The earliest settlement in Cedar Creek Hundred [†] was made in 1671 when Richard Perrott of Virginia patented a tract of 3,000 acres of land between Prime Hook and Slaughter Creeks (Scharf 1888:1247; Conrad 1908:693). Tracts within the vicinity were taken up in the early 1680s. In 1681 Robert Hart patented 436 acres called "Mount Holly" on the north side of Cedar Creek, in 1682 800 acres was granted to Henry Skidmore and in 1686 Thomas Skidmore and Thomas Williams were granted 970 acres (Hitchens 1976:34-35).
Neighborhoods
Cedar Creek, which flows eastward through Cedar Creek Hundred and empties into the Delaware River to the south of Mispillion Creek, was particularly important to the early settlement and industrial devel- opment of the region. Cedar Creek offered the best advantages for mill-seats, and more mills were built on this creek than any other watercourse in Cedar Creek Hundred (Scharf 1888:1253). Moreover, the creek was navigable as far as the "Brick Granary" which was located just south of the project area, near where modern SR 1 crosses Cedar Creek. The most significant early settlement in the hundred, Cedar Creek Village, was situated just upstream from the Brick Granary. The village formed around Draper's Mill, which was in operation by the early 18th cen- tury. At that time it contained several mills and over a dozen residences (Scharf 1888:1254; Conrad 1908:694). Thus before Milford was laid out on the Mispillion Creek, Cedar Creek supported the main settlement and was the primary shipping point for the entire region (Scharf 1888:1247).
State of Delawre, Department of Transportation, Archaeological Resource Survey, 2010, www.deldot.gov, accessed April, 2021.
Nearby Towns: Milton Town •