Washington Crossing Historic Park is a 500-acre (2 km²) state park operated by the

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for maintaining and preserving the state's 124 state parks and 20 state forests; ...

in partnership with the Friends of Washington Crossing Park. The park is divided into two sections. One section of the park, the "lower park," is headquartered in the village of Washington Crossing located in Upper Makefield Township in

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, ...

. It marks the location of

George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River occurred on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against Hessian forces, whic ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The lower park includes 13 historic buildings including McConkey's Ferry Inn, where General George Washington and his aides ate dinner and made plans prior to the crossing. Among the historic buildings is a 20th-century barn that houses 5 replica

Durham Boat The Durham boat was a large wooden, flat-bottomed, double-ended freight boat which was in use on many of the interior waterways of North America beginning in the middle of the eighteenth century. They were replaced by larger, more efficient canal ...

s. Durham boats were large, open boats that were used to transport pig iron along the Delaware River at the time of the Revolution and these boats, along with the ferries and others, were used to transport soldiers, horses, and equipment across the river on the night of December 25–26, 1776. The replica boats are used each year when the nighttime crossing is reenacted in the park. Located 4.5 miles away in Solebury Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is the park's northern section, the "upper park." In its 100-acre area it contains (0.4 km²)

Bowman's Hill Tower Bowman's Hill Tower, (also known as Bowman's Tower), is a stone tower located in Washington Crossing Historic Park in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The tower ...

and the

Thompson-Neely House The Thompson-Neely house is a historic house and farmstead in Solebury Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Washington Crossing Historic Park, headquartered in nearby Washington Crossing. The oldest part of the house was built in ...

, which was used as a military hospital during Washington's encampment in the area, and the graves of an estimated 40 to 60 soldiers who died there. The exact location of the graves is unknown, though they were partially unearthed during the construction of the nearby Delaware Canal in the early 19th century and during other nearby construction projects. Presently there are 23 memorial headstones as a reminder that the area is a gravesite. The lower park contains a visitor's center, which was renovated from July 2011 to March 2013. The newly renovated visitor's center was opened March 10, 2013. It features a small exhibition with some Revolutionary war artifacts, and an original letter written by George Washington while in the McConkey's Ferry Inn. The park also has obtained a full size digital copy of

Emanuel Leutze Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (May 24, 1816July 18, 1868) was a German-American history painter best known for his 1851 painting '' Washington Crossing the Delaware''. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Biography Leutze was born ...

's 1851 painting, '' Washington Crossing the Delaware'', from the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, that is hanging in the auditorium.

History and mission of the park

The park was created in 1917 and the Washington Crossing Park Commission was established in 1919 to administer and develop the park. The park was formed to commemorate the famous ''Crossing'' as the "Turning point of the American Revolution." The commission's first objective was to develop the site as a historical shrine and its second objective was to preserve its natural beauty and develop its areas for recreational use. Bowman's Hill Tower was built to commemorate what may have been a lookout point for General George Washington's troops to watch the banks of the Delaware River for enemy activity. The park also contains the

Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve is a 134-acre nature preserve, botanical garden, and accredited museum located at 1635 River Road (Pennsylvania Route 32), New Hope, Pennsylvania. It is open daily, except for major holidays, April–June, and c ...

and the surrounding area is the natural habitat for many native plants, trees, animals and birds. Today the park serves to preserve and interpret the site of the Washington's Crossing of the Delaware. The park is administered by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources(DCNR). Cuts in funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania forced the PHMC to reduce park staffing, which resulted in closing the park to the public in late November, 2009. In 2013, the Pennsylvania state budget and fiscal code mandated that the park transfer from PHMC to DCNR. The switch was finalized in early 2016. The Friends of Washington Crossing Park, a 501(c)(3) private, non-profit corporation, was incorporated in January 2010 to support the PHMC in operating Washington Crossing Historic Park, and the park re-opened to the public in the spring of that same year. The Friends of Washington Crossing Park re-opened the park's gift shop in December 2010. Current full-time, on-site staffing consists of 2 museum professionals and 2 maintenance personnel provided by the PHMC, who work in conjunction with the part-time staff of historical interpreters provided by the Friends of Washington Crossing Park. Washington Crossing Historic Park is open for guided tours Monday through Sundays from 10am – 4pm, April 1 – December 31. The recreational areas of the park, including the picnic pavilions, are open to the public from dawn to dusk all year. The park holds a reenactment of General Washington's nighttime crossing every year, plus other public programs on related themes throughout the year. The park was included in the

Washington's Crossing Washington's Crossing is the location of George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River on the night of December 25–26, 1776 in the American Revolutionary War. This daring maneuver led to victory in the Battle of Trenton and altered the cou ...

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

designation in 1961, and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1966. and

McConkey's Ferry

On the night of December 25–26, 1776, General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

and a small army of 2,400 men crossed the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

at McConkey's Ferry, on their way to attack a Hessian garrison of 1,500 in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, renewed hope among the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and the general population. On the morning of December 26, at the

Battle of Trenton The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton the previous night, ...

, they were able to force the Hessian soldiers to surrender, without any American casualties. The ferry was first established by Henry Baker in 1684. His grandson, Samuel Baker Jr., sold it to Samuel McConkey (also spelled McKonkey) on December 5, 1774. McConkey sold it to Benjamin Taylor on March 21, 1777. The corresponding ferry on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River was known as Johnson's Ferry.

Gallery

File:McConkey's Ferry Inn, Washington Crossing, PA.jpg, McConkey's Ferry Inn File:Washington Crossing Historic Park, PA history marker.jpg, Monument near the crossing site File:Thompson-Neely (Pidcock) House.jpg,

File:Bowman's Hill Tower.jpg,

References

External links

*
National Park Service
{{Authority control Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Bucks County, Pennsylvania State parks of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania state historical marker significations American Revolutionary War sites Museums in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Open-air museums in Pennsylvania History museums in Pennsylvania American Revolutionary War museums in Pennsylvania Parks in Bucks County, Pennsylvania History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River

History and mission of the park

McConkey's Ferry

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links