Centre Bridge, Pennsylvania (6479377503)

Centre Bridge is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

in Solebury Township,

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States. Located at the crossroads of River Road ( PA 32) and Upper York Road ( PA 263), it lies north of New Hope. The spelling of the name of the village is traditional. Centre Bridge was originally called Reading's Ferry, after the proprietor of the original ferry at this point"Solebury Township Bucks County Pennsylvania, a Short History of the Township and a Report on Township Officers and Affairs", by John Richardson, Offset Service Company, Philadelphia, 1958. on the

Old York Road Old York Road (originally York Road, with reference to New York) is a roadway that was built during the 18th century to connect Philadelphia with New York City. Through New Jersey it was built along the Raritan (Unami tribe) "Naraticong Trail", ...

between

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In 1814, a covered wooden toll bridge was built there. In 1923, lightning struck the bridge and the resulting fire destroyed the bridge. The fire was depicted in a famous painting by

Edward Willis Redfield Edward Willis Redfield (December 18, 1869 – October 19, 1965) was an American Impressionist landscape painter and member of the art colony at New Hope, Pennsylvania. He is best known today for his impressionist scenes of the New Hope ar ...

, who lived in a farm house just north of the bridge. The current Centre Bridge-Stockton Bridge was completed in 1926. The

Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, more commonly called the Delaware Canal, runs for parallel to the right bank of the Delaware River from the entry locks near the mouth of the Lehigh River and terminal end of the Lehigh Canal at ...

runs along the river between Centre Bridge and the river. For more than two hundred years, there has been an inn at the crossroads. It has burned several times; the last time it burned to the ground, in the early 1960s, the centuries-old stone walls tumbled. This time, it was rebuilt by more modern although less picturesque standards.

Notes

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania