DuPont Review

Beautiful trails and buildings. Well worth the visit.

Great for big and little people who like pumps, gears, and gunpowder.

Great exhibits and scenic grounds. I was especially impressed that the water-powered equipment is in working condition after so many years and is available for demonstration.

Went to the museum on Saturday afternoon. Wish we had gotten there in the morning! There was so much to see. Fascinating history of the DuPont family and their earliest business...gunpowder! Lots of actual working 1800's machinery demonstrations. We adults were entranced. There were also some children there and they seemed to be very interested as well. We'll have to go back again to see what we missed.

Very friendly staff and tour guides. Everyone of them. They call themselves DuPonters, as do all who work for the DuPont company I am told. All who worked there were very enthusiastic about the DuPont family and what they have done for this country. I would say that their narrative was a little slanted to only see the good, but isn t that the way of all tour guides? Just take it with a grain of salt when you go and use logic and reasoning. Such as when they tell you that the DuPont s educated all of the poor children of their workers to the point they could read. This meant they were taught during Sunday School for one hour each week. As a first grade teacher I know the children would not have had enough educational time to learn how to read at this rate. I discussed this with my guide but it was insisted that everyone learned to read because of the DuPont s. I found this delusional. They also refused to broach the topic of slavery or what the DuPont s did in the later years (think Agent Orange). However, it was very interesting to see the old mills, how they created the first gun powder, how they chose their location, and how everything worked.

This would not be the top of my list for places to visit. But if you have a couple of hours and want to learn a little bit of history it would be worth it.

This was a great experience. We enjoyed a tour of the family home with a very knowledgeable guide. After which we went down for a demo in the machine shop and then the gun powder demo both of which were educational and entertaining. We ran out of time to see the workers area. It nice that the ticket allows you entrance in 2 days.

Amazing experience. The Boys Scouts learned a lot here.

Attended the Wednesday evening bike, hike and Brew. What a great idea! I was pleased to see how many people attended. There were lots of families and both hikers and bikers. We ordered a picnic dinner which was delicious and very reasonably priced. Beware biking the big hill! You will definitely feel a sense of accomplishment when you are done.

Where Winterthur and Longwood Gardens are for the ladies, Hagley is more for the guys. Loved it!!

Very interesting. The photo of the turbine driven by the water was incorrectly attributed to the adjacent state park. Lots of history here. The flower and vegetable garden is being returned to its historical origins. Very peaceful and the trees are wonderful.

The museum was very nice and educational. Will come back again.

Wonderful museum. Lots to see with very informative demos. Docents really knowlegeable. Some walking but they had a bus that ran throughout the day.

Valuable piece of Delaware history. Hike and Bike is great for the kids!

Very educational, and full of a lot of activities for everyone to enjoy!

The museum it's self is quiet small but you can walk around

We like going there. Seem to learn new things each time we go. I am a huge fan of the machine shop.

Hayley museum and mills is the site of Henry DuPont's first business created in the late 1800s ; a black powder mill used to create gun powder for the Civil War.The tour is very informative with docents walking you through the entire process that DuPont created in his original mill. A caution for anyone with any mobility problems; you need to be able to walk through a lot of uneven terrain ( as someone with a cane, I found it rather difficult). A tour of DuPont's first home and gardens is also included. If you are into early American history, you will enjoy this tour. The tour guides are very knowledgeable and fun.

Very interesting museum. I arrived late so I could not tour the entire property which consists of several buildings: working 19th century mill, stationary period steam engine, home of I.E. Du Pont, school house and a few others.
The main building was very informative and had several interactive diaramas, a few pieces from the Du Pont family very well preserved and some very interesting information about the formation of their company.
The property is very beautiful as well and the staff was very nice and well informed.
Tickets only $15 for adults.
Be sure to give yourself at least 3-3.5 hours to tour the property and keep in mind they close at 5pm.

Hagley Museum details the history of the Dupont Gun Powder operation along Brandywine Creek in the 1700-1800s. It had a very informative museum and beautiful grounds including a machine shop, gun powder demonstration, Foreman's house, and one room school house. The museum itself currently isn't open due to COVID but everything else is. They have lots of cool events each year as well including an excellent care show in September.

Hagley houses so much history and is such a neat place to visit and learn some of Delaware s history. The tour takes you back to how things were done in the 1800 s

Lovely place for a relaxed weekend getting immersed in history related to the 8th largest. Chemical company in the world today. You also come to know about the Dupont family started humbly, the importance of Black Powder/gun powder in the 1800's and why they decided to start in Wilmington. Tremendous piece of history for kids and adults . They also give a tour of the 1st Dupont family home, a tour of the gun powder mills and how they made it and finally live demo of firing a mini canon using gun powder . Beautiful place to just walk around as well .

Note : Gets more interesting if you ask questions. I asked them about the role of the family in the civil war given they were the largest producers in US and I heard what I had suspected. Visit and find out :) .

Wonderful place to go see and learn the beginnings of the Du Pount industry. Very peaceful. Everything is wheelchair accessible.

i use to go to this museum i loved it so much i started volunteering great place to visit beautiful scenery and great people

Interesting tour of the house and gardens but not much else to see on the estate.

They have a really nice staff and they explain everything perfectly about all the history there.

I was really impressed with the tours. The information was interesting and the area was pleasant to be in. Even my 11 year old son enjoyed the tour, including the tour of the mansion. There was more to do then I had realized and we will probably go back in the fall. I imagine the trees along the river will be beautiful.

Very nice place with informative, lovingly presented tours. The outdoor walks are picturesque and the old processes and facilities are the right balance of "as it was." Recommend visiting in the spring and fall, or cooler summer days.

Can't say enough about this wonderful tour! You not only your through the home, but also the machines shop, steam engine room, grounds, water wheels, etc. It was so much to see. You could easily spend the day here! Tour guides were top notch!!!

Lots of history, low entry fee. Be sure to go on a day the library is open.

Absolutely love this place. Got a membership so we could go over and over.

we'll preserved historical grounds ... beautiful landscaping

Everyone should understand something of how life was lived 200 years ago and how the ingenuity of people then helped bring us to where we are today. Hagley is an excellent place for young and old to gain those insights.

Well documented history of one of the oldest companies in the nation, DuPont. A company that has dwindled in recent decades, it attracted brilliant minds that made breakthrough inventions over the past 215 years. Every day you see or feel something that was first developed by a DuPont engineer or scientist. It all started here.

My husband and I had a nice experience here. They were very friendly and the grounds are beautiful.

Fun and historical great for all ages, something for everyone. don't miss the powder mill walk along the Brandywine

A must see! A hidden gem in DE. Coming from Baltimore we had never heard of this site. It turned out to be a museum as well as a working water wheel power 'plant' situated on the beautiful Brandywine river. It was owned by the Dupont family. It has a functioning steam engine as well. It's worth the trip just to take a walk along the river. If you're at all interested in history or if you aren't this is a good place to start ;)

Visited the museum last year. Great to see the history of DuPont when you visit the USA from the Netherlands for work (DuPont). Great experience to see how old equipment is used. Fantastic to see all the enthusiasm from the volunteers. You feel directly welkom when you enter the museum.

Way more fun and informative than I expected. Getting to be in a fully-functional, water-driven machine shop and seeing the gunpowder power exhibition really made this a good way to spend an afternoon.

A beautiful museum village that brings to life the story of the origins of the DuPont family, Delaware and the Brandywine Valley. Knowledgeable staff, first rate preservation in a bucolic setting.

Great history lesson about the start for the DuPont family in Deleware. The house and furnishings are relatively modest compared to Winterthur and Nemours, but it is still well worth visiting. It is a fun way to spend a few hours.

Such an interesting place to visit. Go there to see how the du Pont story started.

Doing alot of wrk @ this amazing place. A must see, great place 2 visit.....

I love to always take food with my wife to eat outdoors. Nice place.

Did the hike and bike night. Delightful scenery, delicious ice cream truck and beer available for purchase. I would enjoy coming during regular hours as well to see the rest of the buildings. So much history and stuff to learn here as well as some cool things to see!

Beautiful grounds, enthusiastic guides, fascinating history and an interesting gift shop.

Go learn how the Dupont Company go started. My favored spot are the ruin gardens along the entrance road.

A must see if you are in the area.
Tram tour to the house through the gardens.
Guided tour in the house is very good with a lot of history.

Go during the summer, you see more. Tour is great but almost not worth the money off peak

As a 1dr time visitor, the family took advantage of the free admission week. Great to get outside and explore history.

Wow! What a gem! We had a blast during our first visit and can't wait to return! So many fun activities for kids plus plenty of historical and technical info for my husband!

Go here if you want to learn about the history of DuPont!

$15 entrance fee allows you spend all day at this wonderful museum complex. Staff is top notch, lots to see, great exhibits with staff that knows how to narrate the story of DuPont's black powder in the US.

Large spralinng facility with continuous short bus service; great walk as well if you so choose. We spent 5 hours and did not see everything. Well worth the time and small fee. You won't be disappointed. Get there early!

Make Suri to give yourself enough time to enjoy the museum

Thank you Linda P. Gross
Reference Librarian
Hagley Museum and Library
Your hospitality and Consideration and Generosity with your time in helping me find a Book so important to my Research . Appreciated Greatly. Kind Regards Seamus Fleming Kerry ireland

love the great men that gave demonstration and narratives.

Cannon firing demonstration was good. Nice place visit on fall..

A rich history of Dupont and gun powder manufacturing. Great place to visit with the kids. They often have fireworks in the summer. Learn a little history, take a tour and stroll along the waterway. Nice grounds. They also run beer events over the summer. Definitely recommend.

Had a wonderful time! Beautiful and informative. Love the history!

Fascinating place with wonderful tour guides. Bring friends and family, they'll thank you.

I never realized how the DuPonts got their start. This museum is where they made their first significant money. Their is a nice mansion but it is tiny compare to their later ones. It is a mill where they made black gun powder. There are many exhibits that are fascinating if you like history. There is a machine shop where they demonstrate the various tools and many other things to see

Amazing staff who helped me find the documents I needed. Wow!

Such a blast (haha) being here! We stopped in just before 4pm and enjoyed the last hour the museum was open. Wish we could have spent more time there! In the short one hour we got to see the machine shop demo and gunpowder demo. Both are amazing. Highly, highly recommend!

Always learn something new here. A wonderful day out

Great place to visit. I spent over 4hours here and enjoyed every minute of it.

Definitely a place worth visiting!! We want to come back in the Summer.