The French-émigré family whose gunpowder mill grew into the DuPont chemical empire — and shaped a state.
Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, trained in France, founded a gunpowder mill on the Brandywine River in Delaware in 1802. It grew into E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company — DuPont — a giant of explosives and then chemicals.
For more than two centuries the family shaped Delaware's economy, politics, and culture, building estates and gardens now open to the public, and producing industrialists, philanthropists, and public officials.
The du Ponts are among the oldest continuous American dynasties, and their mark on Delaware — from industry to the Winterthur, Nemours, and Longwood estates — is unmatched.
Their foundations and museums remain major cultural institutions.
The du Pont family is based in Delaware. One of America's oldest and wealthiest family enterprises, centered in Delaware
1802.
Éleuthère Irénée du Pont — founder of the gunpowder works (1802)
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