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.

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

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