, and shrubs to maintain the privacy of nearby residents.
- Continue research, including archaeological digs with the Archaeological Society of Delaware, to find footings of the buildings and rides in the park and mark them appropriately.
Artifacts from the amusement park can be seen at the Friends of Brandywine Springs museum in the Red Clay Valley Visitors Center located at the Wilmington & Western Railroad's Greenbank Station on Route 41 near Prices Comer. |
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