Delaware
Today in Delaware County history, July 6
100 Years Ago, 1924: Joseph Walker, 15 years old, of McCormick Avenue, Ridley Park, suffered an injury to his right hand about 7 o’clock Friday evening, while playing with a dynamite cap in celebration of the glorious Fourth. The boy was attempting to explode the dynamite cap by pounding on it with a rock. When the cap failed to go off after persistent hammering, Walker picked it up and it exploded, blowing off the ends of his four fingers of his right hand. The boy was taken to the Taylor Hospital, where he underwent treatment for his injury.
75 Years Ago, 1949: The mercury climbed to the summer’s peak of 100 degrees on Tuesday to equal the record for the date set in 1919. Two deaths in the county were attributed to the heat and two heat exhaustion victims were treated at Chester Hospital. A severe electrical storm, which arrived in the Chester area about midnight, caused considerable damage. A series of seven fires touched off through the Chester area and kept fire companies busy last night and early this morning, and resulted in injuries to three firemen.
50 Years Ago, 1974: A brief but vicious summer thunderstorm flashed through Delaware County on Friday afternoon. High winds blew trees into electric wires, knocking out power to Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park for an hour. Lightning struck a church and doctor’s office in Marple. And rain-dampened chlorine crystals turned into a dangerous gas that sent eight persons at Paxon Hollow Country Club in Marple to nearby hospitals. Only one person was ultimately admitted.
25 Years Ago, 1999: In response to a petition from parents of Glenolden School students, the Interboro School Board agreed to hire another teacher and open a fourth, third-grade class beginning in September. Interboro in May hired third-grade teachers at Prospect Park and Norwood after receiving money from the federal Class Size Reduction Initiative program. Parents countered that the 28-student class size at Glenolden was much higher than other schools in the district.
10 Years Ago, 2014: Two proposed projects at Media’s western gateway could change the face and perception of the county seat. David Della Porta of Cornerstone Communities and Jason Duckworth of Arcadia Land Co. appeared at council’s July work session, allowing architect Bob Linn to present site plans for a four-story, 150-unit apartment building on the south side Baltimore Pike, just east of Brooke Street, and a companion project of 22 townhouses on the north side of Baltimore Pike yards from the end of State Street. They came away from the meeting with encouraging comments from the board.
— COLIN AINSWORTH
The Hagley Museum and Library houses a collection of patent models
The Hagley Museum and Library houses the nation’s second-largest collection of patent models, many of which the public never gets to see.
For most, 41 years of service is more than enough. For State Librarian Annie Norman, though, even retirement can’t slow her down.
“The work is never done; there’s always something to do,” she said. “I’m going to have to continue to help in other ways.”
Norman will step away this fall after 24 years as the Delaware state librarian and director of the Delaware Division of Libraries.
Throughout her tenure, Norman made waves; the director helped create the Delaware Library Consortium, which allowed all of Delaware’s Public libraries to share items, and brought the library system along during a wave of technological change. For these achievements, she was named to the Delaware Women’s Hall of Fame in 2016 and appointed by President Joe Biden as a member of the National Museum and Library Services Board.
We spoke with Norman as she wraps up an accomplished career about her proudest achievements, and the state of libraries in 2026.
Question: As you look back on your tenure, what was your proudest accomplishment?
Answer: What I’ll be known for more than anything is probably the statewide library catalog and consortium. The politics of bringing all of those libraries together, after years of there being four separate library catalogs in Delaware, took about eight years. More recently, I think bringing the school libraries into that catalog is going to be really significant. We’ve got more than 50 school libraries to be a part of the statewide catalog, something we think can really help with the literacy crisis in this state.
One of the biggest challenges of your tenure was adjusting to the large wave of technology that came about. How have you and the Delaware libraries handled it?
It’s been very systematic. We have a great IT team that helps manage for us, as well as the state funding 100% of library technologies. The growth of the iPhone has certainly had a huge impact on literacy, but we’re really just working hard to bring back the excitement of reading.
The Delaware libraries’ programming have always been a popular resource. How important do you view these offerings to local communities, and will they continue to expand?
Yes, libraries are about enrichment, which means helping support people in things like entrepreneurship, education and innovation. We’ve had libraries start up job centers, which were so successful we could expand to entrepreneurship, and even help with more basic social needs, by starting a “social innovation team” to help with more of the social services-type work.
Where we still struggle is we can only help people access Delaware systems to help with their needs, not fix things within those systems. For that reason, we always encourage these systems to work with us, so the Delaware library system can fit everyone’s needs.
Cuts toward libraries just occurred in New Castle County, with the potential for more to come. How will the library system look to stay afloat?
Because of the economy, because of federal changes, things can get difficult, it’s not the first time we’ve experienced budget cuts. We’ve progressed significantly over the years, but there is much more work to do, and I don’t know that the public understands how critical libraries and librarians are to literacy.
The power of walking into a library and being able to choose what you want to read for a child is powerful, and until people understand that, we can’t achieve our literacy goals.
Adam Denn is an intern reporter for Delaware Online/The News Journal. You can reach him at apdenn@delawareonline.com.
Inspiration
Do you have a suggestion for our Inspiration page? E-mail Tammy Paolino at tpaolino@usatodayco.com
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio — People in Delaware County said it feels like new housing developments are popping up on every corner.
WSYX
“What haven’t you noticed, right? The whole area just exploded,” said Scott Shonebarger.
Scott Sanders, the executive director of the Regional Planning Commission, said companies like Intel and other industries are a main driver for thousands of people moving to Delaware County.
With the big boom comes an urgent need for more housing.
John Wicks is the developer at Real Property Design and Development.
He has spent over a decade building homes for families in Delaware County.
Wicks said the Olentangy School District is one of the hottest spots for new homes.
“I started with one high school up until the 90s, then now we’re up to four up to five different high schools so it’s just a big draw,” said Wicks. “It’s a beautiful community.”
The district has grown into the fourth largest in Ohio with a new elementary school opening next year, and a fifth high school in 2028.
Wicks said the growth has presented some challenges over the years like labor shortage and some opposition.
“It’s become a big issue for a lot of people that live in and around these areas. They tend to oppose new growth and new development, so restrictions have gotten a little bit harder. Costs have obviously gone up over the last 20 years,” said Wicks.
The planning commission says between 275,000 and 350,000 people could call Delaware County home by 2040.
That’s up from 214,000 in 2020.
Scott Shonebarger said he supports growth but wonders when is enough.
“I mean to a certain extent I think you know at some point right you have to have some sort of boundaries I think, getting into the fact that now you have five high schools,” said Shonebarger. “What’s the limit?”
Police in Wilmington, Delaware, shot and killed a 19-year-old man Wednesday night.
The incident happened in a residential area near 24th and Jessup streets just after 11 p.m., Wilmington police said in a news release. The person who was shot has not been publicly identified.
Officers were monitoring a large crowd gathered outside when they saw a man exit a home with a handgun and point it toward the crowd, police say.
When officers approached the man, he ran away and a foot pursuit began, police say.
At some point in the chase, an officer fired their weapon and hit the 19-year-old. The man was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.
Police say they recovered a loaded gun from the man and that the officer was not injured.
Video filmed at the scene shows a crowd of residents gathered outside after the shooting.
Police are asking anyone with more information to come forward. The shooting is under investigation by the Delaware Department of Justice and Wilmington police.
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