See canal in use, old bridges, New Hope artists in films prior to bridge documentary
Rare film footage from the1920s to 1950s showing the Delaware canal in operation, among other things, will serve as the appetizer Thursday, April 10, before the premiere of a documentary chronicling the 200-year history of the bridge crossing between Lambertville and New Hope.
The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission is partnering with the National Canal Museum in Easton to show rare film footage of leading New Hope School artists, the former wooden bridge at Lumberville-Raven Rock and other local landmarks during a special event scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Bucks County Playhouse.
That pair of films will be shown prior to the featured film for the night a documentary DVD that New Hope and Lambertville history enthusiasts have produced to mark the 200th anniversary of the bridge crossing between the two river communities.
The first wooden covered bridge at the location was declared “ready for crossing” on Sept. 12, 1814. The current steel truss bridge at the same location opened in 1904.
The first “appetizer” film is a “short” called “Paradise Ditch,” which was produced by Easton-area filmmaker Roy Creveling in the 1950s. The film tells the story of the Delaware Canal in Pennsylvania, and the fight to save it from conversion into a superhighway.
The film shows New Hope in the 1950s, including restaurants, art galleries and the Bucks County Playhouse. The film is in the archives of the National Canal Museum/Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor.
The second film is a 15-minute condensed digital version of nearly two hours of silent film footage compiled in the 1920s and 1930s by W.W. Chambers, a Delaware Canal preservation proponent. The Commission worked in recent weeks to produce this pared-down presentation of the Chambers footage along with accompanying background music.
”The Chambers and Creveling films are real treats for area history buffs, canal enthusiasts and admirers of the enduring New Hope-Lambertville art scene,” said Martha Capwell Fox, the collections manager for the National Canal Museum in the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. “These are seldom-seen films and we are excited about having the opportunity to show them as a prelude to the bridge documentary’s premier.”
Capwell Fox explained that the Chambers film, while silent, shows three leading artists who were part of the movement of landscape painting now defined as the New Hope School or Pennsylvania Impressionism. This portion of footage includes William L. Lathrop, Edward Redfield and Daniel Garber, as well as their homes in the New Hope-Centre Bridge-Lumberville area.
There also is footage showing the timber spans of the former covered bridge that once linked the Lumberville section of Solebury Township, Pa., with the Raven Rock section of Delaware Township in Hunterdon County. Additionally, there is a brief segment of footage showing what the former Point Pleasant-Byram Bridge looked like before it was destroyed in the record-setting Delaware River flood of 1955.
”These films are absolute gems,” said Capwell Fox. “They show the Delaware Canal in full operation before it ceased operations and was transferred to state ownership in 1931. And they show what this area along the Delaware River looked like during the first half of the last century.”
The featured film for the night will be a new documentary DVD that New Hope and Lambertville history enthusiasts have produced to mark the 200th anniversary of the bridge crossing between the two river communities. The first wooden covered bridge at the location was declared “ready for crossing” on Sept. 12, 1814. The current steel truss bridge at the same location opened in 1904.
More information on the April 10 film event at the Bucks County Playhouse may be obtained from the New Hope Historical Society at www.newhopehs.org or by dialing 215-862-5652.

