By John Seidler
Lambertville, with a population of around 4,000 is supposedly one of the smallest cities in the U.S. It is unclear what justifies its claim to be a city. In the U.K. by contrast, a place can only be called a city by royal proclamation and typically it would have a large population and a cathedral. Lambertville is really a village but it does have five active churches of different denominations dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries, built before there were distractions like TV.
The area was originally settled by the Lenape, centered mainly in the Delaware River valley. The river’s name was Lenapewimittuk, meaning the largest river in this part of the country. The Lenape tribe lived in villages along the banks and tributaries. It is estimated that there were 10,000 to 12,000 tribe members living in 30 to 50 communities. The women farmed mainly corn, squash and beans, while the men hunted and fished (shad, when in season).
The location by the Delaware River is certainly an important reason for the original settlement. Water from the river was initially a major source of power. There were also a number locally available raw materials such as wood from the forests, grain from the bountiful countryside, coal from the earth and abundant stone from what became quarries.
During the Industrial Revolution era, industry flourished, including milling of grain and feed, as well as manufacture of silk, paper, rubber products and pottery.
In the 1830s, canals on both sides of the Delaware were built with great effort by mainly Irish immigrants, many of whom died of cholera. When the canals were completed, raw materials and merchandise were transported in long barges, pulled by mules walking along parallel towpaths. At one time, 3,000 mule-drawn boats plied the canals….
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