Description
Harrington, Delaware, has been in existence by one name or another since 1780, just four years after the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Harrington started out as a part of the vast forest covering Kent County.
It was first called Clark’s Corner after Benjamin Clark.
In 1856, the Delaware Railroad put a junction in what is now Harrington. Commercial and residential development naturally grew around that junction, and the town prospered. The railroad made possible easy access to Dover, Wilmington, and Philadelphia. Harrington also connected to points east and south. The railroad was the premier mode of transportation for passengers,
agricultural commerce, logging, and all forms of trade in a bustling new country.
In 1857, a post office was built in the railroad town.
The railroad acted as a magnet by transporting just about everything; it created growth in population, in agriculture, and in other industries in the town. In 1862, Clark’s Corner changed its name to Harrington in honor of Samuel Maxwell Harrington, chancellor of the court in Delaware. The area around the railroad continued to grow, and in 1869, the city of Harrington was officially formed.
There have been many reasons for Harrington’s prosperity, all beginning because of the railroad.
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