Editing Ellendale, Delaware (section)

===20th Century to Present===

[[File:Ellendalemap1906.jpg|thumb|Ellendale as surveyed in 1906]]In 1918, the [[U.S. Route 113 in Delaware#Delaware|DuPont Highway]] (now known as DuPont Boulevard and U.S. 113) was completed. While this was seen as a great boon to the town, it would eventually lead to the decline of the railroad and the town's economy, leading to the closing of all the towns factories. In May 1920, after several fires in the town, the Town Council met to establish a fire department to protect the citizens and businesses of Ellendale and surrounding communities. The newly formed fire department purchased a [[Ford Model T]] fire truck for $1400 from the Viscose Silk Company in [[Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania]]. The formation of a police department followed soon after with the town of Ellendale hiring its first police officer, William Bennett, in June 1921.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ellendale Has Its First Officer|agency=''The Evening Journal''(Wilmington, Delaware)|date= June 18, 1921}}</ref>

New schools were built in the 1920s. In 1920, the Ellendale School 125 was built in the International style on Main Street on the towns west side, and the Ellendale Colored School 195C, was built between 1922 and 1925 on North Old State Road after funding was provided by the DuPont family. By the middle of the 1920s, with profits declining and competition for its other lines increasing, the Pennsylvania Railroad decided to abandon a large portion of the railway. The [[Denton, Maryland]] to [[Lewes, Delaware|Lewes]] section was purchased by the Maryland & Delaware Coast Railway, but with the decline of the locomotive as vehicle traffic increased, the line was again scheduled to be abandoned in 1931. The state of Delaware eventually purchased the portion of the line from Ellendale to Milton to maintain a freight link, making this section the last operable section of one that once spanned over {{convert|100|mi|km}}. Over sixty residents of Ellendale served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam War.

[[File:Ellendale Town Square.JPG|thumb|left|The Ellendale Town Square where town notices are posted.]]In 1927 the Lincoln and Ellendale Electric Company was established bringing electricity to the residents of the town for the first time. Also in 1927 the Ellendale State Forest was established by the [[Delaware Department of Transportation|State Highway Department]]. When it was turned over to the State Forestry Department in 1932, it totalled {{convert|40|acre|m2}}, today it has been expanded and combined with the Redden State Forest to well over {{convert|5000|acre|km2}}. The Appenzeller Tract in Ellendale, a small {{convert|45|acre|m2|adj=on}} section, was a gift to the state from the DuPont family. A large woods fire between Ellendale, Georgetown, and Milton burned over {{convert|38000|acre|km2}} in 1930 and forced the General Assembly to pass a series of [[forest protection]] laws establishing a fire control system which included building a {{convert|120|ft|m|adj=on}} fire tower just outside Ellendale to alert people of fires.

In the 1950s, numerous school districts in Kent and Sussex Counties, including Ellendale, continued to fight against desegregation after the ruling of [[Brown v. Board of Education]]. The protests which begin at the Milford School District, eventually bringing about a lawsuit that went to the Delaware Supreme Court which ruled that while segregation was unconstitutional, it did not require immediate desegregation.<ref name=Daugherity_p166>{{cite book |last1=Daugherity |first1=Brian |last2=Bolton |first2=Charles |title=With All Deliberate Speed: Implementing Brown V. Board of Education |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWAvY0AEBcUC |access-date=September 4, 2013 |year=2008 |publisher=University of Arkansas Press |isbn=978-1-55728-868-4 |page=166}}</ref> This was further bolstered by the findings of [[Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County]]. [[Bryant Bowles]], President of the [[National Association for the Advancement of White People (1953-1955)|National Association for the Advancement of White People]] led several anti-desegregation rallies and boycotts in the area, including Ellendale, that resulted in decreased attendance at the schools.<ref name=Gadsden_p122>{{cite book |last=Gadsden |first=Brett |title=Between North and South: Delaware, Desegregation, and the Myth of American Sectionalism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFQE3bLDsS4C |access-date=September 4, 2013 |year=2013 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |isbn=978-0-8122-4443-4 |page=122}}</ref><ref name=Webb_p20>{{cite book |last=Webb |first=Clive |title=Rabble Rousers: The American Far Right in the Civil Rights Era |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-dDQ6ZWRTzYC |access-date=September 4, 2013 |year=2010 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |location=Athens, Georgia |isbn=978-0-8203-2764-8 |page=20}}</ref> Ellendale School 125 and Ellendale Colored School 195C reached an agreement on consolidation, but attorney [[Louis L. Redding]] complained to the [[Delaware Department of Education|Department of Public Instruction]] that black teachers were being subjected to scrutiny that their white counterparts were not.<ref name=Gadsden_p164>{{cite book |last=Gadsden |first=Brett |title=Between North and South: Delaware, Desegregation, and the Myth of American Sectionalism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFQE3bLDsS4C |access-date=September 4, 2013 |year=2013 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |isbn=978-0-8122-4443-4 |page=164}}</ref> After desegregation, all students were educated at Ellendale School 125.

The Ellendale Town Council reorganized a police department in the 1970s. Due to fiscal constraints, the department was shut down again in the 1980s. After being restarted in the 1990s, the economic crash that started with the housing crisis caused Congress to cut funding to community policing grants and the town was forced to cut its department down to one part-time officer.

On September 27, 2008, the town of Ellendale passed its first annexation vote, 69 for to 37 against, since the town was incorporated in 1905. The {{convert|5|acre|m2|adj=on}} parcel at the corner of Main Street and South Old State Road will be used for commercial purposes. Since 2022, the town has annexed more than {{convert|625|acre|km2|adj=off}} of surrounding properties and their associated residential and commercial developments, which has more than tripled the land area of the town, and has the potential to increase the town population to over 5,500 residents.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.capegazette.com/article/major-growth-proposed-along-route-16/252611 |title= Major growth proposed along Route 16|work=CapeGazette.com |publisher= Cape Gazette |date=2023-01-07 |access-date=2024-12-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.andrewsharp.net/delaware-independent/2022/06/13/major-developments-are-transforming-ellendale|title= Major developments are transforming this small Sussex town|work=DelawareIndependent.com |publisher= Delaware Independent |date=2022-06-13 |access-date=2024-12-08}}</ref>

The [[Ellendale State Forest Picnic Facility]] and [[Teddy's Tavern]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>