Brandywine Springs, located on the Newport-Gap Turnpike about five miles west of Wilmington, Delaware, was first developed as a spa by the Brandywine Chalybeate Springs Company in 1827. Richard W. Crook (1850-1948) later leased the property in 1886 and converted it into a typical nineteenth-century streetcar amusement park, although he was unable to complete the streetcar connection with Wilmington until 1901. The entries in the ledger are in the hand of William Jenks Fell (1839-1903), the lessor of the park, and describe expenditures on improving the rides and concessions.