George Wall – 2003 Honored Citizen

George Wall was born in Bucks County in 1743. His father was a schoolmaster.  In 1775 as war with England loomed, George, Sr., organized a company of young men from Solebury for the mustering of the Bucks County 2^nd Battalion. Among the twenty-seven privates in the militia was his son, George, Jr. No record of their military achievements has yet been uncovered, but clearly they were dedicated Patriots who followed Washington in many campaigns. Because of their familiarity with the region, it has been thought that the Walls were involved with protecting Washington’s upriver flank at the time of the Crossing in 1776.

George, Jr., was a civic leader, inventor, and entrepreneur. He acquired 15 acres of land where the Paunacussing Creek meets the Delaware River. George established 2 saw mills, a grist mill, a general store, and a school for surveyors in the village, which at that time was known as Wall’s Landing.

The area was rich in hardwood forest, including stately white pines, as much as thirty-six inches in diameter, spruce, hemlock, oak, beech, and American chestnut—trees that once were common in the area. Straight-trunked poplars and cherry were used for furniture. Wall’s Landing became important not only for its own wood products but also because lumber brokers from Philadelphia came there to bid on log rafts floating down from the Lehigh and Upper Delaware Rivers.

The village was called Wall’s Landing until 1835, when a post office was established and the name was changed to Lumberville.

Excerpted from Old Mills of New Hope-Solebury, by Willis Rivinus, 2012