Delaware Canal
New Hope, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Here are locks No. 8-11 of the 23 lift locks on this canal. New Hope also had one of the nine aqueducts, and the only toll station between Bristol and Easton. Coal was the largest item of shipping.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
At New Hope the Delaware Canal reveals much of its working machinery, with locks No. 8 through 11 among the twenty-three lift locks that stepped boats along the route. The town also boasted one of the canal's nine aqueducts and the only toll station between Bristol and Easton. Coal was the great cargo, floated south by mule-drawn boats through this bustling river town.
Why it matters
New Hope's locks and toll station show the canal at its most complete, a snapshot of the engineering that moved anthracite and built industrial America.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Delaware Canal
New Hope, PA · est. 1949
Opened from Bristol as far as this point in 1831 and finished to Easton by 1852, the Delaware Canal became one of Pennsylvania's vital freight arteries. An outlet lock built here in 1834 connected the canal to the river itself, and the nearby River House of 1794 served as a favorite stop for barge crews. For decades the canal bustled with boats carrying coal downriver toward Philadelphia and beyond.
Samuel D. Ingham
Solebury Township, PA · est. 1947
Samuel D. Ingham was born on this ground on September 16, 1779, and rose to become one of the young republic's notable public men. He served as Secretary of the Treasury from 1829 to 1831 under President Andrew Jackson, alongside a long career in other state and national offices. A promoter of the early anthracite coal trade and an advocate for canals, he helped tie Pennsylvania's mineral wealth to the growing national economy.
Pennsylvania Canal
Solebury Township, PA · est. 1949
In the early 19th century Pennsylvania raced to bind its distant corners together with a state-financed network of canals reaching from Philadelphia toward Pittsburgh and Lake Erie. The Delaware Division running from Bristol to Easton broke ground in 1827 and moved coal and freight along the river valley. The state ran it until 1858, private owners kept it working into 1931, and it became a state park in 1940.
Pennsylvania Canal
Solebury Township, PA · est. 1949
Pennsylvania's ambitious public works program aimed to link Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Lake Erie by water. The Delaware Division, running Bristol to Easton, was begun in 1827 and carried anthracite and goods along the river. Operated by the state from 1831 to 1858 and by private owners until 1931, the corridor became a state park in 1940.