Boat House and Monocacy Creek
Where the family rowed and played
MAP 6
The original “Main Street” of Bethlehem for the Lenni Lenape people and other pre-European inhabitants of the area, Monocacy Creek begins more than 15 miles north of Camel’s Hump Farms, flowing south to its confluence with the Lehigh River at Sand Island in Bethlehem. The creek is near its widest near the family’s boat house.
The boat house, probably constructed in the 1920s, has a door with porthole facing the drive along the creek. It was constructed over a small man-made inlet into which boats could be taken. Inside it are the remnants of a system of riggings and pulleys to remove boats from the water and to hang them from the ceiling for cleaning and painting.
A few yards farther downstream where township staff mow to the creek’s edge, wooden pilings for a dock are still visible.
While walking along the creek in warmer weather, watch for turtles sunning themselves on fallen branches sticking out of the water. Frogs may not be visible, though you will hear their calls.