About Arasapha
Arasapha Garden Club, Inc., is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. Its corporate purpose is the beautification and improvement of Historic New Castle with primary emphasis on the Amstel and Dutch House gardens and the stimulation of interest in and practical knowledge of gardening among its members. Its current projects include:
- Supporting the maintenance and beautification of the historic gardens of New Castle's Amstel House and Dutch House
- Adorning New Castle's Historic District with all-natural decorated wreaths and greens during the holiday season
- Organizing private gardens open to the public for A Day in Old New Castle
- Co-sponsoring garden education programs and resources offered by New Castle Public Library
- Supporting the regreening of New Castle's Historic District streetscape with street trees
- May Market, its annual fundraiser
What Does "Arasapha" Mean?
Title page of the 1703 edition of Cosmography, the book that started the erroneous association of Arasapha with Delaware
We don't know why the club chose Arasapha as its name when the club was founded in 1934. Club records say that Arasapha was a Native American term for "the bend in the river,” describing where the Delaware River meets the Delaware Bay. But we've found no evidence that this is true.
The earliest mention of Arasapha that we've found is in a book by Nathaniel Crouch published in 1685. In it, he described how the English took control over American colonies from the Dutch and Swedes. His description includes this sentence: “Thirteen days after [August 29, 1664] Sir Robert Car took the Fort and Town of Aurania, now called Albany, and twelve days after that the Fort and Town of Arosapha, then Delaware [New] Castle man’d with Dutch and Swedes.” Later books describing the English capture of these places make clear that Arosapha or Arasapha was on the Hudson River; today it is the town of Kingston, New York.
The erroneous connection of Arasapha to Delaware started with the 1703 edition of a book called Cosmography, which shared Crouch’s story this way: “Sir Robert Carr took the Fort and town of Aurania, now called Albany: Twelve days after that, Arasapha, now Delaware.” This version made two errors. First, it said that Arasapha was an early name for Delaware, when Crouch made clear that Arasapha and Delaware were two separate places. Second, it dropped the mention of New Castle, suggesting that entire colony of Delaware was captured rather than just one town in Delaware.
Cosmography was very popular. For centuries, its statements were accepted as fact, repeated, and sometimes embellished. Writers soon began saying, incorrectly, that Cosmography said that Arasapha was an early name for the Delaware River and that it was an Indian name for the Delaware River.
In 1950 two Delaware historians offered a succinct summary of all this: “Arasapha, or Arosapha, was located on the Hudson River and not on the Delaware. Let us, as gracefully as possible, return the name to the state of New York, where it belongs.”
Unfortunately, it appears that their message was largely drowned out by the many voices saying, incorrectly, that Arasapha was an Indian name for the Delaware River.
Many thanks to Russ Smith, former superintendent of First State National Historical Park, for alerting us to this historical information.
The earliest mention of Arasapha that we've found is in a book by Nathaniel Crouch published in 1685. In it, he described how the English took control over American colonies from the Dutch and Swedes. His description includes this sentence: “Thirteen days after [August 29, 1664] Sir Robert Car took the Fort and Town of Aurania, now called Albany, and twelve days after that the Fort and Town of Arosapha, then Delaware [New] Castle man’d with Dutch and Swedes.” Later books describing the English capture of these places make clear that Arosapha or Arasapha was on the Hudson River; today it is the town of Kingston, New York.
The erroneous connection of Arasapha to Delaware started with the 1703 edition of a book called Cosmography, which shared Crouch’s story this way: “Sir Robert Carr took the Fort and town of Aurania, now called Albany: Twelve days after that, Arasapha, now Delaware.” This version made two errors. First, it said that Arasapha was an early name for Delaware, when Crouch made clear that Arasapha and Delaware were two separate places. Second, it dropped the mention of New Castle, suggesting that entire colony of Delaware was captured rather than just one town in Delaware.
Cosmography was very popular. For centuries, its statements were accepted as fact, repeated, and sometimes embellished. Writers soon began saying, incorrectly, that Cosmography said that Arasapha was an early name for the Delaware River and that it was an Indian name for the Delaware River.
In 1950 two Delaware historians offered a succinct summary of all this: “Arasapha, or Arosapha, was located on the Hudson River and not on the Delaware. Let us, as gracefully as possible, return the name to the state of New York, where it belongs.”
Unfortunately, it appears that their message was largely drowned out by the many voices saying, incorrectly, that Arasapha was an Indian name for the Delaware River.
Many thanks to Russ Smith, former superintendent of First State National Historical Park, for alerting us to this historical information.
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Arasapha was also the name of a tribal chief who lived on land that's now Camden, New Jersey. For more information on this and other appearances of Arasapha in regional history, download the PDF document on the left.
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Arasapha Board
Ceal Camponelli, Membership Chair
Alice Jarvis, Gardens Chair
Linda Suskie, May Market Chair and Board Chair
Kim Wipf, Holiday Greening Chair
Andrew Zeltt, Treasurer
Alice Jarvis, Gardens Chair
Linda Suskie, May Market Chair and Board Chair
Kim Wipf, Holiday Greening Chair
Andrew Zeltt, Treasurer
Contact any board member at [email protected] or by writing to Arasapha Garden Club, P.O. Box 126, Historic New Castle DE 19720. Arasapha members can use their membership directories, distributed annually by e-mail, to contact board members directly.