Just 4.7 acres of Brandywine Park hold the Brandywine Zoo, on the banks of the Brandywine River in Wilmington, Delaware. The zoo opened here in 1905 and is managed by the Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation, with support from the Delaware Zoological Society. It is usually open every day, 10AM – 4PM, weather permitting.
Since 1981 the Brandywine Zoo has been a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Listen to how the place grew: in March 1883 the Delaware State Legislature formed the Wilmington Board of Park Commissioners, appointing ten unpaid men to plan and build the city's parks. Those commissioners eventually produced Brandywine, Rockford, and Canby parks and even hired Frederick Law Olmsted to find the best places and recommend that the city purchase land on both sides of the Brandywine River.
Right across the river, Archibald Rowan — who made the first printed cloth in Delaware — once lived, and the ground where you stand once hosted a public amphitheater where people came to hear famous orators of their time. Picture Archibald Rowan living just across the river, and follow the Brandywine through the park.