New Hope dates to 1707, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #74 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 231 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1907 on, and the census since 1840.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1805.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Hope’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Hope is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #74 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Hope’s overall grade.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so New Hope’s 900 sits above most of its state (97% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 236 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1707.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about New Hope’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
New Hope is located along the route of the Old York Road, the onetime 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 (PA 179).
New Hope was first called Wells' Ferry and later Coryell's Ferry, after the owners of the ferry business. The current name came into use following a fire in 1790 that destroyed several mills owned by Benjamin Parry. He rebuilt them and named them New Hope Mills, from which the town derives its current name.
Passages that mention New Hope, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania1876 · page 679Read the page →
Read the text
Lambertville had but four houses. It was first called by this name in 1812, when a post-office was established there, and John Lambert appointed postmaster. The erection of the bridge across the Delaware between New Hope and Lambertville, in 1816, gave the first impetus to improvement; streets were laid out and houses erected A street from the bridge was opened to what is now Main street, which was widened and straightened, and a new tavern was built on Bridge street, whither the license was transferred from the ferry-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time1905Read the page →
Read the text
changed and it became known as New Hope and a private map of the settlement, made for Benjamin Parry, bears the name of New Hope and is dated, in printed letters A. D.. 1798. Mr. Parry died as before stated, November 22, 1839, in his eighty-third year at "The Old Parry INIansion,"* New Hope, and he is
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania1876 · page 309Read the page →
Read the text
The villages of Solebnry are, Lurnberville and Lumberfon lying contiguous on the Delaware, Centre Bridge below on the river, Centre Hill in the interior of the township, Carversville on the Paunacussing, Cottageville, and New Hope, an incorporated borough. About 1785 the site of Lurnberville was owned by Colonel George Wall and AVilliam Hamilton. We know but little of Hamilton, but Wall was an active patriot of the Revolution, and a man of influence.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
New Hope, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
In 1707, according to Wikidata. New Hope’s post office opened in 1805, and the census of 1840 counted 820 people here.
How does New Hope rank for history?
New Hope is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #74 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in New Hope?
4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Joshua Ely House (listed 1985, the first), and 2 historic districts, the New Hope Village District and the Springdale Historic District, with 231 contributing buildings. 236 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in New Hope?
21% of New Hope’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1977.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1892
1918
1923
