Riverside–11th Street Bridge

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Riverside–11th Street Bridge is a neighborhood in the northeastern part of Wilmington, Delaware. It sits north of Brandywine Creek and just south of the city line with Edgemoore. Its western edge follows Northeast Boulevard (U.S. Route 13). Across from it are the Price’s Run and East Lake neighborhoods, including the Brandywine Village Historic District. The Northeast Corridor rail line runs along the district’s eastern side, separating it from the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Gander Hill, Wilmington Maintenance Facility, and Norfolk Southern’s Shellpot Branch. The area roughly matches census tract 30.2.

A wooden bridge over Brandywine Creek was built in the 1860s and was replaced by a steel drawbridge called the Eleventh Street Bridge in 1882. The current Northern Boulevard Bridge was built in 1932. The neighborhood was once the junction of the Pennsylvania Railroad Brandywine Branch and its main line, at a place called Landlith. This junction is known as the Landlith Interlocking.

In the early 20th century, as rail projects like the Wilmington Viaduct and Wilmington Shop complex grew nearby, developers started building modest workers’ housing near Vandever Avenue at the southern end of the property.

Two important churches served the community. St. James A.U.M.P. Church site was purchased in 1872, and its cornerstone was laid in 1884. The Kingswood Methodist Episcopal Church cornerstone was laid in 1891. The Kingswood Community Center began in 1946 to provide afterschool activities for youth, and in 1956 the center moved to a larger 12-acre site on Bowers Street with support from foundations and local donors.

The E.D. Robinson Urban Farm, also known as the Brandywine Urban Farm, is at Brandywine Street and East 12th Street. It was transformed from a debris-filled lot into space for community gardening (600 square feet) and commercial gardening (1,400 square feet). It has been recognized as a successful model of urban agriculture.

In 2018, Riverside joined Purpose Built Communities, a public-private effort to revitalize neighborhoods. In 2020, developers announced a townhouse project that includes affordable housing.

Buses operate in the district through DART First State.