New Hope Historical Society

"New Hope, Pennsylvania lies on rolling hills that climb from the west bank of the Delaware River about thirty-five miles north of Philadelphia. Originally the land of the Lenni-Lenape Native Americans, it became a part of Penn's Woods in the seventeenth century. A thousand acres of land covering present day New Hope were given to William Penn by King Charles II of England as payment of a debt owed to Penn's father. Robert Heath obtained the land from Penn's brother-in-law and settled here around 1700. He established the first of many mills to come.

"John Wells purchased part of the land from Heath's family and established a ferry service here in 1722 to accommodate travelers on the Old York Road which stretched from Philadelphia to New York City. New Hope was the half way point of the journey.

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