ARCHITECTURAL PATTERNS IN AN EARLY RIVER TOWN (PENNSYLVANIA)

The purpose of this paper is to catalogue the twenty-two extant eighteenth century structures, plus three sites, in New Hope, a history-laden town on the Delaware River, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. These are set into their cultural heritage, particularly architectural and historical. For contemporaneous evidence there were in some cases spicy nuggets of information, in others a minimum. First, the history of the town from the time of William Penn\u27s patent of a thousand acres to Robert Heath of Staffordshire, England, is outlined. By 1700, Heath was in America, looking over his grant which was to encompass the whole of New Hope Borough, even as it grew to maximum size over almost three centuries. The study includes only the oldest houses, but also some fragments that are encompassed within newer shapes, but which have not been totally compromised. The settlers were Quakers with one, Benjamin Parry, a canny businessman, who lived in a mansion, which still looms in the center of town. The spread of house types, is not great nor is there variety. Nonetheless, these houses are worth classifying, especially since there is a dearth of similar case studies covering early American villages. New Hope has a location that has benefitted it through every period, starting when Heath fulfilled his promise to William Penn, to build a grist mill on the banks of a powerful stream not a mile from the Delaware River. Soon after the mill was functioning, a John Wells arrived at the riverside and set up a ferry to New Jersey. Augmenting access, there were two Indian paths leading toward Philadelphia, one to become the Old York Road. With these three approach routes, New Hope, through a succession of names, prospered, for long serving as mecca for creative personages, artists, writers, dramatists. The structures, having great merit in themselves, are typical of Delaware Valley stone dwellings. This thesis of quality is defended and explained. Ninety-five photographs, old and new, give pictorial insight. A glossary and bibliography further help the reader to become knowledgeable in a neglected but fascinating area of American architectural history