Editing New Hope, Pennsylvania (section)

===18th century===
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[[File:Lehigh Canal, Sunset, New Hope, PA by Joseph Pickett.jpg|thumb|''Lehigh Canal, Sunset, New Hope, PA'', a 1918 portrait by [[Joseph Pickett (painter)|Joseph Pickett]]]]
[[File:New Hope Train Station 1945.jpg|thumb|[[New Hope station]] in 1945]]
[[File:PA 32 NB approaching PA 179.jpg|thumb|Main Street in New Hope]]
New Hope is located along the route of the [[Old York Road]], the former main highway between [[Philadelphia]] and [[New York City]]. It was generally regarded as the halfway point, where travelers would stay overnight and be ferried across the [[Delaware River]] the next morning. The section of [[U.S. Route 202]] that passes just north of New Hope is still named York Road, and the original route is now Bridge Street ([[Pennsylvania Route 179|PA 179]]).

New Hope was first called "Coryell's Ferry," after the owner of the ferry business. The current name came into use following a fire in 1790 that destroyed several mills in the area; their reconstruction was considered a "new hope."

The night prior to [[George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River]], Washington lodged in New Hope, and then destroyed the ferry so the [[British Army during the American Revolutionary War|British Army]] could not follow him. Following the [[Battle of Trenton]] and [[Battle of Princeton]], when British troops were sweeping the area, seeking [[Continental Army]] troops, there was no response when they rang for the ferry. The British assumed the town was sympathetic to the Continental Army and shelled the town. Several of the older structures in the town still claim to have unexploded British ordnance lodged in their roofbeams.