History & local legend
Devil’s Half Acre is a strip of land beside the Delaware Canal near Lumberville, where a stone house stands between the canal and River Road. Its reputation began during canal construction in 1828–1832, when families living there sold whiskey to the laborers without a license. The name was already appearing in canal officials’ reports during those years.
The darker tradition says drinking sessions ended in fatal fights and that some of the dead were buried behind the tavern. Those concealed burials became the explanation for its haunted reputation. A later owner, Stephen Durand, acquired the property around 1845 and cultivated fruit trees and gardens. He attempted to replace its notorious name with High Rock Villa, but Devil’s Half Acre was the name that endured.
Sources
- George MacReynolds, Bucks County Historical Society, history of the whiskey trade tradition, garden and proposed name
- Doug Gross, New Hope–Lambertville Patch, 2020, collects the local canal-worker burial and haunting tradition
- Mercer Museum, Some Stories of Bucks County Place Names, identifies the plot, township and canal construction
- Zeete, geotagged 2026 photograph of the historic house from the canal
