The original DuPont Highway, found on maps as Route 13 between Dover and Wilmington and as Route 113 between Dover and the southern border with Maryland, was the nationÂs first divided highway when its expansion between Dover and Wilmington was completed in 1934. It had been officially dedicated 10 years earlier as the Coleman DuPont Road. Thomas Coleman du Pont, a descendant of E. I. du Pont and a two-time U.S. senator, had championed the road and paid nearly $4 million of his own money toward its completion, even after turning the project over to the newly created Delaware State Highway Department. While other philanthropists started schools, libraries, parks, and hospitals, Coleman du Pont said, ÂI will build a monument a hundred miles high and lay it on the ground. He was close. The DuPont Highway measured 96.7 miles.

Author Bio: Author William Francis holds a masterÂs degree in fiction writing from Seton Hill University. The author of the Delaware novel A Life Told to None, Francis finds history a great source for fiction writers and old photographs an excellent medium from which to draw information. Coauthor Michael Hahn is a project manager within Environmental Studies at the Delaware Department of Transportation (DELDOT). In addition to managing cultural resources and compliance requirements, Hahn was lead project manager on the second edition of DelawareÂs Historic Bridges. Signed by the author.