Gentle Black Beauty

The area along the river had been inhabited by various successive cultures of indigenous peoples for thousands of years. At the time of European encounter, historic Native Americans were members of tribes belonging to the Algonquian family. The ethnic European and African history of Wilmington spans more than two and a half centuries. In the early 16th century, explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano was reportedly the first European to see this area, including the city's present site. The first permanent European settlement in the area started in the 1720s with English colonists.