Centre Bridge, also spelled Center Bridge, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

in Solebury Township in

Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the List of counties in Pennsylvania, four ...

, United States. Located at the crossroads of River Road ( PA 32) and Upper York Road ( PA 263), it lies north of

New Hope New Hope may refer to: Places United States * New Hope, Alabama * New Hope, Arkansas (disambiguation) * New Hope, Florida * New Hope, Early County, Georgia * New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia * New Hope, Illinois * New Hope, Indiana * New Hope ...

. 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. The road was built along the Raritan tribe, Raritan tribe's Naraticong Trail, als ...

between

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and

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

. 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 area ...

, who lived in a farm house just north of the bridge. The current

Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge The Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge is a free bridge over the Delaware River owned and operated by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. The bridge connects County Route 523 (New Jersey), CR 523 and New Jersey Route 29, NJ 29 in St ...

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.

References

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