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Dear Readers, We love every season in the River Towns, so picking a favorite is a bit like picking a favorite child. Fortunately, we don’t have to. But if we did, it just might be …
Shirley Corsey grew up down the street from the Bethel AME Church in Yardley, where members of the borough’s African American community would gather each Sunday in a communal display of faith and …
There may be no more unsung role in the production of this or any magazine than that of the fact-checker. The job entails talking with sources who have provided information that made its way into our …
I recently received my copy of River Towns magazine and was thrilled to read your feature on the Tinicum Arts Festival, an event that is very close to my heart. I was especially excited …
River Towners love a great party for a good cause... At Heritage Conservancy’s Farm to Table on June 13: 1. Mike & Kim Bensing, Katie & Greg Kessell 2. Mary & …
Bucks County steps into the spotlight in a new five-part documentary, Bucks County, USA, which debuts on PBS September 20. With the county serving as something of a template for …
A Way to Be Together, an eighteen-minute documentary about the community of Lambertville residents who hail from the Oaxaca region of Mexico, took top honors at the Festival Internacional de …
Snowbirds Rejoice! A third commercial airline makes itself at home this fall at Trenton-Mercer Airport in Ewing. Breeze Airways, known for its “Seriously Nice” motto, provides more options …
The River Towns recently lost three stalwart members of its cultural and philanthropic communities. We remember them here. Marvin “Marv” Woodall (1937-2026) A leader in the field of …
As she approaches her 80th birthday, realist painter Dot Bunn continues to capture Bucks County’s rural beauty while passing on a disciplined approach to a new generation of artists.
Inside her sparkling Lambertville workshop/storefront, twenty-something Morgan Grabarz blends glamour with edge in fashion designs that pay homage to New York City and her beloved River Towns.
Photographer Denise Jill Marshall refuses to let anything arrest her forward motion: not aggressive deadlines, artistic hurdles, or physical challenges. “Nothing stops me,” she says, sitting in …
Tracking Forever Chemicals “The Delaware River Basin is a global hotspot for PFAS pollution,” says Jeremy Conkle, Delaware River Basin Commission senior chemist/toxicologist and lead author …
1 Halloween in Lambertville Celebrate the spooky season in style on Halloween night in Lambertville. On October 31—a Saturday this year!—trick-or-treaters of all ages can delight in …
The line of Lambertvillians who were waiting their turn to speak stretched from a podium to the back of the auditorium, and every one of them was fuming. “This development is not for people who live in Lambertville and love it,’’ said Amy Klimuk, an artist and service worker. “It seems like a big cash grab.’’ “I’m not against all development, I’m against monstrosity development,’’ said Frank Fortunato, a lawyer who’s lived in the city for thirty-five years. “This proposal would choke off the neighborhood,’’ chimed in City Councilwoman Karen Kominsky. “We have a life here!’’
Shaun Ellis and Beth O’Brien, longtime residents of Lambertville, stand on the edge of a heavily overgrown twenty-five-acre tract atop Connaught Hill that was once occupied by Lambertville’s high …
For decades, an abandoned AME church stood as one of the last reminders of Yardley’s African American community. Shirley Lee Corsey saved it, transforming it into Gather Place, a living center for preserving local history and the stories of those who shaped it.
Efforts are underway in the River Towns to restore the chestnut tree to its glory years of the early twentieth century, when it helped define Eastern forests before being decimated by blight.
ArtYard introduced itself to its Frenchtown neighbors with The Hatch, an early, feathery expression of what would become its signature form of building community through creativity. Ten years later, the waterfront museum and performance space occupies a singular space in the River Towns’ rich cultural orbit.
Michael Greenstein grew up cooking side-by-side with a mom who regularly hosted dinner parties for forty people in their Baltimore home. His passion for cooking began at age five, when he would stand …
Fourth-generation winemaker Ottavio Angelico turned a childhood spent among Italian vineyards into a thriving Delaware Township winery.
A nineteenth-century fire that destroyed a barn in Hilltown Township set the stage for the construction of a new barn that has served well into the twenty-first century.
Ditch everything you assume about the humble cauliflower. At River Towns farms, this veggie is sweet, tender, and comes in abundant color.
Cycle under a canopy of autumnal foliage—and birdwatch along the way—on the Lawrence Hopewell Trail.
A huge shadow with broad wings glides over the ground. Look up! Above is an enormous bird, dark as its shadow, wings fading to the color of clouds, red head peering down at you. Do you feel a shiver …
At Winterthur, in Delaware’s Brandywine Valley, you can stroll the gardens and wander the exquisitely appointed home of the late Henry Francis du Pont.
MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT Bucks County Playhouse Through Sept. 13: Rent . Sept. 18–19: Visiting Artist Series: Yacht Rock Gold Experience. Sept. 19: Women of Note: …
In the early decades of the twentieth century, public library services were scant across rural America. In October 1939, the Bulletin of the American Library Association reported that …
Dear Readers, Welcome to the 7th Anniversary Issue of River Towns Magazine and our special salute to the semiquincentennial in the River Towns Our region played a vital role in the …
Bucks County had been around for nearly a century when the Second Continental Congress convened in nearby Philadelphia in July 1776 to adopt the Declaration of Independence. It was a landmark …
Amy Coss grew up next to a brook, and she likes to joke that water runs through her veins. So it makes sense that she would come to spend her working life in the River Towns. In 1990, Amy joined …
An equestrian superstar, Fashion Farms in Buckingham Township, is being readied for sale for $8.25 million. The fifty-seven-acre farm was headquarters of the Fashion Farms Standardbred breeding …
Shawn Campbell is in her sunlit garage-turned-studio in Alexandria, rolling a coil of clay and creating a circle. For Campbell, the genesis of every new sculpture is a story waiting to be told. “I …
When you swing open the Factory Girl Bake Shop door, you are overcome by the irresistible smell of warm butter and sugar. A gentle crackle resonates from a vintage record player, setting a cinematic …
One day in 2015, as Kendall Rood was daydreaming, she started sketching a long, winding driveway leading up to a stone farmhouse with a garden and animals. She thought, When I’m about 80 and …
It is a damp day in Frenchtown, and while my pink Vans are sinking into the wet ground, street artist Joe Strasser, 59, is completely comfortable in sturdy work boots as he ushers me around the mud …
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have announced the latest round of funding for Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund projects. Federal funding will …
1 Saturday Polo Matches at Tinicum Park Ponies and polo and players, oh my! Indulge your taste for the equestrian at the Tinicum Polo Club’s Saturday matches. Every Saturday until the …
In the summer of 1776 and for several years hence, the River Towns played a pivotal role at the dawn of the American Revolution. George Washington and his troops spent many nights in the region, …
How do you get into history? In an armchair with a book and some brandy? On the couch, bingeing Ken Burns? Maybe you cruise the River Towns scanning roadsides for historical plaques and monuments. …
Two hundred and fifty years ago this summer, in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress gathered inside the Pennsylvania State House, today known as Independence Hall, on a mission to make history. On …
History is everywhere you turn in the River Towns. The list of sites below is selective and roughly chronological, since the histories of many sites extended long before or after the American …
★ THE CROSSING KEEPERS ANNETTE EARLING (Titusville) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WASHINGTON CROSSING PARK ASSOCIATION Annette Earling might have been destined to play a central …
June 3–August 29 Gather Place Abolitionist Trail Hub Noon–2 p.m select Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays Gather Place at the Old African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church of Yardley 188 …
Washington Crossing State Park (New Jersey) June 14 Meet Frances Hopkinson The Bordentown resident, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a member of the Second Continental …
George Washington had a love-hate relationship with the River Towns. The Delaware River first posed an obstacle as Washington and his troops, having retreated from New York City, fled pursuing …
There were plenty of warnings about Bucks and Hunterdon counties when George Washington crossed the Delaware River to save the American Revolution in 1776. Many people who lived on farms and in towns …
During the Revolutionary era, slavery existed throughout what are today Bucks, Hunterdon, and Mercer counties. Enslaved Black men, women, and children lived and worked on farms, at ferries, in …
There are few spots in the River Towns more serene than the 126 leafy acres that comprise Tinicum Park, a green refuge beside the Delaware River where walking paths undulate past deep woods and open …
“ I like to have fun,” says Noel Barrett, his eyes dancing as he tries to decide whether to be Spaceship Santa—again—this year in Carversville’s town square. A short walk down the hill from …
Chef Bob Truitt of Stockton Inn is not the type of chef who spends more time chatting in the dining room than he does cooking in the kitchen. Truitt is a hands-on chef: He cooks with his crew and …
While Barbara Leone was living in suburban Hamilton Township, New Jersey, she longed to trade the busy bustle for a quieter country life where she could provide locally grown food to the community. …
One of the ubiquitous sights in the River Towns is the red barn. While many large structures dominate a farm view, others are smaller and seem to fit into the landscape. The barn on Bowne Station …
Glossy and deep purple, eggplants are one of the River Towns’ most striking summer crops. Popular in cuisines the world over, the eggplant’s porous flesh is like a sponge, able to partner with a wide variety of spices and flavors.
There’s no better way to celebrate summer along the Delaware River than to follow the river’s own parade route: under sunny skies, between tree-covered banks, past vibrant towns. At times placid, …
A flash of electric blue—over there, no, here, no—it’s over there again! The aerial acrobatics of the barn swallow, swooping inches above fields and water, is spectacular. Its dazzling …
If you’ve ever visited the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the sprawling white structure that opened in 2003 across from Independence Park and the Liberty Bell, you’ll recognize the …
Upon buying a River Towns farm property in 1938—about 500 acres on a hillside in Rosemont—legendary big band leader Paul Whiteman named it “Walking Horse Farm” after his Tennessee Walking …
New Owners for a Pair of Keystone Properties Two notable properties within the Phillips Mill Historic District in Solebury, each one rich in River Towns history, have changed hands, but their …
Between the vast expanse of sky and the vanishing horizon where it meets the earth lies magic—if you are open to see it. For the past three decades, Furlong painter Rye Tippett has been …
With her salt-and-pepper ponytail, oversized glasses, and no-nonsense attitude, Emily Jefferson seems like the best kind of grandma: the sort who won’t tolerate any shenanigans but will slip you a …
As a child, Alison Bessesdotter would wander the wilderness near her home in Erwinna, contemplating nature—grasses waving in the wind, light filtering through the leaves, creeks bound in ice. …
Prepping for the Next Big One The Delaware River Basin Commission and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency are concluding an educational initiative in the River Towns and beyond that …
1. New Hope Celebrates Pride Take pride in all the things you are at the New Hope Celebrates PrideFest Parade and Fair on May 16 . Start the party at the parade, kicking off from …
From the expansive windows of her waterfront condominium, Marci Hamilton regards the Delaware River, steely under a winter sky but breaking white where rocks and other obstacles rise from the …
William Penn arrived in America in 1682 with the best of intentions. The 38-year-old nobleman, a devout Quaker, had been granted a charter a year earlier by King Charles II to create a colony on …
Maybe a picture is worth a thousand words, but at the Studio of Ben Solowey in Bedminster, in Upper Bucks County, the exchange rate is rather more generous. When you ask David Leopold about one of …
After the first floor of their house along the Delaware River in Erwinna went underwater for the third time in twenty-two months, succumbing to the historic flooding that inundated the River Towns …
Just a stone’s throw from the busy thoroughfare of Route 611 is a different sort of bustle. Seed trays slide across nursery tables, tall metal carts heaving with plants clank along to the loading …
“It was a lifetime dream,” Nancy Shaffran says about her and her partner, Rachel Malinowitzer, buying the Nockamixon Township property called Rising Sun Farm. For Shaffran, a retired veterinarian …
As you descend a forested valley on Pryde’s Point-Alexauken Creek trail, the riffling water appears suddenly, almost magically. You hear the creek before you see it. Once you discover it, this …
Some folks swear by a spring tonic to wake up from winter’s torpor. How about a tonic for the ears? The call of spring peepers is a piercing, ringing chorus that rises from wetlands to permeate the …
It was April, and we were hosting a holiday dinner. I brought out the roasted carrots and ran back to the kitchen to get the other dishes. When I returned to the dining room, everyone was exclaiming …
When the Princeton University Art Museum reopened last fall with a twenty-four-hour art-viewing extravaganza, the crowds came. Before even entering, jaws agape, visitors craned their necks …
When English inventor John Kemp Starley introduced the Rover Safety Bicycle—featuring two equal-sized wheels, a chain-driven rear wheel, and a diamond-shaped frame—it sparked a national bicycling …
For the past twenty years, Melissa Wieczorek and Theo Petron have enjoyed giving clients the gift of time as co-owners of Zest Culinary Services, a personal chef service and boutique caterer based in …
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