Destination Yorklyn

Brews, bikes and steam cars have this quaint village moving full speed ahead

By Jill Althouse-Wood

Dew Point Brewery's outdoor concerts have quickly become a community gathering place. Photos by Butch Comegys

DESTINATION YORKLYN

Looking for something to do to fill a few of the weekend’s leisure hours? Consider a quick car ride to Yorklyn.

What was once a once sleepy, suburban community in Delaware, a short walk away from the curved Pennsylvania border, has become a post-COVID destination. The seeds of this renewal started a few years before the pandemic around the time John Hoffman, a Yorklyn native, saw potential in a dilapidated building on the Garrett Snuff Mill complex and set about renovating the site for his family’s microbrewery venture.

“When we started looking at the area for a potential location for the brewery about eight years ago, the vibe [in Yorklyn] was very lowkey,” Hoffman admits. “Prior to a flood in the early 2000s, there was quite a lot of industrial and commercial activity. We knew the complex had potential from the site's long history. And with the Center for the Creative Arts and the Marshall Steam Museum there, there was already a strong foundation for a vibrant community.”

The building itself was a big part of the attraction. “It just screamed brewery.” Having selected the site, the Hoffman family began the hard work of transforming their vision into reality. ►

Yorklyn ticked all the boxes for Rob Garrison to relocate his popular bike shop there.

Dew Point Brewery and Tasting Room opened its doors in August of 2016. And the Yorklyn establishment quickly welcomed its newest neighbor. “The neighborhood could have balked at the idea of a brewery moving next door, but it has turned out to be a wonderful experience,” says Susan Randolph, executive director for the neighboring Marshall Steam Museum at Auburn Heights. “They have created a spot that attracts families, which in turn is good for us. Good for the whole community.”

The Marshall Steam Museum, one of Yorklyn’s aforementioned established attractions, features the world’s largest operating collection of Stanley steam cars. On the first Sunday of the month from June to November, the Museum hosts Steamin’ Days, which give visitors a chance to climb into an antique automobile or board one of their one-eighth-size trains and tour the surrounding property while experiencing travel as it existed at the turn of the 20th century.

Though the museum is established, it is situated on Auburn Valley State Park, which happens to be Delaware’s newest State Park, inaugurated in 2018, two years after Dew Point opened its doors. The park’s new paved bike and walking trails (with more coming) are further evidence of Yorklyn’s awakening, giving people a reason to park their cars, slow their pace, and take a thoughtful inventory of the area’s natural beauty and commercial offerings.

Such an inventory draws attention to other pre-existing and creative gems in Yorklyn’s portfolio. For almost four decades, The Center for Creative Arts has been providing arts enrichment to area residents in the form of classes, showcases, and summer camps. More recently, they have added a new market on the first Saturday of every month.

One part farmer’s market and one part craft show, the aim of the market is to bring the community together to support local artists and food growers — with occasional musical performers and/or food trucks on hand to augment the experience.

Another Yorklyn cornerstone is House Industries, a graphic design firm started in the early ‘90s. House Industries has received national attention for their inventive typefaces. Enter into evidence the giant house number (in a stencil-style font originally designed for a clock face) emblazoned two-stories-tall on the side of building the firm shares with the Yorklyn Post Office. And while House isn’t necessarily a destination, it is thrilling to

see testimonials on the firm’s website from Recognizing this appeal, Garrison is celebrities such as Jimmy Kimmel and J.J. working with Bellefonte Creative to create Abrams and to consider the ripple that a free beer voucher for valued customers Yorklyn is sending out to the wider world. who are waiting for bike repairs. Asked if he

Quietly, over the COVID-19 winter, sees a difference in his customer base after another business entered the Yorklyn the move, Garrison makes this observation: landscape. Garrison’s Cyclery, consistently “We are gaining customers from the listed as one of the best bike shops in Kennett Square and Newark areas. In Delaware, had a loyal following and Centerville, our customer base was North substantial business presence in Centreville. Wilmington and Greenville. We are just Garrison’s was looking to expand the down the road from the old location, so shop while simultaneously lowering their it was surprising that we are picking up overhead, but they also wanted a place customers from a larger area.” where cyclists could test the product before Dew Point owner John Hoffman (right) in the brewing Hoffman, for one, is enthusiastic purchase and after repairs/adjustments. room with his son Cody, who also works at the brewery. about the foot traffic that his new Yorklyn ticked all the boxes and then neighbor generates. “Rob and his team some. After taking time to renovate another building in the Snuff are a great group of people. They have a lot in common with all Mill complex, Garrison’s Cyclery opened across the parking lot of us who work at Dew Point, number one is that they love to from Dew Point in December 2020. see people smile.”

Owner Rob Garrison was aware of the draw of craft beer for Their complementary businesses have seen a lot of healthy cyclists, many of whom planned group rides to end at breweries. cross-pollination as customers from one business wander across Though Garrison’s doesn’t facilitate group rides (it’s an insurance the parking lot to check out the other. The owners have talked thing), the new parking lot, which can accommodate 50-80 cars (up about collaborating, and with COVID restrictions lifting, it only from 25-30 car lot at their old location) is regularly packed with seems a matter of time before they capitalize on the synergy. Hop & bike-rack-laden vehicles doing just that, with Dew Point Brewing Ride, IPA anyone? ► serving as the post-ride destination.

STEAMIN’ DAYS STEAMIN’ DAYS STEAMIN’ DAYS

FIRST SUNDAYS , JUNE – NOVEMBER 12:30–4:30 PM

PLUS

STEAMIN’ HALLOWEEN & THANKSGIVING STEAMIN’ HALLOWEEN & THANKSGIVING STEAMIN’ HALLOWEEN & THANKSGIVING

train & Antique auto rides live demonstrations & kids crafts mansion tours & fun for all ages

NEW MUSEUM HOURS NEW MUSEUM HOURS NEW MUSEUM HOURS

Discover the Magic Age of Steam !

THURSDAYS & FRIDAYS 1:00–4:00 PM

at auburn heights 3000 Creek Road, Hockessin, DE 302-239-2385 AuburnHeights.org

Steamin' Days takes place at Auburn Heights the first Sunday, June-November.

Guests explore the property aboard a miniature train. Photos by Mike Cioseksma

This is only the beginning. Hoffman predicts only great things for Yorklyn in the months and years to come. Signs in front a vacant manufacturing plant announce the massive redevelopment efforts underway for Yorklyn Village, plans for which include residential, recreational, cultural, and business spaces. The scope is impressive. “Once built out, the Yorklyn Village will be a shining light as a destination location, and a great example of how to redevelop a historic area that was part of America's industrial past,” Hoffman says.

But there is no time like late summer to take advantage of all that is presently great about Yorklyn. “Where else in the area can you go buy a bike, take a ride through a beautiful state park, stop at a location that houses the largest collection of working Stanley Steamers in the world, pedal a short distance to visit a community art center, and finish off your trip with a craft beer?” says Hoffman. Where indeed?

— On Sat., Sept. 18, Auburn Heights will host Screen Stars, a classic car show and garden party to benefit the Marshall Steam Museum. The event will feature cars that match automobiles used in classic films such as The Graduate, American Graffiti, Animal House and Magnum P.I. For more information or tickets, visit AuburnHeights.org