Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Delaware Water Gap

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Delaware Water Gap

Delaware Water Gap dates to 1793, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Water Gap Staion. Below: 27 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1880.

1793founded
1on the National Register
47%homes built before 1940
27old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Delaware Water Gap’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Delaware Water Gap began

When was Delaware Water Gap founded?

1793

Delaware Water Gap dates its founding to 1793 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 201 in 18802020 census: 675233 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1806.The full story ↓

What stands out about Delaware Water Gap’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in postcards27 old photos, postcards and papers, 1850–1898.On the map since 18917 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1992. Watch Delaware Water Gap change.Old housesHalf of Delaware Water Gap’s homes were built before 1947.Deep rootsEstablished in 1793: 233 years of Delaware Water Gap.
★ What stands out · By decade

Delaware Water Gap, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1860s12 items
Delaware Water Gap1850Delaware Water GapDelaware Water Gap1856Delaware Water GapDelaware Water Gap1856Delaware Water GapDelaware Water Gap, Pa1865Delaware Water Gap, PaDelaware Water Gap, Pa1865Delaware Water Gap, PaDelaware Water Gap, Pa1865Delaware Water Gap, PaMarshalls Falls, [Delaware Water Gap]1865Marshalls Falls, [Delaware Water Gap]The railroad1865The railroadMarshall Falls1865Marshall FallsMarshall's Falls1865Marshall's FallsMarshalls Fall1865Marshalls FallMarshall Fall1865Marshall Fall
1870s–1890s15 items
Delaware Water Gap1872Delaware Water GapDelaware Water Gap1872Delaware Water GapDelaware Water Gap1875Delaware Water GapDelaware Water Gap1875Delaware Water GapDelaware Water Gap, Pa1890Delaware Water Gap, PaDelaware Water Gap, Penn1890Delaware Water Gap, PennDelaware Water Gap, Kittatinny [House] in the distance, Pennsylvania1895Delaware Water Gap, Kittatinny [House] in the distanc…Detroit Photographic Company (0743)1897–1924Detroit Photographic Company (0743)PostcardDetroit Photographic Company (0749)1897–1924Detroit Photographic Company (0749)PostcardDetroit Photographic Company (0750)1897–1924Detroit Photographic Company (0750)PostcardDelaware Water Gap from Winona Cliff, Pa1898Delaware Water Gap from Winona Cliff, PaPostcardDelaware Water Gap from the Montanesca, Mt. Pocono, Pa1898Delaware Water Gap from the Montanesca, Mt. Pocono, PaPostcardDelaware Water Gap, Pa1898Delaware Water Gap, PaPostcardEnd of First Horse Shoe Curve, Looking up Mountain with Car on 9% Grade, Stroudsburg and Delaware Water Gap Scenic Rail…1898End of First Horse Shoe Curve, Looking up Mountain wi…PostcardGlenwood House1898Glenwood HousePostcard
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Delaware Water Gap on the map, 1891 to 1992

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Delaware Water Gap. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Delaware Water Gap on the 1891 USGS mapDelaware Water Gap on the 1936 USGS mapDelaware Water Gap on the 1943 USGS mapDelaware Water Gap on the 1953 USGS mapDelaware Water Gap on the 1968 USGS mapDelaware Water Gap on the 1973 USGS mapDelaware Water Gap on the 1992 USGS map1891Delaware Water Gap sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Delaware Water Gap.

The story

How Delaware Water Gap came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Delaware Water Gap.

Read it all →

The Delaware Water Gap station (Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad) was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Delaware Water Gap, 1793 to 1891

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1793
    FoundingDelaware Water Gap is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1806Post officeThe Dutotsburg post office opens
  5. 1850In the archiveDelaware Water Gap
  6. 1856Post officeThe Dutotsburg post office closes
  7. 1856Post officeThe Delaware Water Gap post office opens
  8. 1865In the archiveDelaware Water Gap, Pa
  9. 1872In the archiveDelaware Water Gap
  10. 1890In the archiveDelaware Water Gap, Pa
  11. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Delaware Water Gap
Retake this viewDelaware Water Gap, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Delaware Water Gap’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Delaware Water Gap

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2002
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Water…
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Water Gap Staion
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Water Gap StaionLate Victorian

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Delaware Water Gap, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 746

Between 201 and 746 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Delaware Water Gap’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Delaware Water Gap

Nobody well known was born in Delaware Water Gap itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Byron K. LichtenbergAmerican astronaut and engineer · b. 1948
Ernest SchellingAmerican conductor · b. 1876
J
Jayson TerdimanAmerican luger · b. 1988
Benjamin LundyAmerican Quaker abolitionist · b. 1789
Ely MooreAmerican congressman for New York · b. 1798
Everett KentAmerican politician · b. 1888
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Delaware Water Gap’s post office has been open since 1856. Another post office, Dutotsburg, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dutotsburg
1806–1856
Delaware Water Gap
1856–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Dutotsburg
Gone or out of use
D W G Universal Instrument AirportairportDelaware Water Gap Stationbuilding
1cemetery inside Delaware Water Gap
Delaware Water Gap

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Delaware Water Gap’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewDelaware Water Gap: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Smithfield Township1 historic placeC+Upper Mount Bethel TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Delaware Water Gap’s history

What year was Delaware Water Gap founded?

In 1793, according to Wikidata. Delaware Water Gap’s post office opened in 1806, and the census of 1880 counted 201 people here.

What is on the National Register in Delaware Water Gap?

One place: the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Water Gap Staion (listed 2002).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (19), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.