Editing Ellendale, Delaware (section)

=== 19th century===

In the Federal era, the Old State Road was built to connect the newly founded county seat of Georgetown with the state capital of Dover. With emancipation, African Americans took up free lives in the area and the railroads came after the [[American Civil War]]. Ellendale was founded in the early 19th century and surveyed in 1866–1867. Ellendale was first settled near the Morris Tavern Crossroads, near the current Old State Road and [[Delaware Route 16|Main Street]] intersection, by a handful of families. The town is rumored to be named after either the daughter of Whig Republican Alfred Short, a state legislator, the wife of Dr. John S. Prettyman who laid out the town,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n116 117]}}</ref> or the daughter of Mr. Thomas William Dale, the chief engineer of the railroad survey team. Ellendale's current site was established in 1866 when the families moved east to settle around the [[Junction and Breakwater Railroad]] Depot. On July 16, 1873, the Ellendale Methodist Episcopal Church purchased land to erect a church, parsonage, and school. Ellendale's economy rapidly advanced as the RJ Clendaniel Sawmill, the Jester & Reed Canning Company, a brick yard, several peach evaporating and canning companies, basket factory, the Phillip J Ritter Ketchup Company, Ellendale Excelsior Company, and button factory opened in the town. The railroad was purchased by the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] in 1905 and that same year the town was formally incorporated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sussexcountyonline.com/towns/ellendale.html|title=Ellendale Delaware -- Sussex County Online, Delaware|website=www.sussexcountyonline.com|access-date=July 7, 2017|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112020/http://www.sussexcountyonline.com/towns/ellendale.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In February 1895, the [[Queen Anne's Railroad]] was authorized by the Delaware legislature to extend its rail lines across the state to Lewes. The goal of the company was to establish a direct link between [[Baltimore]] and Delaware's coastal resorts. This additional rail line passed through Ellendale and provided passenger, freight, and mail services as far west as [[Queenstown, Maryland]] (with links to [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]] via steamship) and east to [[Rehoboth Beach, Delaware|Rehoboth Beach]] (with links to [[Cape May, New Jersey]] via steamship) with the first passenger trains passing through in 1897. A post office was erected, with a large second floor room that was used by the Independent Order of Red Men, a break off group of the [[Improved Order of Red Men]] that was established in the town, at the site of what is now the Town Hall.