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is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, USA, 12 miles (19 km) west-southwest of Wilmington. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 30,060. Newark is the home of the University of Delaware. Due to this Newark is widely known as a college town and contains many college students.
Newark is (with a broad A, as in "Noah's Ark"), in contrast to or for Newark, New Jersey.
Newark was founded by Scots-Irish and Welsh settlers in 1694. The town was officially established when it received a charter from George II of Great Britain in 1758.
Schools have played a significant role in the history of Newark. A grammar school, founded by Francis Alison in 1743, moved from New London, Pennsylvania to Newark in 1765, becoming the Newark Academy. Among the first graduates of the school were three signers of the Declaration of Independence: George Read, Thomas McKean, and James Smith.
During the Revolutionary War, British and American forces clashed outside Newark at Battle of Cooch’s Bridge. The Battle of Cooch's Bridge is believed by some to be the first battle at which the Stars and Stripes was flown.
The state granted a charter to a new school in 1833, which was called Newark College. Newark Academy and Newark College joined together in the following year, becoming Delaware College. The School was forced to close in 1859, but was resuscitated eleven years later under the Morrill Act when it became a joint venture between the State of Delaware and the school's Board of Trustees. In 1913, pursuant to legislative Act, it came into sole ownership of the State of Delaware. Later, it would be renamed the University of Delaware in 1921.
Newark received a license to hold semi-annual fairs and weekly markets for agricultural exchange in 1758. A paper mill, the first sizable industrial venture in Newark, was created in 1798. Methodists built the first church in 1812 and the railroad arrived in 1837.