Why Not Build a Bridge

Robert Thompson Neely (1769-1848), grandson of first-arrivers Robert (1722-1804) and Hannah Delaplane Simpson Thompson (1714-1803), son of William (1742-1818) and Elizabeth Thompson Neely (1748-1834), and husband to Sarah Beaumont (1780-1806), was born and lived in Solebury Township, Bucks County PA. He became owner of the Thompson Neely Grist Mill, inheriting it from his parents. According to the family genealogy, he “…was a prominent man in that locality.”

He was also forward thinking as in 1812 he was “one of the first subscribers to and incorporators of the New Hope Delaware Bridge Company.” See incorporation authorization by the NJ General Assembly below. The Company built such a bridge in 1813-14; the first bridge built over the Delaware River at New Hope. For a number of years, he was an officer in the company. “He was in fact one of the foremost businessmen of his time in Bucks County and filled many positions of trust in a local capacity.”

The bridge (later called the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge) was 1051 feet long and 32 feet wide and wooden covered. Built at a cost of $67,936, it opened September 12, 1814, replacing the ferry service once provided by Coryell’s Ferry. Its six wooden arches each measured 175 feet and 13 feet high. Its designer was Lewis Wernwag, a national known bridge designer who had also designed `Chain Bridge` linking Bucks County’s Northampton Township with Wrightstown Township over the Neshaminy Creek.

The flood of 1841 heavily damaged the bridge. A second bridge was constructed in 1842 and was destroyed by the flood of 1903. A steel truss structure followed.