The 1784 Parry Mansion
On the Square in New Hope
Built by Quaker Businessman Benjamin Parry
He is “The Father of New Hope”
The Parry Mansion exemplifies the Federal style, as seen in its dormers and the pronounced keystone lintels. Yet the design of the entrance and the gable-end wing reveal the persistence of earlier architectural traditions.
Historical Sign in Front of the Parry Mansion:
The most prominent figure to settle in New Hope during the 1780s was Benjamin Parry, who arrived from what was then Philadelphia County. His first acquisition was the Todd Grist Mill, situated on the Delaware River at the mouth of Ingham Creek. The foundations of this mill, built around 1767, now form part of the Bucks County Playhouse, which itself incorporates sections of Parry’s later renovations and expansions of the property.
The American branch of the Parry family descends from the Parrys of Caernarvonshire, Wales. The Parrys established themselves in what is now Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, on a one-thousand-acre tract known as the Manor of Moorland. This Quaker family was associated with the Horsham Friends Meeting.
Benjamin Parry married Jane Paxson, daughter of a wealthy neighboring Quaker family. Benjamin Parry and his younger brothers, David and Daniel, purchased numerous parcels throughout New Hope and had houses on them.
Benjamin Parry sold grain from his mill to markets along the eastern seaboard of the U. S., the West Indies, and ports in South America. In 1810, he secured a patent for a method of drying grain prior to shipment, ensuring resistance to mildew and spoilage. Parry recognized the advantage of supplementing New Hope’s ferry service with a permanent bridge. By organizing the Delaware Bridge Company, selling stock, and later establishing a bank, he achieved this goal in 1814, when the first carriage paid toll to cross the newly built covered bridge. The original bridge was lost in a flood in 1903 and the present bridge was built in 1904.
Benjamin Parry personally paid for the one mile segment of the Delaware Division Canal which ran through New Hope.
It was Benjamin Parry who gave the village of New Hope its present name. Until the late 1790s, the settlement was known as Coryell’s Ferry. By 1790, Parry’s milling enterprise included three operations: the Hope Mills in Hopewell, New Jersey, the Prime Hope Mills in Titusville, New Jersey, and the grist and oil mill at Coryell’s Ferry. In 1791, the Coryell’s Ferry mill complex was destroyed by fire. Parry rebuilt the facility and, in commemoration of both the disaster and its renewal, named the new complex the “New Hope Mills.” In time, the settlement adopted this name as well.
Benjamin Parry
”The Father of New Hope”
Was a Wealthy, Anti-War Quaker
During the Revolutionary War:
Benjamin Parry
He Built the Mill that Became
The Bucks County Playhouse:
Benjamin Parry owned the grist mill, whose.foundations now.makes up part of the Bucks County Playhouse. The Parrys also owned six houses, stables, and a cooper's shop. In the 1790s they owned the only store in New Hope.
The Parry Barn
With the Parry Mill / Playhouse in Background:
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