
 
School Tours
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Designed to meet the latest standards and curriculum requirements,
programs support New Directions Content Standards for
Social Studies
and English in Delaware.

- Student tours are available Tuesday-Friday,
9:30-3:30, throughout the year.
- Guided tours must be reserved in advance
and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Please call early for spring school
tours as they are very popular and we fill up fast!
- Teachers are free and chaperones are
complimentary at a ratio of 1-8. Additional adults are $3.00.
- Minimum number of students is 15 for
a group tour. School may pay for 15 students when the minimum is not reached.
Elementary Age Tours
Learn What Museums Do tours,
our youngest visitors
- This program is a good introduction for
students to understand what a museum is and why museums collect
objects, for younger visitors, generally second graders.
Fee is $2.00 per student, minimum
of 15 students (or $30 for up to 15 students.)
- The program is one hour with introductory
visits to the Amstel and Dutch Houses.
- Students do hands-on activities in the
historic houses that demonstrate what a museum does by making
a collection, as well as learning about the Green Umbrella
(a children's book and an artifact.)
Then and
Now Tours: 2nd - 4th Graders
- This program is designed for the youngest
visitors, generally second graders. Students visit the historic
houses and gardens (in season) where students compare and contrast
life in olden times with modern life.
- Fee is $2.00 per student, minimum of
15 students (or $30 for up to 15 students.)
- Reproduction artifacts are passed around
for the group to investigate.
- Student skills that are developed:
comparing and contrasting, sharpening observation skills.
Colonial
Adventure Tours: 4th – 6th Graders
- This program is designed for students to step back in time as
they learn about the lives of men, women, and children living
in colonial New Castle. The tour is one hour in length, with visits
to the Amstel House and the Dutch House.
- Fee is $2.00 per student, minimum of 15 students (or $30 for
up to 15 students)
- Students are able to investigate reproduction artifacts.
- We focus on enhancing the following: developing inquiry skills,
sharpening observation skills, making inferences, problem solving,
comparing and contrasting.
A teacher packet, Dutch Settlement in Delaware,
is available from the Society’s Education Department, for
$10.00, which includes shipping and handling.
New Castle Tour of the Town Tours: 4th – 6th Graders
- The program is designed for 4-6th
graders to learn about the history of Delaware's early capital
and premier colonial town.
- The program includes visits to Amstel
and Dutch House, the New Castle Courthouse, and the Read House,
and is three hours in length. One call to the New Castle
Historical Society will set up this tour.
- Lunch at Battery Park may be included
in the tour day, adding 30-60 minutes to the tour.
- Fee is $2.00 for Amstel and Dutch Houses;
at the Read House, there is a fee. The Court House is free.
Middle and High School Tours
Be a History Detective Tours: 7th – 12th Graders
This tour gives older students a hands-on lesson about doing historical
research using primary documents. The program provides for student
detectives to weigh evidence from primary documents, analyze the
information, and explain their conclusions in a 90-minute session.
Students tour historic houses during which each student is provided
with copies of primary documents to analyze. The tour is followed
by a guide-led discussion of the materials. 1 _ hour at AH/DH, $3.
- Lesson 1, How Amstel Families Lived, deals with Amstel House
families from the past.
- Lesson 2, African-Americans in New Castle, discusses aspects
of African-American history in New Castle.
- Lesson 3, Interpreting Photographs, provides historical photographs
for students to find clues and information about the past from
“reading” the photograph.
- Lesson 4, Life in an Artisan Household in 1795, analyzes inventories
of room contents from the will of Mary Thompson, owner of the
Dutch House in the 18th century. (under development)
- Lesson 5, Architecture in New Castle, studies five houses in
the vicinity of the Amstel House that are built by Van Dyke family
members, comparing the architectural features of each.
Walking Tour of Haunted New Castle: 6th-9th Graders
This tour includes ghost stories told throughout the town and at
the Amstel House. It intertwines ghost stories of historical figures
with mourning customs, grisly stories of the pillory and whipping
post in New Castle, the lives of sailors and mariners, the impact
of fire and war on townspeople, to provide a fun and informative
experience in October. 1 1/2 hr. at AH and walking tour, $3.
All Grade Levels
Holiday Houses in New Castle is a student tour which can be elaborated
for all grade levels, in which students learn about holiday customs
and traditions in colonial times, while touring the historic houses
which are decorated in December for a traditional feast during Governor
Nicholas Van Dyke’s residency at the Amstel House. At the
Dutch House, students learn about the Dutch tradition of St. Nicholas’
Eve celebration. 1 hour at AH/DH, $2.
Summer in New Castle is a tour for campers which can be modified
for all levels.
- OTHER
STUDENT PROGRAMS
- College
student tour
- College students
visit the Dutch and Amstel Houses for tours in which students
learn about the early life of colonial and revolutionary-era Delaware.
- Fee is $5
per student with no minimum.
- Home
school programming is provided in the topics above.
- Fee is $2.00
per student, with one free adult chaperone per 10 students.
For additional adults on tour, fee is $3.00 per adult.
- Tours are
available 11-2 p.m. throughout the year
Adult Group Tours 
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Visit two remarkable historic sites
in historic New Castle.
A tour of the Amstel House and Dutch House can be a memorable experience for your group.
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See important architectural landmarks
of the region, admire beautiful and unique antiques, and learn
fascinating stories about the people who lived here.
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The histories of the houses are intertwined
with prominent families, stretching from the origins of the
town in the 17th century through Revolutionary times and to
the twentieth century's important early preservationists.
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Explore charming Colonial
Revival gardens.
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A visit to the Amstel and Dutch
House gardens provides
a delightful experience for your group to enjoy gardens associated
with these two remarkable homes.
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Tour length. The visit to both houses
is usually scheduled for 1-1/2 hours. Tours of the houses and gardens are 2 hours in length.
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Group tours are available throughout
the year and may be combined with visits to the New Castle Courthouse
and Read House, by request.
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Other tours of New Castle, which
include additional historic sites, are available on request
and are priced accordingly.
Fees:
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Group tours for 2-19 people for both
Amstel and Dutch Houses are $7 per person.
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Garden tours when combined with tours
of the houses are 2 hours in length, and are $9 per person.
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Group tours, which include walking
tours of other sites, but admission only to the Amstel and Dutch
Houses, are 2 hours in length, at $10 per person.
Group Tour Information
Buses drop off visitors at the bus-unloading
zone on Second Street, across from the Arsenal at Old New Castle
restaurant. Buses then park at the bus parking zone
at Fourth and Chestnut Street for the duration of the visit and
pick up guests at the same unloading zone at the end of the tour
time.
Adult groups may make luncheon arrangements at Arsenal at Old New
Castle restaurant or the David Finney Inn, both of which offer excellent
catered lunches for groups.
Other programming options for groups
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Corporate and other groups may want
tours of New Castle tailored to their business clients and/or
employees. The tour office will work with event planners to design tours
suited to your group, and priced accordingly.
While the historic houses are not
suited to corporate functions, there are meeting spaces in
town and in restaurants that may be used for such functions,
with the added feature of historic tours, lectures, and walking
tours for your group.
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