The Delaware City Historic District

The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and New Castle County Architecture

The Delaware City Historic District is significant for its architecture, for its beginnings as a planned settlement, and for its importance as a nineteenth century canal-oriented transportation center. The buildings within the district date from 1826, the year the town was laid out, displaying significant development through 1930. The town was envisioned by its backers as a place that would develop into a major shipping and trading point for traffic that passed along this trans-peninsular trade route, and so, its early plans were based on the completion of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

Delaware City is located 14 miles south of Wilmington, the largest city in Delaware, and 40 miles south of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The built area of town is roughly bounded by the Delaware City Branch of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on the east, the Delaware River on the north, Dragon Creek on the west, and Delaware Route 9 on the south.

Located within the limits of an incorporated town of approximately 1,800 people that is situated in the eastern central area of New Castle County, Delaware, the town is strategically located at the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal where it joins the Delaware River.

The 68-acre district is made up of 252 sites that include 232 major buildings

East of the canal branch, but outside the boundaries of the district, is Polktown, a small community that was settled by free Blacks in the 1830's, and the Fort duPont site, established in 1863 as an auxiliary gun battery, later used as the headquarters for the Delaware River and Bay Defenses during WWI and WWII.  

An important feature of the economy of Delaware City is the expanse of marshland bordering parts of the canal, the river, and the creek that harbored substantial game bird and muskrat populations. Much of the outlying area beyond the marsh was highly productive agricultural land during the nineteenth century and is still so used.

Three related National Register sites are located just outside the district:

1. Eastern Lock of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

2. Fort Delaware, a Civil War Prison located on an island in the Delaware River.

3. Chelsea, an 1848 brick, Greek Revival style dwelling built for Thomas Jefferson Clark, member of one of the leading families in the area.

Architecture

Delaware City's main emphasis is on buildings of the mid-to-late nineteenth century, its greatest period of growth. Several of the earliest buildings in town are brick Federal style dwellings. The accepted plan was a two-story, gable-roofed, double dwelling with a symmetrical four-bay facade and fanlights above the entrances.

The most prominent house type of the mid-nineteenth century is the Greek Revival style. Based strictly on the two or two-and-a-half story, flat-roofed, square plan, there are no temple front or cross wing versions of this style in Delaware City or in its environs. 

The Italianate style did not bring about much of a change in Delaware City's architecture since it was based on the same flat-roofed, square plan as the Greek Revival style. Because of the subtle difference between the Greek Revival and Italianate styles, features from both styles were sometimes combined, creating a transition between the two. The Queen Anne and Bungalow styles became prevalent in the twentieth century.

Newburgh Port Jervis and Middletown in Orange County New York

 Located in southeastern New York State, Orange County is directly north of the border with New Jersey, west of the Hudson River, east of the Delaware and northwest of New York City. Points of interest in Orange County include the US Military Academy at West Point, America’s oldest winery in Washingtonville, the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen, the first cold press daily in the nation in Middletown.

Orange County is the only county which borders the Hudson and the Delaware Rivers

Transportation the region is served by Stewart International, located west Newburgh, and providing national and international flights. Ground transportation consists of bus service within Orange County and rail to New York City.

History Orange County was established in1683, when the Province of New York was divided into twelve counties. At that time, the only inhabitants of the area were the native Munsee people, with the first European settlers arriving in 1685 consisting of twenty-five families from Scotland. In 1709, a group of German Palatine refugees settled in Newburgh; the Dutch and English arrived in 1712 and additional immigrants came from Ireland. In 1798, after the American Revolutionary War, the boundaries of Orange County changed; the southern end was ceded to the new Rockland County and an area north of Moodna Creek was added.

Port Jervis is at the confluence of the Neversink and Delaware Rivers in the western part of the county and north of the Delaware Water Gap. Port Jervis industrial history includes a role in shipping coal to major markets to the southeast by canal and later by railroads as well as long-distance rail passenger service until 1970. Today, tourists pass through Port Jervis on their way to enjoying rafting, kayaking, canoeing and other activities in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational Region.

Port Jervis is named for Delaware and Hudson Canal Chief Engineer John Bloomfield Jervis

Middletown is situated between Port Jervis and Newburgh. Incorporated as a city in 1888. It grew in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries as a stop on several lower New York State railroads, attracting small manufacturing businesses. The surrounding area is partly devoted to small dairy farms. The downtown area is home to an active bar and restaurant scene, historic churches, and prosperous neighborhoods like Presidential Heights. Highland Avenue is lined with large Victorian houses, some of the largest of which are now used as nursing homes.

Newburgh  is situated on land that rises sharply to a bluff; many historic homes are located here with sweeping views of the Hudson river and highlands to the south. Newburgh's preservation history can be traced to 1850 when Washington's Headquarters was designated a state historic site, the first in the country. The Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands was chartered by the State of New York in 1884. The David Crawford House on Montgomery Street, built in 1834, is the current home of the Newburgh Historical Society. The city's modern preservation efforts led to the development of a historic district the second largest in New York State. The city's historic architecture features historic designs by Andrew Jackson Downing, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.

Newburgh was designated a Preserve America community in 2005

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Southeastern Pennsylvania Travel Itinerary

historic districts preservation and pirates along the Delaware River

Marcus Hook’s historical significance comes from its identity as a maritime town. Originally a Lenape settlement, it became a New Sweden trading post in the 1640s with shipbuilding and fishing as early industries. Briefly a resort and amusement center, Marcus Hook’s rail, roads and deep-water port gave rise to the refineries that became the borough's dominant industry.

The Pioneer, an iron-hulled American schooner still sailing, was built in Marcus Hook in 1885

The Hook was also a haven for pirates in the early 18^th century and its market provided a place to sell plundered goods and re-supply for their next voyage; what is now Second Street was originally called Discord Lane and where the pirates hung out while in town.
Plank House once the home of a mistress of the pirate Blackbeard is a one-and-a-half story, hall-plan house featuring a finished upper level and full cellar. The house is constructed using sawn planks fitted together with dovetail joinery and caulked with oakum. Some of the original riven lath remains on the interior of the house. A stone and brick relieving arch in the cellar supports the fireplaces and chimney stack. The upper level of the house, accessed via a winder staircase, features a fielded panel fireplace. Both the architecture of the house and the archaeology indicate a probable construction date of 1735.

The William Penn Landing Site marks the spot of the first landing of William Penn on the territory of Pennsylvania, on October 28 or 29, 1682. Penn, the founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, landed in the only town in the province, then known as Upland and promptly renamed it Chester. The monument at the site was designed by John Struthers, erected on November 8 and dedicated November 9, 1882. The landing site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

The Old Chester Courthouse was built in 1724 in Chester, to serve as the courthouse for Chester County, one of the first three counties in the Province of Pennsylvania set up by William Penn.  Later, the area around Chester was separated from Chester County and formed into Delaware County; the Chester Courthouse became the courthouse for Delaware County.

Chester Waterside Station is a historic power station. The original section of the Station building was built in 1916, and consists of the Boiler House with attached Coal Towers, Turbine Hall, and the Switch House. It is in the Beaux-Arts style. The Turbine Hall Annex addition was built in 1939-1942. Also located on the property is the two-story, red brick Machine Shop building. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

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Chichester Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house near Boothwyn. The Chester area was one of the earliest areas settled by Quakers in Pennsylvania. The meetinghouse, first built in 1688, then rebuilt after a fire in 1769 reflects this early Quaker heritage. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

John P. Crozer II Mansion located in Upland, was built in 1879-1880, and is a three-story mansion house built entirely of California redwood. It reflects grandiose Victorian tastes, with elements of the Gothic and Queen Anne styles. The mansion was divided into eight apartments. Also on the property are a contributing carriage house, barn, trophy house, spring house, remains of greenhouses, a root cellar and ice house.

Pusey-Crozier Mill Historic District is a historic mill complex and national historic district located in Upland. The district includes nine contributing buildings, one contributing site, and one contributing structure, at the site of the first grist mill and sawmill erected by the English Quakers in 1682. They are the Pennock Log House (1790), schoolhouse (1849), four single houses (1850), large double house (1850s), mid-19th century barn, and the original mill site, headrace, and tail race.

Bucks County PA Historic Towns and Boroughs

Bristol New Hope Doylestown Yardley Morrisville

Bucks County is one of the three original counties created by William Penn in 1682. Pennsbury Manor stands on the point of land formed by the Delaware River between Morrisville and Bristol. Painstaking research went into restoring the prim-fronted, three-storied, brick manor-house, rebuilt on the original foundations.

Bristol is the oldest town in Bucks County and the third oldest in Pennsylvania. It is the southern terminus of the D&L Trail characterized by coal yards, shipyards, warehouses and textile mills. Its Delaware Riverfront resembles a New England seaport. During World War II, the shipyards were converted for use in the manufacturing of aircraft. Today, Bristol hosts special events near the river and the 50-site Radcliffe Street Historic District. The Spurline Trail presents the town’s improved waterfront and the nearby 235 acre sanctuary Silver Lake Nature Center offers three miles of trails and habitats of more than 160 species of birds, raccoon, muskrats, opossum and deer.

New Hope started out as an industrial town and by the end of the 18^th century it had a variety of mills, ranging from grist and lumber to those that produced flour and processed flax. In the 1820s, cotton spinning and weaving joined the list of businesses on the banks of the Delaware. Veterans from both the American Revolution and War of 1812 called New Hope home, and the streets are lined with houses dating back to that era. Most of the oldest houses are on Ferry Street.

The Canal brought renewed economic activity to New Hope. During the late 1860s an estimated 100 canal boats a day passed through New Hope. During the 1920s and 30s, the village, nearby hamlets and farms became a flourishing art colony. By the mid-century, it became a stopping point for plays bound for Broadway, and home to New York and Philadelphia artists, musicians, writers and the New Hope School of Pennsylvania Impressionists.

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Doylestown is home to historic architecture, sidewalks lined with brick pavers and Victorian-style street lamps, the James A. Michener Art Museum, and the famous Mercer Mile comprising Fonthill Museum, Mercer Museum, and the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works.

The Heritage Conservancy is a community-based organization dedicated to preserving and protecting open spaces, natural resources and historic heritage as well as conservation best practices.

The US Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic States

Yardley dates back to 1682, when William Yardley paid William Penn 10 pounds for 500 acres of land. It wasn’t until 1807 that Yardley began to develop into a village, and by 1880 the population stood at 820 residents. Early industries included a spoke and handle factory, sawmill, plate and plaster mill, and two flour mills. During the Civil War, Yardley was a safe haven on the Underground Railroad. Hiding places included the Continental Tavern, warehouse bins along the Delaware Canal, and the town’s General Store. The Yardley Grist Mill has been a center of commerce since its inception in the late 1600s.

Historic Preservation much of Yardley has retained its historic integrity thanks to the creation of a well-maintained historic district. The majority of the buildings within the district are along South Main Street, with examples of Second Empire, Queen Anne, and Victorian Gothic architecture. Canal Street runs parallel to the Delaware Canal and is dotted with small, predominantly frame structures dating from 1840. Canal bridges and an aqueduct are within the district as well as rows of pre-canal stone homes.

The Town of Morrisville is located at the falls of the Delaware River across from Trenton and is the oldest town in Bucks County and third oldest in Pennsylvania. One-half mile from the falls of the Delaware River, nobleman Thomas Barclay’s 1765 Georgian mansion known as Summerseat once served as Washington’s headquarters. Declaration of Independence and Constitution signers Robert Morris, financier of the revolution and George Clymer were subsequent owners of this National Historic Site.

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