Winterthur Chronology
1801- Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, sons Victor Marie and Eleuthère Irénée, and their families arrive in America.
1802- The Du Pont family settles in the Brandywine Valley. E. I. du Pont establishes gunpowder manufactory, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
1810-18- E. I. Du Pont purchases four tracts of land forming the nucleus of what later becomes Winterthur.
1834- E.I. du Pont dies and leaves the property to his children.
1837- Jacques Antoine Bidermann and his wife, Evelina Gabrielle, a daughter of E. I. du Pont, purchase the property from the other siblings and begin construction on a twelve-room Greek revival mansion. They name it Winterthur after Bidermann's ancestral home in Switzerland.
1839- Jacques Antoine and Evelina du Pont Bidermann move into the house at Winterthur.
1863- Evelina du Pont Bidermann dies.
1865- Jacques Antoine Bidermann dies.
1867- General Henry du Pont (brother of Evelina) purchases Winterthur from his nephew James Irénée Bidermann (son of Jacques and Evelina), for his own son Colonel Henry Algernon du Pont.
1876- Col. Henry Algernon and Pauline Foster du Pont, who married in 1874, settle at Winterthur.
1880- Henry Francis du Pont is born to Col. Henry Algernon and Pauline Foster du Pont.
1889- Gen. Henry du Pont dies; Col. Henry Algernon inherits Winterthur.
1899- H. F. du Pont enters Harvard.
1902- Col. Henry Algernon du Pont adds a new façade and library wing to the existing building at Winterthur. Pauline Foster du Pont dies.
1903- H. F. du Pont graduates from Harvard and begins to manage the Winterthur household for his father.
1909- H. F. du Pont takes over supervision of the gardens and grounds.
1914- H. F. du Pont becomes manager of Winterthur Farms.
1916- H. F. du Pont marries Ruth Wales.
1926- Col. Henry Algernon du Pont dies; H. F. du Pont inherits Winterthur.
1928-32- A new wing is constructed, doubling the size of the existing building.
1930- H. F. du Pont establishes the Winterthur Corporation, a nonprofit, educational foundation, with the intent of opening his home as a museum.
1951- Winterthur opens to the public on October 30.
1952- Winterthur Program in Early American Culture is established. First garden tour is given.
1958- Winterthur fire department is established..
1961- The Pavilion opens as the visitor reception area.
1966- Copeland Lecture Hall opens.
1967- Ruth Wales du Pont dies.
1969- H. F. du Pont dies. The Louise du Pont Crowninshield Research Building, named for his sister, opens.
1974- Winterthur/Univ. of Delaware Art Conservation program is established.
1976- The Winterthur Guild is established.
1978- First Christmas tour; officially called Yuletide at Winterthur in 1979.
1992- The Galleries at Winterthur open.
1993- The Henry S. McNeil Gallery opens.
1994- The Thomas A. Graves, Jr., Gallery for changing exhibitions opens.
1997- The Campbell Collection of Soup Tureens at Winterthur opens in the new Dorrance Gallery. (The collection was donated to Winterthur in 1996.)
2000- Director Leslie Greene Bowman introduces new vision: Winterthur: An American Country Estate.
2001- Winterthur's 50th Anniversary; Enchanted Woods opens.
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