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Photograph of Chipman Potato House
Photograph by Linda Roy Walls, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Chipman Potato House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

From the record

“The Chipman Potato House was located near Laurel, Delaware, one of the last surviving examples of its building type. The southern part of Delaware saw a sweet potato boom from 1900 until blight struck in the 1940s.”

Wikipedia article Chipman Potato House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 136 National Register listings published here for Sussex County · listed in 1990 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Jct. of DE 465 and DE 465A, Laurel, 19956
  • When was it listed? November 1990
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. Sweet Potato Houses of Sussex County MPS
  • Census division. Laurel-Delmar
  • National Register reference number. 90001691 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Storms near this property

34 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Laurel, the town this property stands in, in 34 storm reports between 2001 and 2025: 20 thunderstorm wind, 7 heavy rain, 4 hail, 2 lightning. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2001LightningLaurel1 hurtno account filed
July 2005LightningLaurel$75,000no account filed
May 2025Thunderstorm WindLaurel$30,000Additional wind damage east of the path of the tornado was noted continuing eastward towards Laurel. This was the result of straight-line winds associated with the rear-flank downdraft which also caused the loss of all of the metal roofing on one commercial building as well as the partial loss of metal roofing on another commercial building in Laurel as well as additional tree damage south of Chipman Pond.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindLaurel-Large tree split and snapped along Woodland Ferry Road right next to the Laurel Little League fields. Time estimated from radar.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindLaurel-Trees and wires were blown down around Laurel.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindLaurel-Tree damage reported on Beaver Dam Rd. near Laurel. Time estimated from radar.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindLaurel-Report of trees down in wires. Time estimated via radar.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindLaurel-Numerous trees and wires down across Laurel, DE. Time estimated from radar.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindLaurel-Multiple trees were downed onto wires causing power outages. Time estimated from radar.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindLaurel-Tree limbs were downed in Laurel due to strong outflow winds from an approaching thunderstorm. Time based on the report and radar.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindLaurel-A section of a tree snapped off and fell onto power lines. A large tree was also uprooted. Time estimated from radar.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindLaurel-A tree and large limbs were reported down near Laurel.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindLaurel-Wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph estimated in Laurel.
August 2019HailLaurel-Hail up to penny size was reported in Laurel.
July 2017FloodLaurel-Flooding reported on Front and Poplar streets.
July 2017Heavy RainLaurel-Just over four inches of rain fell.
July 2017Heavy RainLaurel-Almost six inches of rain fell. DEOS.
April 2016Thunderstorm WindLaurel-Thunderstorms associated with a strong cold front moving across the area during the late evening hours on the 2nd and early morning hours on the 3rd produced wind gusts which blew a tree into a house in Laurel.
September 2016Heavy RainLaurel-Four and a quarter inches of rain fell.
September 2016Heavy RainLaurel-Almost five inches of rain fell.
September 2016Heavy RainLaurel-Just over four inches of rain fell.
September 2016Heavy RainLaurel-Just over 3 inches of rain fell.
September 2016Heavy RainLaurel-Just over 4 inches of rain fell.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindLaurel-A severe thunderstorm knocked down several trees in Laurel.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindLaurel-A severe thunderstorm knocked down a couple of trees in Laurel.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindLaurel-A severe thunderstorm knocked down trees in Laurel.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindLaurel-A severe thunderstorm knocked down a couple of trees and wires in Laurel and Bethel. A large tree was knocked down across Main Street in Bethel. About 400 homes and businesses lost power in Sussex County.
May 2022HailLaurel-no account filed
June 2007HailLaurel-no account filed
August 2005Thunderstorm WindLaurel-no account filed
September 2005Thunderstorm WindLaurel-no account filed
June 2004Thunderstorm WindLaurel-no account filed
July 2002HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindLaurel-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sussex County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Rider Potato Houseunder 500 feet1990
Old Christ Churchunder 500 feet1972
Chipman's Mill0.2 miles1978
Spring Garden1.6 miles1982
Laurel Historic District1.9 miles1988
Stanley Potato House3.0 miles1990

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 90001691 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Sussex CountyAll 136 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.