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Nov. 21, 2000
Vol. 30, No. 353
For more information, contact Angel Rosauri, program specialist, White
Clay Creek State Park, 302 368-6560
Step Back in Time to a 1939 Holiday Season at White Clay Creek State
Park's Judge Morris Estate
An interpretive holiday tour of White Clay Creek State Park's Judge
Morris Estate is back by popular demand with a few new twists. Step
back in time as an invited guest at a Morris holiday party. As you mingle,
you will meet and converse with members of the Judge's family, staff
and other party guests. Cost is $15 per person. To reserve your ticket
for 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. or 8 p.m. tours on Dec. 8, 9, 10,15, 16 or 17,
call 302-368-6900.
Ticket holders will be transported from a main parking area to the
Judge Morris Estate on Polly Drummond Hill Road, Newark, where they
will be "briefed" for their jump back to the year 1939 (when
Benny Goodman was the King of Swing!). Visitors will assume the role
of guests joining Mary Smith Morris, the judge's only daughter, as she
shows them several rooms in the house that the judge and his family
have lovingly restored in Colonial Revival style.
The feeling of finding oneself at a party nearly 60 years in the past
is enhanced by period tree decorations, music and radio broadcasts.
Entertainment and refreshments are included, just as visitors would
expect from any party hosted by the Morris family.
The Judge Morris house is situated on 500 acres purchased in 1998 by
the state Division of Parks and Recreation from the University of Delaware.
It brings the total acreage of White Clay Creek State Park to more than
3,000 acres.
John Barclay built the main 2-½ story stone house in 1792. The
house passed through several hands before Andrew Gray acquired the property
in 1808. With the success of his farm, Gray added the 1½ story
west wing in 1825 to accommodate a growing number of servants. This
configuration remained until Judge Morris purchased the estate in the
mid-1930s and made renovations on the exterior and interior of the house,
including the addition of the modern kitchen wing and architectural
details in the Colonial Revival style.
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Document number 40-01/00/11/13
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