Saint Georges: A Town Hurt Rather Than Helped by Water
Robinson House in Saint Georges Saint Georges is not a stop on the Delaware Bayshore Byway . That’s partly because it’s about 4 miles inland from the Byway (west of Delaware City ) and partly because, unlike other towns on and near the Byway, it never made its living from the water. Water is one of the major themes of the Delaware Bayshore Byway . But there’s a lot of interesting history here, so it’s worth a detour. Today Saint Georges edges the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal , but it was founded long before the canal was built, around 1740. It was a good location for a village for two reasons. First, it was at the head of St. Georges Creek (which later became part of the C&D Canal). A mill and dam were built here. Second, it was on Delaware’s main north-south road—what was then called a King’s Highway and what’s now Dupont Highway (DE 13). Saint Georges was a good place for travelers on the highway to stop. Today you can still see at l...